In this course students are introduced to a variety of perspectives on language as socially-embedded practice and to the different research methodologies associated with these. Students will develop the skills to analyse and interpret texts of their own choosing, to critique these from a social perspective and to consider how discourse analysts can make a contribution to pressing social issues.  

10 x 2hr seminars over 10 weeks as scheduled on MyCampus.

N/A

N/A

Practical skills exercise (Length of text/size of data base proportional to detail of mark-up) - 25%

Written Assignment (4000 words) - 75% 

This course aims to:

■ Introduce the fundamental assumptions of critical perspectives on language and communication and to outline the main theoretical and research trajectories which have been developed over the last half century;

■ Enable students to recognise the linguistic aspect of social contexts and the social relevance of linguistic theories  

■ Provide practical skills in analysing and interpreting texts as socially-embedded practices   

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

■ Distinguish and evaluate the most significant approaches to critical linguistics in the last half century

■ Critically compare and evaluate seminal texts in the field 

■ Develop and present critically informed research questions for the analysis of texts as socially-embedded practice 

■ Identify and collect relevant data

■ Identify and carry out analytical methods appropriate to the data set and research questions 

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