(Cross-listed as SOAN 040B)

This course is an introduction to the connection between language in its social context and an examination of the ways in which language both shapes and is shaped by the world we live in. Students will be introduced to a variety of sociolinguistic methodologies and perspectives including ethnography, variationist sociolinguistics, and attitudinal surveys. Topics to be examined include the following: How do we create our intersecting identities when we use language? How do social factors such as age, ethnicity, and socioeconomic class influence the way people use language? How do individual speakers use language differently in different situations? How do social and regional dialects differ from each other, and why? How does language change spread within and between communities? How does language policy and ideology impact patterns of language use?