12647 - Sociolinguistics (1)

Academic Year 2018/2019

  • Docente: Nicola Grandi
  • Credits: 6
  • SSD: L-LIN/01
  • Language: Italian
  • Teaching Mode: Traditional lectures
  • Campus: Bologna
  • Corso: First cycle degree programme (L) in Communication Sciences (cod. 8885)

    Also valid for First cycle degree programme (L) in Humanities (cod. 8850)

Learning outcomes

The course aims at giving a knowledge of the social variability of language, from the viewpoint of the language varieties, their social and linguistic features, their relationships in the architecture of a language.

Course contents

The course will deal with the following issues

- The sociolinguistic approach to language facts

- Language and society

- With special reference to Italian: the dimensions of variation of a language, the interaction between language and social variables, the linguistic features which characterize the linguistic varieties

- The relation between language and dialect

- The notions of rule, exception and error and their relative nature (we will focus on communicative consequences of errors, on the relation between social and linguistic errors, on the role of the context in the perception of errors, etc.)

Readings/Bibliography

- Berruto, G. / Cerruti, M. (2015), Manuale di sociolinguistica, Torino, Utet

- Grandi, N. (a cura di) (2015), La grammatica e l'errore, Bologna BUP

-Lessons' notes

Non attending students will read also:

Nettle, S. / Romaine, D. (2001), Voci del silenzio. Sulle tracce delle lingue in via di estinzione, Roma, Carocci

(for attending students this further book is optional)

Teaching methods

In the lectures I'll make use of Power Point presentations that will be available to the students in the website http://campus.unibo.it/

Assessment methods

The final exam is an oral colloquium dealing with the course contents; its aim it to evaluate the critical skills and methodological knowledge gained by the student.

Reaching a clear view of all the course topics as well as using a correct language terminology will be valued with maximum rankings. The capacity of building autonomous paths to connect different topics of the course will be appreciated.
Mnemonic knowledge of the course topics or not completely appropriate terminology will be valued with intermediate rankings.
Unknown topics or inappropriate terminology use will be valued, depending on the seriousness of the omissions, with minimal or insufficient rankings.

All the students will be asked to start from a subject freelychoosen by them.

All the students must register for the exam with Alamesami. The exam can be arranged in sdifferent rounds depending on the number of subscribers.

Teaching tools

Lectures

Office hours

See the website of Nicola Grandi