FJ2B035 French Sociolinguistics

Faculty of Arts
Autumn 2025
Extent and Intensity
2/0/0. 5 credit(s). Type of Completion: zk (examination).
In-person direct teaching
Teacher(s)
doc. Christophe Gérard L. Cusimano (lecturer)
Mgr. Adéla Dvořáková (seminar tutor)
Guaranteed by
doc. Christophe Gérard L. Cusimano
Department of Romance Languages and Literatures – Faculty of Arts
Supplier department: Department of Romance Languages and Literatures – Faculty of Arts
Timetable
Mon 10:00–11:40 G21, except Mon 17. 11. to Sun 23. 11.
Prerequisites
Good skills in French. L1 students are admitted.
Course Enrolment Limitations
The course is only offered to the students of the study fields the course is directly associated with.
fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with
there are 12 fields of study the course is directly associated with, display
Course objectives
The purpose of the course is to give an overview of methods and featured subjects in sociolinguistics.
Learning outcomes
After completing the course, a student should be able to :
- identify and summarize the topics studied ;
- write an essay deepening one of the studied topics in the semester.
Syllabus
  • I. History of sociolinguistics
  • 1. Sapir-Whorf hypothesis and the links between language, culture and society
  • 2. “Women, fire and dangerous things": the classifiers
  • 3. Outline of a sociolinguistics: Bernstein, etc.
  • 4. The variationist revolution: Labov
  • II. Conceptual contributions of sociolinguistics
  • 1. Notions of norm/variation, language insecurity, standard and dialects
  • 2. Relations between languages; diglossia; typology of language policies
Literature
  • LABOV, William. The social stratification of English in New York City. 2nd ed. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2006, xii, 485. ISBN 0521821223. info
  • HELLER, Monica. Éléments d'une sociolinguistique critique. Paris: Didier, 2002, 175 s. ISBN 2278053027. info
  • BLANCHET, Philippe. Linguistique de terrain : méthode et théorie : une approche ethno-sociolinguistique. Rennes: Presses universitaires de Rennes, 2002, 145 s. ISBN 2868474829. info
  • LABOV, William. Principles of linguistic change. 1st pub. Malden: Blackwell Pub., 2001, xviii, 572. ISBN 063117916X. info
  • BERNSTEIN, Basil B. Pedagogy, symbolic control and identity : theory, research, critique. Revised edition. Lanham, Maryland: Rowman & Liitlefield Publishers, 2000, xxvi, 229. ISBN 084769576X. info
  • CALVET, Louis-Jean. La sociolinguistique. 3e éd. corr. Paris: Presses universitaires de France, 1998, 127 s. ISBN 2130452515. info
  • Social interaction and discourse structures. Edited by Gregory R. Guy - William Labov. Philadelphia: J. Benjamins, 1997, xviii, 358. ISBN 9789027276018. info
  • Variation and change in language and societypapers in honor of William Labov. Edited by Gregory R. Guy - William Labov. Philadelphia: John Benjamins Pub., 1996, xviii, 436. ISBN 9789027276292. info
  • LABOV, William. Principles of linguistic change. 1st pub. Oxford: Blackwell, 1994, xix, 641. ISBN 0631179143. info
  • GUMPERZ, John Joseph. Engager la conversation : introduction à la sociolinguistique interactionnelle. Translated by Michel Dartevelle - Martine Gilbert - Isaac Joseph. Paris: Les éditions de Minuit, 1989, 185 stran. ISBN 270731286X. info
  • LABOV, William. Sociolinguistic patterns. 1st pub. Oxford: Basil Blackwell, 1978, xxiv, 344. ISBN 0631177205. info
  • LABOV, William. What is a linguistic fact? Lisse: Peter de Ridder Press, 1975. ISBN 903160075X. info
  • BERNSTEIN, Basil B. Class, codes and control. 1st pub. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1971, xiv, 238. ISBN 0710070608. info
Teaching methods
Mainly lectures with discussions and group work. Readings from week to week.
Assessment methods
Continuous assessment, presentation to be made in small groups during the last 2 weeks of the semester + a final essay to be produced during the exam period.
Language of instruction
French
Further comments (probably available only in Czech)
Study Materials
The course is taught annually.
General note: Předmět mohou navštěvovat pouze studenti v 6. semestru, kteří neabsolvovali FJIA023. Předmět je součástí souborné a bakalářské zkoušky.
Teacher's information
Specialized in textual analysis, Christophe Cusimano is grammarian too and has published many textbooks.
The course is also listed under the following terms Autumn 2019, Autumn 2020, Autumn 2021, Autumn 2022, Autumn 2023, Autumn 2024.
  • Enrolment Statistics (recent)
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