Moodle

Language and multimodality are intrinsically connected, and non-verbal elements such as gestures, stance, or facial expression are key means of meaning-making. In this seminar we will explore language from a multimodal perspective, using a discourse analysis approach. Face-to-face interaction is still the main mode through which we use and acquire language, and multimodality is indispensable in the dynamic process of meaning-making. Online face-to-face communication allow new possibilities, such as the use of artificial backgrounds or avatars. Visual storytelling has become a key feature of social media channels, and written online environments have promoted the development of auxiliary multimodals such as emojis. Seminar participants will work with existing and new data in order to explore how non-verbal elements contribute to the dynamic meaning-making processes involved in interaction. We will discuss ways of describing, transcribing, and interpreting visual behavior and talk-in-interaction, both in existing and self-compiled datasets. Course requirements are detailed in the respective module descriptions.

Cognitive linguistics challenges many of the basic concepts of traditional linguistics. Instead of explaining meaning in terms of internal relations, it forms categories of meaning by looking at concepts and similarities in the real world as experienced by our cognition. According to the cognitive approach, prototypes identify central features and serve as reference and access points for words, while metaphors and frames are the basic tools by which we organize knowledge.

This lecture offers a general introduction to the discipline of cognitive linguistics, with an overview of theory, methods, representatives and research. Extensive examples will serve to illustrate the central ideas, as well as innovative ways of using the cognitive approach, for example in historical linguistics and applied fields such as language teaching or business communication. In various practical exercises we’ll also put cognitive theory to the test, answering questions such as:

- How do words structure our thinking?
- Why are metaphors so popular in everyday language? 
- How  does “connotation” work?
- What do we think of when we hear “breakfast”? 
- What is the “best” green, and does color perception change with cultural background?
- Why is the color red so popular in advertising?
- What images are used to describe a crisis?

Food plays a key role in human interaction, and the interplay of food and language offers plenty of opportunities for linguistic research. This seminar focuses on the language used in genres related to food, such as recipes, cooking shows and websites, including interactive settings such as conversations over and about meals, food shopping interactions, or tasting sessions. Aspects for study here are lexis, phraseology and semantics, in particular word choice and vocabulary, instructive sequences, current and historical food terminology, evaluative terms, narratives around food, or the role of food in identity construction and rapport building. We will also combine the language perspective with a broader view on discourse, cultural or historical settings, genres and their development, pragmatics, aesthetics, humor, and, in particular, multimodality. Also of interest are applied aspects such as food business and marketing (in particular of novel foods), politics and food policy. After discussing current research approaches such as discourse, critical discourse, conversation, and corpus analysis, students will select an area of food discourse and perform their own analysis based on examples. Course requirements are detailed in the respective module descriptions. A list of topics for presentations and research will be available in the first seminar session.

Discourse analysis examines the relationship between language and its social and cultural context. The use of language is formed by how its users view the world; similarly identity and world views are constructed through discourse. Discourse analysts look at patterns of language across texts or speech using a variety of methods, focusing on sociolinguistic, multimodal, corpus or conversation features. In this seminar, we will examine the various ways in which this linguistic discipline explores language in context with the help of practical examples. 

As part of the seminar, students will also perform hands-on research on discourse in various settings, including online communication, by working with examples and data. Course requirements are detailed in the respective module descriptions. 

Lecturer contact: s.diemer@mx.uni-saarland.de. 

A list of topics for presentations and research will be available in the first seminar session.

Forensic linguistics has become an often used method of profiling and solving crimes on TV, well known in multiple series, from Criminal Minds to How to Get Away with Murder or American Crime Story. However, the real discipline behind this somewhat sensationalist approach is indeed often used to solve serious crimes. It analyzes language in a law context, for example as evidence or in legal discourse, from establishing authorship of anonymous letters or hate mail to discovering the persons responsible for terrorist threats or establishing the authenticity of documents, from wills to texts or emails. It draws upon multiple other linguistic approaches such as sociolinguistics (e.g. establishing genre, register, style, gender or power relationships), corpus linguistics (using online databases), discourse analysis and pragmatics (investigating conversation organisation, humor, paralanguage or idiosyncratic language features) as well as diachronic linguistics, lexicology, graphology and cryptolinguistics. It is a highly interesting career option for students of linguistics who want to work in an applied legal field. The seminar will provide a general introduction to the discipline and look at key issues and applications. Participants will select a research focus and investigate forensic linguistic questions with the help of applied examples and discuss issues related to forensic case work. For detailed course requirements please consult the respective module descriptions.

Lecturer contact: s.diemer@mx.uni-saarland.de.

