The main purpose of this seminar will be to sketch the developments in sociolinguistics in the second half of the twentieth century and to discuss well-known case studies. The position of sociolinguistics within linguistics in general will be treated in detail and the contribution which it has made to general insights will be assessed. Matters to be looked at will include theories of language change and language variation across time and space.
Literature
Bauer, Laurie and Peter Trudgill (eds) 1998. Language Myths. New York: Penguin.
Bayley, Robert and Ceil Lucas (eds) 2007. Sociolinguistic Variation. Theories, Methods, and Applications. Cambridge University Press.
Chambers, Jack 2009. Sociolinguistic Theory. Linguistic variation and its social significance. Third edition. Oxford: Blackwell.
Mesthrie, Rajend, Ana Deumert, Joan Swann and William L. Leap 2009. Introducing Sociolinguistics. Second edition. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.
Mesthrie, Rajend (ed.) 2011. The Cambridge Handbook of Sociolinguistics. Amsterdam: Elsevier.
Meyerhoff, Miriam 2006. Introducing Sociolinguistics. London: Routledge.
Romaine, Suzanne 2000. Language in Society. An introduction to sociolinguistics. Second edition. Oxford: University Press. |
