Course Essentials

In order to succeed in this course, you'll need a schedule of participating in our live, in-person class meetings on campus, and regular Internet access to complete and submit some assignments. Computers and/or wi-fi are available on-campus at Cal State Dominguez Hills (CSUDH) for your use.

✅ Our course is *synchronous* with weekly assigned readings--there are 2 scheduled meetings on campus each week to support your learning with live discussions and activities.

✅ All course materials, instructions, and Zoom links (for office hours) are posted to our Canvas course page.

Any updates to the schedule of class meetings and/or office hours--such as campus holidays--will be posted to our course calendar in Canvas.

Course Description

How does language work?

This course is a hands-on, engaging introduction to sociolinguistics and the study of the social life of language, with focus on U.S. and global contexts.

Building upon foundational concepts in sociolinguistic theory, we reflect on our own experiences, and address questions like:

What is a dialect?
How does language change spread within a community and between communities?
What effects do social media and popular television and film series have on interpersonal communication?
How do social factors such as age, gender, sexuality, race, and ethnicity influence the way we perceive language use by others?

In investigating the answers to these questions, students read primary sources, collect their own original data, and critically analyze language use across a range of contexts.

The goals of the course are to provide a grounding in linguistics as a field of study, to provide basic analytic skills for viewing and discussing language from a variety of perspectives, and to bring students to a greater awareness of the relevance of language in our daily lives.

Linguistics has many interdisciplinary connections.

This course counts toward the CSUDH Linguistics major and MA TESOL program.

What passion can you bring to the study of language, culture, and society?

What is your note-taking style?

Your active participation may include note-taking, formulating your own questions, and responding to your peers in discussion.

Course Materials & Textbook

There is no required textbook.

This course aims to examine a range of contemporary social concerns in historical context.
For this reason, we will seek to explore a variety of primary and secondary sources, including original research data, legal documents, research articles, and news reporting.

All assigned readings and materials will be posted to Canvas.

This may include podcasts, videos, blog posts, news articles, and research articles that I will choose in response to our discussion.
I may also provide paper handouts in class, which will be subsequently posted to Canvas.

You are encouraged to approach our course materials critically:

Together, let’s question why information is presented the way it is,
Assess which communities and ways of speaking are (not) represented, and
Evaluate how these readings and materials present a certain perspective on language and/or linguistics.

Building Online Community

Here are some steps to help us work together to make our classroom and use of the Canvas learning platform inviting.

1. Update your Canvas profile! (see this video for instructions)

- - Add a profile picture, and tell us a little bit about you.
  - What's your favorite book? Undergraduate or graduate major?
  - Which languages do you speak or read?

2. Consider how your choices of words and images impact our community.

- - When you participate in our online discussion forums, how do you want others to receive your perspective?
  - Do you like to use .gifs to communicate?

Google Sites

Report abuse