COURSE OBJECTIVES
1. Identify research questions appropriate to the discipline of sociolinguistics and explain why they are important.
2. Practice some of the methods that sociolinguists use to collect and analyze data.
3. Critically read and evaluate published research.
4. Apply knowledge gained from prior research to propose an original research project.

COURSE OBJECTIVES
1. Identify research questions appropriate to the discipline of sociolinguistics and explain why they are important.
2. Practice some of the methods that sociolinguists use to collect and analyze data.
3. Critically read and evaluate published research.
4. Apply knowledge gained from prior research to propose an original research project.

Sociolinguists are broadly concerned with examining how our understanding of language can be informed through a consideration of the social contexts in which language is produced and interpreted. In this course we will discuss several of the topics that sociolinguists have studied, including code-switching, language and power, translation, the relationships between gender and identity, language in the Internet, performance and community, and the connections of these issues to ideologies about language. We will also examine and practice some of the methods for collecting and analyzing data that researchers have used. Throughout, we will also consider how the knowledge gained through this research can inform other academic disciplines, professional life, and public discourse more generally.

Sociolinguists are broadly concerned with examining how our understanding of language can be informed through a consideration of the social contexts in which language is produced and interpreted. In this course we will discuss several of the topics that sociolinguists have studied, including code-switching, language and power, translation, the relationships between gender and identity, language in the Internet, performance and community, and the connections of These issues to ideas about language. We will also examine and practice some of the methods for collecting and analyzing data that researchers have used. Throughout, we will also consider how the knowledge gained through this research can inform other academic disciplines, professional life, and public discussion more generally.

Ahearn, Laura. 2011. The Socially Charged Life of Language: Living Language. Malden, MA: Blackwell.

Other required book chapters and journal articles will be provided in iLearn.

Ahearn, Laura. 2011. The Socially Charged Life of Language: Living Language. Malden, MA: Blackwell.

Other required book chapters and journal articles will be provided in iLearn.