This course examines the interplay between language and education in schooling environments around the world. Drawing on a variety of sociolinguistic approaches, we will consider how language becomes a resource for (re)producing and transforming dominant social norms, values, and identities in school-based interactions, curricular materials, and education policies across cultures. In addition to reviewing assigned readings and participating in class discussions, you will take part in hands-on analyses of educational discourse and engage in self-directed research
on topics related to language and education.
This course examines the complex interplay between language and the political sphere. Drawing on conversation analysis, interactional sociolinguistics, critical discourse analysis, and multimodal discourse analysis, we will investigate how various linguistic features relate to political identities and ideologies across genres of political discourse, including speeches, interviews, debates, campaign ads, and the media. In addition to reviewing assigned readings and participating in class discussions, you will take part in data analysis and peer review workshopsand engage in self-directed research on topics related to language and politics. The course will culminate in a final empirical research project, in which you will research a course topic of your choice and present your findings in an academic paper and presentation.
This course examines the intersection of language with gender and sexuality. By integrating a variety of theoretical and analytical perspectives from sociolinguistics and gender theory, we will explore how gender and sexual identities and ideologies are enacted in and through language use across contexts. Through readings, lectures, group discussions, and hands-on data workshops, we will cover topics such as: the discursive construction of gender, the (re)production of and resistance to (hetero)sexism in interaction, the intersectionality of language, gender, sexuality, race, ethnicity, and class, and the growth of language and gender research over time. In addition to taking part in reading discussions and data sessions, you will complete two short assignments on self-selected pieces of data throughout the semester.
This course offers a general overview of the most pertinent issues of diversity in schooling through a discourse analytic lens.The course examines the nature of classroom interaction and student identity construction, issues in and approaches to scaffolding learning among minoritized student populations, and the reinforcement of and resistance to dominant ideologies and social structures in the classroom. We will explore how differences in language, culture, race, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, and ability are enacted and discussed in classrooms in the U.S. and abroad, with the goal of developing a deeper understanding of the issues teachers and students face in diverse educational contexts. In addition to taking part in reading discussionsand data sessions,youwill conductindependent projects on diversity in classroom interaction.
This course focuses on discourse analytic approaches to the study of inclusion and exclusion in social interaction. We will explore how interactants engage in (tacitly) inclusive and exclusionary practices as they orient to constructs such as race, ethnicity, class, gender, sexuality, age, ability. We will review classic and current research on inclusion/exclusion across contexts (e.g., ordinary interaction, education, media, etc.) and within a range of discourse analytic frameworks, including conversation analysis, membership categorization analysis, discursive psychology, critical discourse analysis, and interactional sociolinguistics. In addition to taking part in reading discussions and data sessions, you will design and carry out your own study on inclusion/exclusion in interaction using your own data or data from archived sources.
The analysis of social interaction has long had a “logocentric” perspective – prioritizing words as people’s key resources for communication. This course moves beyond the logocentric view to explore how interactants integrate an array of visual and auditory resources, including hand and facial gestures, physical materials, space, images, sounds, and words to pursue social actions and enact their identities and relationships. We will survey multimodal research on video-recorded interactions in a variety of settings (e.g., casual gatherings, service encounters, health care, education, entertainment, etc.). Through this process, we will build skills for collecting, transcribing, editing, analyzing, and presenting multimodal data. In addition to taking part in reading discussions, analyses, and data sessions, students will conduct independent projects on multimodal interaction based on their own or publicly available data.
This course/seminar investigates the relationship between discourse and power in a variety of institutions, including legal, medical, political, corporate, and educational. Drawing on microanalytic frameworks of conversation analysis and interactional sociolinguistics, we will explore the discursive re-production and transformation of institutional power (a)symmetries, norms, and objectives. In this process, we will consider the practical problems and solutions for (re)negotiating institutional power (a)symmetries, and we will reflect on key methodological issues, analytical procedures, and ethical concerns in examininginstitutional discourse and power. In addition to taking part in reading discussions and data sessions, youwill design and carry out an independent microanalytic study of discourse and power in an institutional context of your choice. If taking the course LING 6316, you will have the option of forming your study asan academic paper or a training video for institutional stakeholders. If taking the seminar LING 8316, you will write-up your study as a manuscript that could be submitted to an academic journal.