Courses

Core Issues in English Language & Linguistics

This course, one of the two core units for the MA in Sociocultural Linguistics, will introduce you to the main areas of study within modern linguistics, including theoretical and methodological aspects. The course aims to make clear the wider aims of linguistic research, as well as to enable students to apply theoretical notions to specific datasets and develop their own skills of linguistic analysis.

Topics include introduction to phonetics and phonology (speech sounds), morphology (word structure), syntax (sentence structure), semantics (word and sentence meaning) and pragmatics (the use and interpretation of meaning) as well basic issues and facts of language change and language variation.

Language in its Sociocultural Context

This course combines a sociolinguistic with a discourse analytic approach in order to explore the socio-cultural contextualisation of language and meaning from two angles: language use and language representation. This dual focus will be evident throughout the course; topics such as language and gender, language and ethnicity or language and the media will be examined in relation to the socio-cultural (and situational) contexts in which speakers use language as well as in relation to different representations of specific socio-cultural groups in the media and other (written) texts.

For example, we will investigate both how women speak and how women are spoken about, and we will discuss if and how the former relates to the latter and vice-versa. Other topics that will be addressed in this course include the political correctness debate, sexist language, cross-cultural approaches to politeness, attitudes to non-standard English and the linguistic construction of identity.

Analysing Discourse & Identity in Spoken Interaction

This course will introduce you to the analysis of discourse and identity in spoken interaction. The course will allow you to develop in-depth, critical understanding of approaches, concepts and debates in spoken discourse analysis. The second aim of the course is to provide you with the opportunity to apply your newly acquired methodological insight to the study of discourse and identity in many different conversational and institutional settings.

A range of methodological frameworks and analytic concepts will be explored, including ethnographic approaches to language analysis, interactional sociolinguistics, conversational analysis, membership categorisation analysis, performativity and narrative analysis. Seminar discussions will seek to establish what each of these approaches has to offer to the analysis of discourse practices and identity constructions of speakers in naturally occurring talk. For example, we will consider the question if analysts should or can avoid to bring a priori assumptions about the relevance of macro identity categories such as gender and social class to their data.

The course will also encourage you to carry out your own project by collecting, transcribing and analysing a sample of spoken language of their choice. You'll then get the opportunity to present and discuss their work with their colleagues in seminars.

Global English: History & Variation

This course gives you an overview of the issues raised by the global spread of English in the context of language variation and language change. You'll gain knowledge about the social history of English since its arrival in the British Isles to the present day and explore the role that English plays in multilingual settings and its interaction with other languages. Issues of first and second language acquisition are brought to bear on the development of language in multilingual contexts. You'll also explore the influence of language policy and language contact. Special attention is given to power and status in the context of multilingualism.

The course will include a number of case studies and will pay attention to multilingualism in a range of contexts, including family, community and educational settings. You'll be encouraged to present your own case studies of language policy, educational issues, code-switching or other aspects of multilingualism.

Intercultural Discourse & Communication

This course introduces you to a range of empirical studies in a field that has become known as intercultural or cross-cultural communication. We will consider research that examines if speaking styles vary from culture to culture, asking, for example, if some groups of speakers accept and encourage more overlap and simultaneous talk than others, or, if understandings of directness and politeness vary culturally.

We'll study cross-cultural communication in everyday interaction but also in institutional settings, examining talk in business and medical encounters as well as educational settings such as the multilingual/multi-ethnic classroom. We are also interested in the relevance of cultural stereotypes and cultural identities, and we will explore the latter both in multi-party interaction and in narratives.

Throughout the course you'll need to consider the term ‘culture’ critically, comparing popular definitions of ‘culture’ as homogenous and static with postmodern models that highlight the heterogeneity and fluidity of ‘culture’. You will become familiar with a range of methodological approaches to the study of language, culture and interaction. These include the ethnography of speaking, interactional sociolinguistics, intercultural pragmatics and politeness theory. The course will not only ask you to study language, culture and interaction in a range of different English-speaking countries and settings, but it will also draw on research from a wide variety of other languages, including German, Greek, Japanese and Chinese.

Language & Ideology in Written Discourse

This course aims to introduce you to contemporary approaches and frameworks of analysis of written discourse. The course explores the analytic techniques and principles of written discourse analysis and gives you space to apply these techniques to a wide selection of texts (texts from the contemporary media, advertisements, textbooks, political and administrative texts, texts in translation etc).

The course leads you to a discussion of how linguistic analysis can illuminate wider social issues, for example issues of power and ideology, issues of representation and identity. You'll acquire knowledge of different levels of linguistic analysis, and learn to examine written discourse at the micro-level, and to link the micro-level of analysis to the macro-level of social practice. The use of a variety of texts is intended to lead students to debates about language use and social issues in different areas of human activity: media representation, translation, education, etc.

You are encouraged to engage with the research literature and apply the theoretical concepts and linguistic approaches you become familiar with to independent analyses of self-selected data.

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You may choose two linguistic options or one linguistic option and one option from other MA programmes within the College, where specifically approved by the Programme Co-ordinator. Availability of options across the College varies, but typically you can choose from the following selection:

Department of English and Comparative Literature: Studies in Comparative Literature & Criticism; Theories of Literature & Culture; Modern Literary Movements; Literature of the Caribbean & its Diasporas; American Literature & Culture: Critical and Theoretical Concepts; Rewriting Sexualities; Twentieth Century Caribbean Writing; Caribbean Women Writing & Representation

Department of Anthropology: Anthropology and Gender Theory; Anthropology and History; Anthropology of Religion; Social Anthropology of the Caribbean

Department of Media and Communications: Introduction to Media and Communications Theory; The Structure of Contemporary Political Communications;
Transnational Communications and the Global Media: Orientations; Media Audiences & Media Geography; Media Ethnicity & The Nation; After New Media

Department of Sociology: Introduction to Feminist & Cultural Theory; Gender Affect and the Body; What is Culture? Key Theoretical Interventions; Race Politics & Ethics

Centre for Cultural Studies: Cultural Theory; Text and Image