Postgraduate Course: Issues in Applied Linguistics (LASC11028)
Course Outline
| School | School of Philosophy, Psychology and Language Sciences |
College | College of Humanities and Social Science |
| Course type | Standard |
Availability | Available to all students |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 11 (Postgraduate) |
Credits | 10 |
| Home subject area | Language Sciences |
Other subject area | None |
| Course website |
None |
Taught in Gaelic? | No |
| Course description | This course examines some of the key ongoing debates in current applied linguistics, focussing on issues of identity, linguistic imperialism, globalisation and the spread of English, the politics of text and pedagogy, the politics of difference, as well as the proper limits of the discipline.
CORE TEXTS: Both are available in e-book form through University Library catalogue, or alternatively can be
purchased at Blackwell¿s on South Bridge.
(L&I) Joseph, John E. (2004) Language and Identity: National, Ethnic, Religious. Houndmills & New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
(L&P) Joseph, John E. (2006) Language and Politics. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.
¿ Other readings are in journals available on-line through University Library catalogue or will be supplied on LEARN.
Feedback Events:
Feedback is provided throughout the semester in a variety of forms: please have a look at http://www.enhancingfeedback.ed.ac.uk/students/faqs.html for helpful information on what is in fact a two-way process. During the semester, the most important opportunity for feedback is when you are invited to raise any questions or points for discussion in class. Segments of two class sessions will also be reserved for ¿feed-forward¿, i.e. advice and discussion of the final assessment projects. You are also welcome to come to see me to ask questions or discuss your understanding of the course material at any time. |
Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites |
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Co-requisites | |
| Prohibited Combinations | |
Other requirements | None |
| Additional Costs | None |
Information for Visiting Students
| Pre-requisites | None |
| Displayed in Visiting Students Prospectus? | No |
Course Delivery Information
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| Delivery period: 2014/15 Semester 1, Available to all students (SV1)
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Learn enabled: Yes |
Quota: None |
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Web Timetable |
Web Timetable |
| Course Start Date |
15/09/2014 |
| Breakdown of Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) |
Total Hours:
100
(
Lecture Hours 22,
Feedback/Feedforward Hours 1,
Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 2,
Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours
75 )
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| Additional Notes |
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| Breakdown of Assessment Methods (Further Info) |
Written Exam
0 %,
Coursework
100 %,
Practical Exam
0 %
|
| No Exam Information |
Summary of Intended Learning Outcomes
Students who complete the course successfully will in the first instance gain a solid and nuanced understanding of:
- the key literature relating to language in its political and identity dimensions, within the context of education and society
- key concepts, methods and theories in contemporary work in these areas
- how to apply these concepts, methods and theories in original research on issues regarding language, politics and identity in the educational and social context, in a way that sheds critical light back upon the concepts, methods and theories themselves
- the connections among language choice, standard language and national identity
- the principal issues that arise in language planning and language testing
- the current situation regarding the global spread of English and how it impacts on education and on the study of other modern languages
- the notion of ¿resistance¿ and what it entails in both educational and textual terms
- the educational and social implications of code-switching |
Assessment Information
One 2,500 word project
Assessment Deadline: TBC
Word limit: No more than 10% deviation from the word limit is allowed in either direction, any more or less will be penalised at a rate of 1% of the mark per word
Assessment Return Date: TBC |
Special Arrangements
| None |
Additional Information
| Academic description |
Not entered |
| Syllabus |
CONTENT OF THE COURSE ¿ SYLLABUS
Week 1. 16 Sep.: NO MEETING.
Week 2. 27 Sep.: The functions of language; outline history of grammar and education; Edinburgh applied linguistics. Reading: L&I, chs 1-2; L&P, chs 1-2.
Week 3. 3 Oct.: Language, psychology, society and education; the beginnings of modern linguistics; the linguistic sign and indexicality. Reading: L&P, ch. 3; L&I chs. 3-4; Jean Piaget, ¿The Functions of Language in Two Children of Six¿ (excerpt), chap. 1 of The Language and Thought of the Child, transl. by Marjorie & Ruth Dabain, 3rd ed., 1-13 (London & New York: Routledge & Kegan Paul; Humanities Press, 1959); Lev S. Vygotsky, ¿Piaget¿s Theory of Child Language and Thought¿, chap. 2 of Thought and Language, ed. & transl. by Eugenia Hanfmann & Gertrude Vakar, 9-24 (Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press, 1962) (on LEARN).
Week 4. 10 Oct.: Linguistic naturalism and nativism; the ¿genius¿ of a language; typological limits. L&P ch. 4; John E. Joseph & Frederick J. Newmeyer, ¿¿All Languages Are Equally Complex¿: The Rise and Fall of a Consensus¿, Historiographia Linguistica 39/2-3 (2012), 341-368 (on-line via University Library).
Week 5. 17 Oct.: Native speakers. Guest lecture by Professor Emeritus Alan Davies. Reading: Alan Davies, Native Speakers and Native Users: Loss and Gain (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2013), chaps. 2 & 3 (on LEARN).
Week 6. 24 Oct.: The metaphor of scale and the discursive politics of making and contesting languages; how languages get their mojo. L&I ch. 5; Jan Blommaert, Sociolinguistic Scales (Working Papers in Urban Languages and Literacies, Paper 37, 2006)
http://www.kcl.ac.uk/innovation/groups/ldc/publications/workingpapers/37.pdf
Week 7. 31 Oct.: The politics of correct/proper/standard language; the hauntology of language and identity. L&P, ch. 5; Mary Bucholtz & Kira Hall, ¿Identity and Interaction: A Sociocultural Linguistic Approach¿, Discourse Studies 7/4-5 (2005), 585-614. Project topic areas issued.
Week 8. 8 Nov.: World English(es) and resistance; othering. L&I, chs 6-7. John E. Joseph, ¿Alien Species: The Discursive Othering of Grey Squirrels, Glasgow Gaelic, Shetland Scots and the Gay Guys in the Shag Pad¿. Language and Intercultural Communication 13/2 (2013), 182-201.
Week 9. 14 Nov.: Language rights. Lars Anders-Baer, in cooperation with Ole Henrik-Magga, Robert Dunbar & Tove Skutnabb-Kangas, ¿Forms of Education of Indigenous Children as Crimes against Humanity?¿, paper read to Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, Seventh session, (New York, 21 April¿2 May 2008)
http://www.un.org/esa/socdev/unpfii/documents/E_C19_2008_7.pdf. Feed-forward on assessment projects.
Week 10. 21 Nov.: The social and the individual in language; propaganda and agency; L&I, ch. 8; L&P, chs 6-7. Michael Silverstein (2003), ¿Indexical Order and the Dialectics of Sociolinguistic Life¿, Language & Communication 23/3-4: 193-229 (on-line via University Library);
Week 11. Troubling clarity. Patti Lather, ¿Troubling Clarity: The Politics of Accessible Language¿, Harvard Educational Review 66/3 (1996), 525-545, repr. in John E. Joseph (ed.) Language and Politics: Major Themes in English Studies, vol. 4, 199-224 (London & New York: Routledge, 2010). Feed-forward on assessment projects/Review for exam. |
| Transferable skills |
Not entered |
| Reading list |
Not entered |
| Study Abroad |
Not entered |
| Study Pattern |
Not entered |
| Keywords | Not entered |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Miss Angela Gayton
Tel: (0131 6)51 4878
Email: a.m.gayton@ed.ac.uk |
Course secretary | Miss Toni Noble
Tel: (0131 6)51 3188
Email: Toni.noble@ed.ac.uk |
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