175-019 Language & Society

Formerly available as 175-219/319. Students who have completed 175-219 or 175-319 are not eligible to enrol in this subject.

This subject examines how social factors influence language, and the role language plays in structuring and representing social categories. Specific topics to be covered include socially determined variation in language styles and registers; language varieties reflecting social class, gender and ethnic group; politeness phenomena, address terms, linguistic variables; overt and covert norms; and factors affecting language choice such as, bi- and multi-lingualism, code-switching and code-mixing, and diglossia. Students will also study changes in language status over time; language shift; language maintenance; language death; new social relationships; new languages such as pidgins, creoles, lingue franche and mixed languages; the impact of literacy on language; language choice in education; and language policies in Australia and overseas. Students will be able to specialise in European or Asian sociolinguistics.

• be able to distinguish relevant from irrelevant information;

• have developed the ability to form judgments from conflicting evidence;

• have developed an openness to new ideas and possibilities;

• have improved their oral and written communication skills.

A 10-minute class paper and 1000-word written presentation 20%, a language in use assignment 30% (due in the examination period), a 500-word assignment outline plus sample data analysis and references 10% (due in week 6), a 2500-word assignment 30% (due in week 10), and class participation 10%.

• F Coulmas, Sociolinguistics: The Study of Speakers' Choices. CUP 2005.