Sociolinguistics

The main goal of the course is to present students with the development and basic areas of sociolinguistics as a recent interdisciplinary linguistic science and the achievements of and current issues facing Slovenian sociolinguistics. Presentation of the methodological approaches and techniques is designed as an introduction to independent research work.

Success in this course is predicated on a knowledge of the fundamentals of general linguistics and the structure of the Slovenian language gained from the General Linguistics and Slovenian Language I and II courses in the first two years of study. In the practical part, a knowledge of phonetics, normativistics and corpus linguistics can be very useful.

During this course the students will be acquainted with:
(1) the terminological apparatus (language and speech community, dialect and standard language, diglossia, idiolect and sociolect, bilingualism, plurilingualism and multilingualism, linguistic variables, etc.);
(2) basic subjects (language policy and language planning, languages in contact, categorisation of language varieties, variationist linguistics, etnography of speaking, discourse analysis, conversation analysis, etc.)
(3) the methodology and techniques of sociolinguistic research (interviews, questionnaires, participant observation, the recording and transcribing of spontaneous speech).
In the context of the development of the profession, the basic research fields in Slovenian sociolinguistics will be presented and evaluated (language policy and language planning, languages in contact, categorisation of Slovenian language varieties).

Students acquire the basic concepts of sociolinguistics. They are capable of designing and carrying out simple sociolinguistic research (e.g. research of standpoints with a survey, observation of speech behaviour, an analysis of recorded language material) and to evaluate its results.

• Ralph Fasold, 1996. The sociolinguistics of language. Oxford – Cambridge: Blackwell. Catalogue E-version
• Florian Coulmas (ur.), 2000. The handbook of sociolinguistics. Oxford – Malden: Blackwell. Catalogue
• Selected chapters from Sociolinguistics: An international Handbook of the Science of Language and Society = Soziolinguistik: Ein Internationales Handbuch zur Wissenschaft von Sprache und Gesellschaft, HSK 3.1–3.3. Berlin – New York: Walter de Gruyter, 22004–2006. Catalogue
• Selected materials from Slovenian sociolinguistics.

Regular homework assignments, two preliminary examinations during the study year, seminar research paper. Successful completion of both preliminary examinations and a research paper are the preconditions for admission to the examination