Dear students,

welcome to the lecture Sociolinguistics. As you are all aware, this summer semester will be a bit different, and lectures will only start from May 05. At this point, we do not yet know whether the lecture will take place on-site at Saarland University or whether we will have virtual sessions, but the plan is to get started with the first topic on May 05 regardless. If we are still prevented from on-site lectures, you will receive the first topics as virtual lecture modules uploaded on the respective lecture days – luckily, the lecture format is quite suitable for that, and that way you can work on the respective topics in your own time once they are uploaded. We will try to provide yo with some interactive features and perhaps some virtual plenaries, if the situation does not change. We are also working on a small intro so you see who will be behind all these slides...

What does this mean for you now? At the moment, you do not have to prepare anything; we will upload some materials such as the syllabus and the intro lecture, as well as some select reading materials. There are several excellent introductory textbooks to sociolinguistics, but we do not recommend that you read one at this point. Rather, we would like you to approach the discipline without preconceptions or a particular research angle.

The lecture will end with an exam at the end of the semester (currently planned for Tuesday, July 21, at the usual lecture time). All materials you need to pass the exam will be available on Moodle.

We are looking forward to the lecture and will see you on May 05 (one way or the other),

All best,

Stefan Diemer & Marie-Louise Brunner

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VL Sociolinguistics (SoSe 20) - Preliminary Syllabus

This lecture offers a general introduction to the discipline of sociolinguistics, with an overview of theory, methods, representatives and research. Extensive examples will illustrate sociolinguistic variables and their realizations in a language context. We will also look at sociolinguistic variation in historical and diachronic settings and discuss new approaches such as corpus-based and web-based research. A wide range of settings will be discussed, including professional communication, social media, World Englishes, English as a Foreign Language, and Lingua Franca contexts. The lecture serves as an introduction to various possible research directions and careers in English linguistics. Lecturer contact: s.diemer@mx.uni-saarland.de.

Topic 1: Introduction: SL in an interconnected world (May 05)

Topic 2: Linguistic variation (May 12)

Topic 3: Motivation of change (May 19)

Topic 4: Developmental and multilingual SL (May 26)

Topic 5: Ethnography of communication (May 26)

Topic 6: Interactional SL (June 02)

Guest Lecture: Critical Discourse Analysis and SL (Massimiliano Demata) (June 09)

Topic 7: Conversation and politeness (June 16)

Topic 8: Variables and realization (June 23)

Topic 9: Gender (June 23)

Topic 10: The corpus approach: SL and data (June 30)

Topic 11: The cognitive approach to SL (July 07)

Topic 12: World English: SL and the future of English (July 14)

Lecture summary and exam prep (July 14)

Exam (July 21)

This exam and research colloquium is offered as a one-day research conference. It offers writers of theses and dissertations a forum for presentation of their work-in-progress in the form of short talks. It also provides future candidates for the oral exams with information about examination procedure and content. During the conference we will also discuss general issues related to theses, the current research context, and explore possible publication and employment opportunities in the field of linguistics. All my exam candidates are encouraged to participate. In addition, student who are thinking about taking their oral exam with me, those students with an interest in ongoing research, and those who are thinking about writing their thesis in linguistics with me are also welcome to attend. In order to have the colloquium recognized as module or module component, you will have to present a 15-minute research talk on a topic in English Linguistics (this can be your thesis topic). Exam candidates can also fulfill the requirement by doing a mock exam. Lecturer contact: s.diemer@mx.uni-saarland.de. 

Discourse analysis examines the relationship between language and its social and cultural context. The use of language is formed by how its users view the world; similarly identity and world views are constructed through discourse. Discourse analysts look at patterns of language across texts or speech using a variety of methods, focusing on sociolinguistic, multimodal, corpus or conversation features. In this seminar, we will examine the various ways in which this linguistic discipline explores language in context with the help of practical examples.

As part of the seminar, students will also perform hands-on research on discourse in various settings, including online communication, by working with corpus data. Course requirements are detailed in the respective module descriptions. Lecturer contact: s.diemer@mx.uni-saarland.de

A list of topics for presentations and research will be available in the first seminar session.

SoSe 19
Kolloquium für Examenskandidaten (Englische Sprachwissenschaft)
Prof. Dr. Stefan Diemer

Date: Fri 12 July 2019, 10-16
Room: C5 3, 4.08

This exam and research colloquium is offered as a one-day research conference. It offers writers of theses and dissertations a forum for presentation of their work-in-progress in the form of short talks. It also provides future candidates for the oral exams with information about examination procedure and content. During the conference we will also discuss general issues related to theses, the current research context, and explore possible publication and employment opportunities in the field of linguistics.

All my exam candidates are encouraged to participate. In addition, student who are thinking about taking their oral exam with me, those students with an interest in ongoing research, and those who are thinking about writing their thesis in linguistics with me are also welcome to attend.

In order to have the colloquium recognized as module or module component, you will have to present a 15-minute research talk on a topic in English Linguistics (this can be your thesis topic). Exam candidates can also fulfill the requirement by doing a mock exam.
Lecturer contact: s.diemer@mx.uni-saarland.de