116-415 The Sociolinguistics of French

Admission to the postgraduate diploma or fourth year honours in French.

This subject examines the French language in its social context. It focuses on languages in contact, language attitudes and language choice in multilingual societies, and language change and variation. Students focus on sociolinguistic work undertaken in France, but, where appropriate, will also encounter studies from other French-speaking areas. Students should develop an appreciation of different theoretical frameworks through which the relationship between language and society has been understood and defined and have a greater understanding of multilingual societies.

• This subject encompasses particular generic skills. Communicating knowledge intelligibly and economically: through essay and assignment writing, tutorial discussion and class presentations; Written communication: through essay and assignment preparation and writing; Public speaking and confidence in self-expression: through tutorial participation and class presentations; Attention to detail: through close reading and textual analysis, essay preparation and writing, and examination revision; Time management and planning: through managing and organizing workloads for required and recommended reading, essay and assignment completion and revision for examinations.

A 2000-word class paper in French 40% (during the semester) and a 3000-word essay in French 60% (due at the end of semester).