Topics in the Study of Language and/or Rhetoric
Term 1
TTh, 12:30 p.m.
This course introduces the way language functions in society. We study topics ranging from regional dialects, the effects of social class, gender, age or ethnicity on language use, multilingualism, contact languages, creoles, to the structure and strategies of everyday spoken conversations and text messages. Students complete two data-based assignments: one on recording and analyzing a conversation to demonstrate how social group membership is reflected in language and one on collecting data from computer-mediated discourse to explore how language is used in contemporary society. There is one mid-term test and a final exam. The prescribed books are Stockwell (2004) and Wardhaugh & Fuller (2015). More details are available on the course website on connect.ubc.ca.
