Course Catalogue

View Specification Document | Reading List

This course will focus on the sociolinguistics of the Spanish-speaking world (including Spain, Latin America and the US and language contact situations with Spanish). Students will be introduced to sociolinguistic research methods and will apply sociolinguistic theory across a range of case studies including the Basque Country, Catalonia, Galicia, Andalusia as well as Spanish-speaking communities in the US and in the diaspora.

20 x 1hr sessions across both semesters as scheduled on MyCampus.

This is one of the honours options in SMLC and may not run every year. The options which are running this session are available on MyCampus.

Available to all students fulfilling requirements for honours entry into Spanish and by arrangement to visiting students or students of other Honours programmes who qualify under the University's 25% regulation.

None

None

Group Project: Poster (group mark 15%); Presentation (each student will talk for 5 minutes) (individual mark 15%)

Essay (3000 words) - 70%

Reassessments are normally available for all courses, except those which contribute to the Honours classification. For non-Honours courses, students are offered reassessment in all or any of the components of assessment if the satisfactory (threshold) grade for the overall course is not achieved at the first attempt. This is normally grade D3 for undergraduate students and grade C3 for postgraduate students. Exceptionally it may not be possible to offer reassessment of some coursework items, in which case the mark achieved at the first attempt will be counted towards the final course grade. Any such exceptions for this course are described below. 

This course aims to:

■ provide students with a clear understanding of core theoretical concepts in sociolinguistics;

■ explore the particularities of the sociolinguistic context of the Spanish-speaking world (including Spain, Latin America and the US);

■ introduce students to sociolinguistic research methodologies;

■ enable students to manipulate and apply sociolinguistic theory and practice;

■ investigate cultural context as well as theoretical debates about the relationship between language and society.

By the end of this course students will be able to:

■ express in writing a thorough knowledge of some major developments and debates in the field of sociolinguistics;

■ critically engage with contemporary debates around linguistic diversity and the management of multilingualism in contemporary societies;

■ recognise language policies and ideologies in the Spanish-speaking world;

■ work effectively on a group project to ensure that areas of individual responsibility enhance the work of the project team as a whole;

■ present ideas clearly and analytically both orally and in writing with appropriate citation of sources, uses of evidence and attribution of contribution;

■ apply sociolinguistic theory and practice.

Students must submit at least 75% by weight of the components (including examinations) of the course's summative assessment.