Admission requirements
This course is open for students of BA International Studies only. The number of participants is limited to 25.
Description
This course examines languages and cultures in contact and considers how people use language(s) to identify with or differentiate themselves from others, particularly in multicultural settings. Students will learn about the sociolinguistic situation in their area of specialization while gaining hands-on experience using sociolinguistic and anthropological research methods. Some of the topics we will cover include the sociohistorical contexts and linguistic outcomes of language contact, the globalization of English and its impact on cultural and linguistic diversity in the world, pidgin and creole languages, endangered languages, and immigrant languages in Europe and North America. The skills and theories that students learn in this class will be used to explore instances of language contact in The Hague, Netherlands and surrounding areas.
This is a sociolinguistics course. There will be a course packet/reader containing the required reading materials. Other reading materials will be available on Blackboard.
Additionally, the students will work through W.C. Booth, G.G. Colomb, J.W. Williams, The Craft of Research, third edition, Chicago/London: University of Chicago Press, 2008.
Course objectives
The elective courses for International Studies are designed to teach students how to deal with state-of-the-art literature and research questions. They are chosen to enhance the students’ learning experience by building on the interdisciplinary perspectives they have developed so far, and to introduce them to the art of academic research. They are characterised by an international or comparative approach.
Academic skills that are trained include:
Oral presentation skills:
1. to explain clear and substantiated research results;
2. to provide an answer to questions concerning (a subject) in the field covered by the course
a. in the form of a clear and well-structured oral presentation;
b. in agreement with the appropriate disciplinary criteria;
c. using up-to-date presentation techniques;
d. aimed at a specific audience;
3. to actively participate in a discussion following the presentation.
Collaboration skills:
1. to be socio-communicative in collaborative situations;
2. to provide and receive constructive criticism, and incorporate justified criticism by revising one’s own position;
3. adhere to agreed schedules and priorities.
Basic research skills, including heuristic skills:
1. to collect and select academic literature using traditional and digital methods and techniques;
2. to analyze and assess this literature with regard to quality and reliability;
3. to formulate on this basis a sound research question;
4. to design under supervision a research plan of limited scope, and implement it using the methods and techniques that are appropriate within the discipline involved;
5. to formulate a substantiated conclusion.
Written presentation skills:
1. to explain clear and substantiated research results;
2. to provide an answer to questions concerning (a subject) in the field covered by the course
a. in the form of a clear and well-structured oral presentation;
b. in agreement with the appropriate disciplinary criteria;
c. using relevant illustration or multimedia techniques;
d. aimed at a specific audience.
Timetable
The timetable will be available on the BA International Studies website this autumn.
Mode of instruction
Tutorials and supervised research.
Assessment method
Weekly assignments, and a final paper of approx. 4-6,000 words (excluding tables and bibliography).
Blackboard
Blackboard will be used. Students are requested to register on Blackboard for this course..
Reading list
Alim, Samy, and Geneva Smitherman. Articulate While Black. Oxford: Oxford University
Press, 2012. Print. [Optional]
Al-Khatib, Mahmoud A. “The Arab World: Language and Cultural Issues.” Language,
Culture and Curriculum 13.2 (2000): 121-125. Web. 29 Jan. 2014.
Arends, Jacques, Pieter Muysken, and Norval Smith, eds. Pidgins and Creoles: An
Introduction. Philadelphia: John Benjamins, 1995. Print.
Booth, Wayne, et al. The Craft of Research. 3rd ed. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2008.
Print.
De Houwer, Annick, and Antje Wilton, eds. English in Europe Today. Sociocultural and Educational
Perspectives. Philadelphia: John Benjamins, 2011. Print.
Filhon, Alexandra. “Linguistic Practices in Migration Models of Integration, Language
Policies and Establishment of Social Hierarchy of Languages.” Interact Research Report
Fought, Carmen. “Language as a Representation of Mexican American Identity.” English
Today 26.3 (2010): 44-48. Web. 29 Jan. 2014. [Optional]
Holt, Mike. “Divided Loyalties: Language and Ethnic Identity in the Arab World.” Language and
identity in the Middle East and North Africa. Ed. Yasir Suleiman. London: Curzon Press,
1996. 11-24. Print. [Optional]
Hoon, Chng Huang. “‘You See Me No Up’: Is Singlish a Problem?” Language Problems and
Language Planning 27.1 (2003): 45-62. Web. 23 Jan. 2014.
Karmani, Sohail. “Petro-Linguistics: The Emerging Nexus Between Oil, English, and Islam.”
Journal of Language, Identity and Education 4.2 (2005): 87-102. Web. 1 Feb. 2014.
Mason Carris, Lauren. “La voz gringa: Latino Stylization of Linguistic (In)Authenticity as Social
Critique.” Discourse & Society 22.4 (2011): 474-490.
Mesthrie, Rajend et al. Introducing Sociolinguistics. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2009.
Print.
Pennycook, Alastair. Global Englishes and Transcultural Flows. New York: Routledge, 2007. Print.
Rickford, John and Russell Rickford. Spoken Soul: The Story of Black English. New
York: John Wiley and Sons, 2000. Print.
Suleiman, Yasir, ed. Language and identity in the Middle East and North Africa. London: Curzon
Press, 1996. Print. [Optional]
Tagliamonte, Sali A. Variationist Sociolinguistics: Change, Observation, Interpretation. Malden, MA:
Wiley-Blackwell, 2012. Print.
Wardhaugh, Ronald. An Introduction to Sociolinguistics. Malden, MA: Wiley-Blackwell, 2010. Print.
Williams, Eddie. “English in African Politics of Education: Capital or Capital Illusion?”
International Journal of the Sociology of Language 225 (2014): 131-145. Web. 28 Jan. 2014.
Wolfram, Walt, and Natalie Schilling-Estes. American English: Dialects and Variation. 2nd ed.
Malden, MA: Blackwell, 2006. Print.
Zhang, Qi. “The attitudes of Hong Kong students towards Hong Kong English and Mandarin-
accented English.” English Today 29.2 (2013): 1-16. Web. 13 Jan. 2014. [Optional]
Registration
Students are requested to register through uSis, the registration system of Leiden University for this course. General information about uSis is available in English and Dutch.
Registration Studeren à la carte and Contractonderwijs
Not applicable.
Remarks
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