Admission requirements
Required course(s):
None, but completion of Global Challenges: Diversity is recommended.
Description
This course teaches students to notice how what happens in society and in people’s lives is reflected in subtle language choices: sounds, words, intonation, etc. In this course, language is treated as behaviour: what are non-linguistic reasons why people make certain language choices? Are these language choices innocent and subconscious, or are they a reflection of a problem or issue? Do, individuals model their language use to their identity, and if so, how and why? The course also addresses more general questions, like language policy and the linguistic structuring of the public space; for instance how signage in the public space is organised and perceived and which languages are present in the public space. Themes that students will be expected to discuss in relation to language use and linguistics are: postmodern behaviour, the effects of age and ageing, city versus village, norms, populism, (in)equalities, language rights, identities, globalisation, Anglocentricism, Eurocentrism, personality, mood, situation, second-language teaching, and, for instance, culture.
Course Objectives
Learn the basics of the field of Sociolinguistics. This is done by reading and studying one or two chapters from the coursebook every week. This will be tested through weekly quizzes.
Learn to discern patterns in the correlation between language choices and all kinds of non-linguistic and situational factors.
Learn about culture through variation in language use; learn about the language uses of people with different linguistic and cultural backgrounds. This is achieved in the discussion during the seminars mainly, but also through the many examples in the book and in the weekly articles.
Learn to speak about language use in an objective, academic, and non-judgmental way. This is practiced during the discussion in the seminars and also in the research paper that is due at the end of the course
Reading academic articles; every week, students read and comment on a published article that is based on empirical data.
Timetable
Timetables for courses offered at Leiden University College in 2024-2025 will be published on this page of the e-Prospectus.
Mode of instruction
During the seminars, raising awareness through discussions is the main activity. At home, every week, students prepare a chapter from the coursebook and a research article that is connected to that chapter. Students will also be asked to present in class on a topic of their choice.
Assessment Method
Weekly in-class quizzes (40%)
Weekly homework (20%)
Presentation (20%)
Paper (20%)
Reading list
Students need to buy the coursebook: Smakman, Dick (2018) Discovering Sociolinguistics. From Theory to Practice. London: Palgrave
In addition, students need to find a research article in the Leiden University digital catalogue. These articles are in the course description that is posted in Brightspace.
Registration
Courses offered at Leiden University College (LUC) are usually only open to LUC students and LUC exchange students. Leiden University students who participate in one of the university’s Honours tracks or programmes may register for one LUC course, if availability permits. Registration is coordinated by the Education Coordinator, course.administration@luc.leidenuniv.nl.
Contact
Dr. Dick Smakman, d.smakman@hum.leidenuniv.nl
Remarks
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