SAKS014 Current Topics in American Linguistics

Faculty of Arts
Spring 2021
Extent and Intensity
0/2/0. 6 credit(s). Type of Completion: zk (examination).
Teacher(s)
prof. Mgr. Jan Chovanec, Ph.D. (lecturer)
Guaranteed by
prof. Mgr. Jan Chovanec, Ph.D.
Center for North American Studies – Department of English and American Studies – Faculty of Arts
Contact Person: Tomáš Hanzálek
Supplier department: Center for North American Studies – Department of English and American Studies – Faculty of Arts
Timetable
Wed 16:00–17:40 G31
Course Enrolment Limitations
The course is only offered to the students of the study fields the course is directly associated with.

The capacity limit for the course is 20 student(s).
Current registration and enrolment status: enrolled: 0/20, only registered: 0/20
fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with
there are 10 fields of study the course is directly associated with, display
Course objectives
The course aims to enable students to understand some selected issues related to language in the USA. The course addresses the specific nature of American English and its territorial/social diversification. It outlines the development and the current state of African American Vernacular English. The course applies the functional approach to language (sociolinguistics, discourse analysis), and also addresses such cultural and social issues connected to language and commmunication in the USA as language and law, humour, political discourse, gender, etc.)
Learning outcomes
Students will be able to:
- see the continuity of the development of the discipline of linguistics in the USA
- undestand the current state of linguistics in the USA
- interpret some modern issues and apply the methodology of approaches of modern American linguistics to current material (mainly in the area of sociolinguistics - language and gender, language and law, language and humour)
- understand the specific nature of communication in the North-American cultural milieu.
Syllabus
  • 1. Linguistics in the USA – historical overview (anthropological linguistics) 2. Linguistics in the USA – current approaches and paradigms (conversation analysis and sociolinguistics) 3. American English – origins and developments 4. Regional variation and American English dialects 5. Social and ethnic dialects, AAVE 6. Language and gender, communities of practice 7. Language and gender – case studies 8. Language and law – trademark linguistics 9. Language, media and politics 10. Language and humour 11. Intercultural pragmatics 12. Intercultural communication – North American patterns of communication
Literature
    required literature
  • WOLFRAM, Walt and Natalie SCHILLING-ESTES. American English : dialects and variation. 2nd ed. Malden, Mass.: Blackwell Publishing, 2006, xv, 452. ISBN 1405112662. info
  • Language in the USA : themes for the twenty-first century. Edited by Edward Finegan - John R. Rickford. First published. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2004, xviii, 502. ISBN 052177747X. info
    not specified
  • WOLFRAM, Walt and Jeffrey REASER. Talkin' tar heel : how your voices tell the story of North Carolina. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2014, xiii, 331. ISBN 9781469614366. info
  • American voices : how dialects differ from coast to coast. Edited by Walt Wolfram - Ben Ward. 1st pub. Malden: Blackwell, 2006, xiii, 269. ISBN 1405121092. info
  • WOLFRAM, Walt and Ralph W. FASOLD. The study of social dialects in American English. Englewood Cliffs: Prentice-Hall, 1974, xv, 239 s. ISBN 0-13-858787-6. info
Teaching methods
seminar work, discussions, class presentation
Assessment methods
assignments during the term, active participation in discussions, written exam (an essay/test)
Language of instruction
English
Further comments (probably available only in Czech)
Study Materials
The course is taught annually.
Information on course enrolment limitations: Předmět si nemohou zapsat studenti Bc. studia AJ
  • Enrolment Statistics (recent)
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