This course can be used towards the Sociocultural Dimensions major or minor requirements.
The main goal of this seminar is to discuss a range of theories and approaches in relation to what is generally called "social meaning" in language use/practice, in contrast to "referential/denotational mean" or "content meaning". Particular attention will be given to research and literature in the overlapping fields of linguistic anthropology and sociolinguistics. In terms of theoretical issues that are important in understanding how linguistic forms and practices take on meaning and become meaning-making resources, we will deal with indexicality, indexical order, indexical field, enregisterment, style, stance, interdiscursivity and dialogism, metadiscourse, and language ideology (as it plays a crucial role in all of the foregoing areas). In addition, by drawing on the insights from these theoretical and conceptual tools, we will discuss how to link linguistic analysis at the so-called "micro" level to socio-cultural processes and structures at the "macro" level. With regard to analytical approaches to social meaning, we will discuss research in sociolinguistic variation (quantitative analysis of meaning), discourse analysis, and experimental studies on perception and interpretation of meaning. In addition to familiarizing with the theories and analytical approaches, we'll also analyze data from the participants' ongoing projects or linguistic materials that are potentially interesting to students. The course provides both an opportunity to survey the latest developments in the investigation of meaning-making through language as well as an opportunity to (re)examine our own data by applying some of the theories and methods learned from the course. By the end of the course, participants will be equipped with a conceptual and methodological tool kit for investigating the social meaning of language in use. This course would be of interest to students at various stages of their graduate career: pre-dissertation and Masters students, students writing research grants, and those in post-fieldwork and write-up stage.
Identical to: SLAT 585