REQUIREMENTS
NOTE: I can only accept hard copies of all written assignments.
COURSE READINGS
Required
Alim, H. Samy (2004). You know my steez: An ethnographic and sociolinguistic study of styleshifting in a Black American speech community. Publication of the American Dialect Society 89. Durham, NC: Duke University Press.
Coupland, Nikolas (2007). Style: Language variation and identity. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
A set of course readings available online at ERes (Electronic Reserve; the link is also available on the menu bar above). See the course syllabus distributed in class for the ERes password, or email me. See below for the complete list of readings; see the syllabus for the date each is assigned.
Recommended
Agha, Asif (2007). Language and social relations. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
COURSE WEBSITE
This website contains the most up-to-date information about the course, handouts and assignments, and links and references to course readings. Additional copies of the syllabus and requirements can be downloaded from the Assignments and materials page; these and other course materials posted on the site are password-protected for copyright purposes (see the handout distributed in class for the class website password, or email me).
RESOURCES FOR SOCIOCULTURAL LINGUISTICS
In addition to materials distributed in class, you may find the website Resources for Sociocultural Linguistics useful for professional socialization into sociocultural linguistics and related fields (the link is also available on the menu bar above). The links for graduate students provide resources as well as tips on a range of professional activities that will be relevant to this course and beyond. Please let me know if there are other topics that you'd like to see addressed on the site.
CONTRIBUTIONS TO DISCUSSION
An important part of your graduate education is the development of your ability to explore ideas with others. It is therefore crucial that you contribute to the discussion during every class period. Don't contribute only when you have a fully worked-out answer in polished form (which is rare for most of us in any case); the classroom is a space where you can try out off-the-wall ideas, ask what you think are stupid questions (but probably aren't), and otherwise take intellectual risks. If group discussion is difficult for you, the reading responses may help you formulate your ideas in advance. If it comes easily to you, please take care not to dominate the floor--make sure others have a chance to participate as well.
READING RESPONSES
Every Tuesday you will hand in extremely short (less than 1 page) written responses to the required (and optionally, the recommended) readings. For each reading, you should raise questions about anything that's unclear. You may also or alternatively comment on the reading by adding supporting or challenging evidence for an author's argument, linking the reading to ideas you've encountered earlier in the class or other classes, or otherwise commenting on the theory, methodology, argument, and broader implications of the reading.
Note: You are strongly encouraged to write a brief summary of each reading and add your responses to the "Notes" field of Endnote in order to have an easily searchable record of each reading. (Endnote is an extremely useful bibliographic program available at a discount for educational purchase to students.)
DATA PRESENTATION
Each Tuesday two students (typically) will volunteer to present their data exercises to the class on Thursday. Presentations will usually be no more than 10-15 minutes each. Each student is required to do a total of two data presentations during the quarter. Guidelines about the data presentation will be distributed separately.
FINAL PAPER AND PRESENTATION
Based on one or more of your data exercises, you will develop a conference-length (10-15-page) paper with a polished analysis of your data. The paper should include an introduction situating your paper in relation to previous research; a methods section describing your data (and method of collection, if relevant); a detailed analysis section (this should be the heart of the paper); and a conclusion reiterating the key contribution of the paper and its broader implications. I can help you with references; you should also explore LLBA early and often for current work in your area of interest. You will present your paper in a conference-style format the last week of class to get feedback before submitting the final written version. Guidelines about the final paper and presentation will be distributed separately.
ERES READINGS
Barrett, Rusty (2006). Language ideology and racial inequality: Competing functions of Spanish in an Anglo-owned Mexican restaurant. Language in Society 35(2):163-204.
Blommaert, Jan (2007). Sociolinguistics and discourse analysis: Orders of indexicality and polycentricity. Journal of Multicultural Discourses 2(2):115-130.
Bucholtz, Mary (forthcoming). Styling: Language and white youth identities. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Cashman, Holly R. (2008). Accomplishing marginalization in bilingual interaction: Relational work as a resource for the intersubjective construction of identity. Multilingua 27(1-2):129-150.
Chen, Katherine Hoi Ying (2008). Positioning and repositioning: Linguistic practices and identity negotiation of overseas returning bilinguals in Hong Kong. Multilingua 27(1-2):57-75.
Eckert, Penelope (2008). Variation and the indexical field. Journal of Sociolinguistics 12(4):453-476.
Greer, Tim (2008). Accomplishing difference in bilingual interaction: Translation as backwards-oriented medium-repair. Multilingua 27(1-2):99-127.
Gumperz, John J. (1982). Conversational code switching. In Discourse strategies . Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 59-99.
Kiesling, Scott F. (2004). Dude. American Speech 79(3):281-305.
Labov, William (1963). The social motivation of a sound change. Word 19:273-309.
Mendoza-Denton, Norma (1999). Turn-initial no : Collaborative opposition among Latina adolescents. In Mary Bucholtz, A. C. Liang, & Laurel A. Sutton, eds., Reinventing identities: The gendered self in discourse . New York: Oxford University Press. 273-292.
Ochs, Elinor (1993). Constructing social identity: A language socialization perspective. Research on Language and Social Interaction 26(3):287-306.
Rampton, Ben (1998). Language crossing and the redefinition of reality. In Peter Auer, ed., Code-switching in conversation . London: Routledge. 290-320.
Roth-Gordon, Jennifer (2007). Youth, slang, and pragmatic expressions: Examples from Brazilian Portuguese. Journal of Sociolinguistics 11(3):322-345.
Silverstein, Michael (2003). Indexical order and the dialectics of sociolinguistic life. Language and Communication 23(3-4):193-229.