Introduction to Sociolinguistics

Penelope Eckert
eckert@stanford.edu
http://www.stanford.edu/~eckert/

Tuesday, Friday 1:30 PM - 3:20

This course is an introduction to socially patterned variation in language, bringing together the insights of social theory and quantitative linguistic data. The focus will be on the construction of meaning through variability. Each class will be based on a theoretical issue, with a social focus that best illustrates the issue. A short Institute course cannot provide the depth of reading that one needs for an introductory course. Required readings for this course have been selected as illustrative but certainly not comprehensive, and greater depth will be provided by references in the class slides. Required readings are available on Canvas, and slides will be posted on Canvas after each class.

Requirements: An attendance sheet will be passed at the beginning of each class. A student must attend 6 out of the 8 classes to pass. Students are expected to complete the readings before the class they're listed under.
There will be two written assignments, due on July 23, and August 1. Assignments are to be uploaded to Canvas.

Please read the LSA statement on sexual harassment.

Slides   7/7   7/11   7/14   7/18   7/21   7/25   7/28   8/1


July 7. Introduction: Language as structure, language as practice.

July 10. Linguistic and social reproduction: A focus on class

Reading:
Labov, William. (1972). The social stratification of (r) in New York City Department Stores. In Sociolinguistic Patterns (ed.) W. Labov. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press.

Rickford, John. (1968). The need for new approaches to social class analysis in sociolinguistics. Language & Communication. 6:3. 215-221.

July 14. The problem with categories: A focus on gender

Reading:
Cameron, Deborah. (1997). Performing gender identity: Young men's talk and the construction of heterosexual masculinity. Language and masculinity, ed. by Sally Johnson and Ulrike Hanna Meinhof, 47-64. Oxford: Blackwell.

Inoue, Miyako. 2002. Gender, language and modernity: Toward an effective history of "Japanese women's language". American ethnologist 29.392-422.

July 18. Social indexicality: A focus on place and persona

Reading:
Zhang, Qing. (2005). A Chinese yuppie in Beijing: Phonological variation and the construction of a new professional identity. Language in society 34:3. 431-66.

July 21. Stylistic practice: A focus on sexuality

Assignment 1 due at noon.
Reading:
Podesva, Robert. (2007). Phonation type as a stylistic variable: The use of falsetto in constructing a persona. Journal of Sociolinguistics, 11(4), 478-504.

Mendoza-Denton, Norma. (1996). Muy macha: Gender and ideology in gang discourse about makeup. Ethnos, 6. 215-221.

July 24. Authenticity, pejoration and appropriation: A focus on ethnicity

Reading:
Bucholtz, Mary. (1999). You da man: Narrating the racial other in the production of white masculinity. Journal of sociolinguistics, 3.443-60.

Hill, Jane H. (1993). Hasta la vista, baby: Anglo Spanish in the American Southwest. Critique of Anthropology, 13, 1

July 28. Language and social change

Reading:
Gal, Susan (1978). Peasant men can't get wives: Language change and sex roles in a bilingual community. Language in Society. 7:1-16.

July 31. Wrap-up: A focus on everything

Assignment 2 due at noon.