LSA 348   |   Social Theory and Variation   |   Course Requirements   |   Bibliography   |   HOME   |   Slides

Course Requirements: If you are taking this course for Credit only, you need to attend the classes and sign the attendance sheet. However, for those of you who wish to, we encourage you to join a discussion group as described below. You may write a paper at the end or not, as you wish. If you are taking the course for a grade, you must participate in a discussion group and write a short paper to be submitted the last day of class. Discussion groups: William Labov's 1963 study of Martha's Vineyard is the foundational text in the field of variation. It takes social meaning as central, and it provides rich ethnographic information as well as some big picture correlations of two phonological variables with important social distictions. We will refer frequently to this study, and we expect that students will read it at the very beginning of the course. Like any great study, this one raises many interesting questions. We encourage students to form groups of about 5 people to meet regularly. As we move through our theoretical issues, the groups should discuss what new questions arise and how they would go about studying these questions ethnographically if they were continuing Labov's study (in 1963). Paper Each student taking the course for a grade will submit a short paper (4-5 pages) on the last day of class presenting one or some of these issues and with a brief proposal for studying it.