Admission requirements
This course is only available for students in the BA International Studies programme.
Limited places are also open for exchange students.
Please note: this course takes place in The Hague. Traveling between University buildings from Leiden to The Hague may take about 45 minutes.
Description
This course explores how language is used in social interaction at the individual, societal, and institutional levels. We examine how the way we speak affects the way others think of us and why, and how language can bring about both social equality and inequality through its use in various settings. We also examine how communication works when speakers of different languages come into contact and the effects of immigration and globalization on how languages change. Other topics include what is polite or impolite in different cultures and how this is reflected in language; how gender issues are reflected in and debated through language; and the role of language in education and in nation-building.
Course objectives
At the end of the course, students will be able to:
explain key concepts used in the field of sociolinguistics;
explain what it means to study language from a sociolinguistic perspective and the main methodologies used to achieve this;
describe the complexity of everyday language use from a sociolinguistic and cultural perspective;
identify factors that can enhance or impede communication;
evaluate language ideologies that motivate language planning and language policies.
Timetable
The timetables are available through My Timetable.
Mode of instruction
Lectures
Lectures are held every week, with the exception of the midterm exam week. Weekly lectures will cover issues both inside and outside the readings.
Tutorials
Tutorials are held once every two weeks, with the exception of the midterm exam week. Attending all tutorial sessions is compulsory. For this reason, if you are unable to attend a session, it is required that you inform your tutor in advance. Please note that being absent at any tutorial session may have a negative impact on the grade of the assignment due for that particular tutorial session. This is at the discretion of the tutor.
Assessment method
Assessment
Midterm Exam:
Online take home written examination with 3 essay questions.Final Exam:
Online take home written examination with 3 essay questions.
Weighing
| Partial grade | Weighing |
|---|---|
| Tutorials | 40% |
| Midterm Exam | 30% |
| Final Exam | 30% |
End Grade
To successfully complete the course, please take note of the following:
The end grade of the course is established by determining the weighted average of Tutorial grade, Midterm Exam grade and Final Exam grade.
The weighted average of the Midterm Exam grade and the Final Exam grade needs to be 5.5 or higher.
This means that failing Exam grades cannot be compensated with a high Tutorial grade.
Resit
If the end grade is insufficient (lower than a 6.0), or the Final Exam grade is lower than 5.5, there is a possibility of retaking the full 60% of the exam material, replacing both the earlier Midterm- and Final Exam grades. No resit for the tutorial is possible.
Please note that if the Resit Exam grade is lower than 5.5, you will not pass the course, regardless of the tutorial grade.
Retaking a passing grade
Please consult the Course and Examination Regulations 2021 – 2022.
Exam review and feedback
How and when an exam review will take place will be disclosed together with the publication of the exam results at the latest. If a student requests a review within 30 days after publication of the exam results, an exam review will have to be organised.
Reading list
The following textbook is used:
Wardhaugh, Ronald, and Janet M. Fuller. 2015. An Introduction to Sociolinguistics. 7th ed. Malden, MA: Wiley Blackwell. (Available online via the Leiden University Library catalogue)
Registration
Enrolment through uSis for Tutorials and Lectures is mandatory.
Students will be enrolled for Exams by the Administration Office, as long as they have a valid Tutorial enrolment.
General information about uSis is available on the website.
The programme’s administration office will register all first year students for the first semester courses in uSis, the registration system of Leiden University.
Contact
For substantive questions, contact the lecturer listed in the right information bar.
For questions about enrolment, admission, etc, contact the Education Administration Office: Student Affairs Office for BA International Studies
Remarks
All other information.