WiSe 2526
VL Sociolinguistics
Prof. Dr. Stefan Diemer
Tue 14-16
This lecture offers a general introduction to the discipline of sociolinguistics, with an overview of theory, methods, representatives and research. Extensive examples will serve to illustrate the various sociolinguistic variables and their realizations in a language context. We will also discuss new approaches such as corpus-based and web-based research, as well as potential influences of World Englishes or computer-mediated communication and the role of social variation in EFL. The lecture is ideal as an introduction to various possible research directions and careers in English linguistics.
Important: The lecture will take place on-campus, in-person, with no hybrid or digital options.
There are several excellent introductory textbooks to sociolinguistics (see bibliography), but I do not recommend that you read one at this point. Rather, I would like you to approach the discipline without preconceptions or a particular research angle. Excerpts of textbooks will be available in the Moodle course section
The lecture will conclude with an exam at the end of the semester planned for Tuesday, February 03, at the usual lecture time, 14-16. All materials you need to pass the exam will be available on Moodle. There will be a lecture summary and exam prep session on Tuesday, January 27
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VL Sociolinguistics (WiSe 25/26) - Preliminary Syllabus
1: Introduction: SL in an interconnected world (Oct 21)
2: Interactional SL & Variation (Oct 28)
3: Motivation of change (Nov 4)
4: Developmental and multilingual SL (Nov 11)
! No session on Nov 18 (State Exams)
5: World Englishes: SL and the future of English (Nov 25)
6: Ethnography of communication – Language beyond the text (Dec 02)
7: Conversation Analysis and Sociolinguistics (Dec 09)
8: Variables and SL and AI (Dec 16)
! No session on Jan 06
9: The corpus approach: SL and data (Jan 13)
10: The cognitive approach to SL (Jan 20)
11: Lecture summary and exam prep (Jan 27)
12: Exam (Feb 03)
- DozentIn: Stefan Diemer