Language in Society: Communicating Power

Locations:

Nieuwe Kerk, Spui 175 (Weeks 37-42 and 45-49)

Kloosterkerk, Lange Voorhout 4 (Week 44)

Day and Time:

Thursdays from 9.00 10.45

Lecturer:

Dr. Simanique Moody

Course E-mail:

osz-comm-power@hum.leidenuniv.nl

Course description
This course explores how language is used in social interaction at the individual, institutional,
societal and cultural levels. We examine, for example, what is polite or impolite in different
cultures and how this is reflected in language; how language is gendered; the diverse
understandings of speech and language ideologies and how these are sites for potential and
purposeful miscommunication and misunderstanding. We address the role of language in
various spheres of everyday life: governance, economy, politics, health and education, and we
examine how language policies and language planning in various nation states lead to the
exclusion of the majority of agents in these domains. We will also debate issues concerning
the sociolinguistics of globalization, such as discourses about migration and how
globalization influences linguistic vitality and diversity.
Course goals and learning outcomes
This course is intended to give students an introduction to sociolinguistic theory and the
various social factors that influence language use. One of the central aims of this course is for
students to learn to think critically about the relationship between language, identity and
power, while recognizing the equality of all languages and dialects. By the end of the course,
students should be able to describe the complexity of linguistic diversity from a
sociolinguistic perspective; evaluate language ideologies that motivate language planning and
language policies; identify factors that can enhance or impede transcultural communication;
recognize the importance of rhetoric in communication and society; and recognize how the
theories and methods introduced in this course can be applied to sociolinguistic situations in
their geographic area of interest.
Course instruction format
One lecture per week plus six tutorials
Required textbook:

Wardhaugh, Ronald and Janet M. Fuller. An Introduction to Sociolinguistics. 7th ed.

Malden, MA: Wiley Blackwell, 2015.

Assessment
Tutorial assignments:
Midterm exam:
Final exam:

30%
30%
40%

Weekly Schedule
Week 37
15 September 2016
Introduction to the course: Situating Sociolinguistics within the interdisciplinary field of
International Studies
Reading: An Introduction to Sociolinguistics Chapter 1 (pp. 1-20)
Week 38
22 September 2016
Languages, Dialects, and Varieties
Reading: An Introduction to Sociolinguistics Chapter 2 (pp. 27-54)
Week 39
29 September 2016
Defining Groups
Reading: An Introduction to Sociolinguistics Chapter 3 (pp. 62-77)
Week 40
6 October 2016
Languages in Contact: Multilingual Societies and Multilingual Discourse
Reading: An Introduction to Sociolinguistics Chapter 4 (pp. 82-105)
Week 41
13 October 2016
Contact Languages: Structural Consequences of Social Factors
Reading: An Introduction to Sociolinguistics Chapter 5 (pp. 114-133)
Week 42
20 October 2016
Language Variation
Reading: An Introduction to Sociolinguistics Chapter 6 (pp. 141-165)
Week 43
Midterm exams 24-28 October 2016 (No class)
Exam on 24 October from 10:00am-12:00pm in CDH-Opera/Wittezaal
Week 44
3 November 2016
Ethnographic Approaches in Sociolinguistics
Reading: An Introduction to Sociolinguistics Chapter 9 (pp. 227-243)

Week 45
10 November 2016
Language Contact
Reading: An Introduction to Sociolinguistics Ch. 10 (pp. 256-272) and Ch. 11 (pp. 290-302)
Week 46
17 November 2016
Language, Gender, and Sexuality
Reading: An Introduction to Sociolinguistics Chapter 12 (311-332)
Week 47
24 November 2016
Sociolinguistics and Education
Reading: An Introduction to Sociolinguistics Chapter 13 (pp. 339-360)
Week 48
1 December 2016
Language policy and planning + sociolinguistics of globalization/political and migration
discourses
Reading: An Introduction to Sociolinguistics Chapter 14 (pp. 367-392)
Week 49
8 December 2016
Special topics/Course wrap-up/Exam review
Week 50
Study Week (No class)
Week 51
Exam Week (No class)
Exam on 20 December 2016 from 10.00-12.00h in CDH-Opera/Wittezaal