Resources
Sociolinguistics 2e
Extra Activities
The following list gives example questions and the essay and project titles completed by my students last year. You can use these as ideas for the range of possible topics that are possible, and also to see which areas within sociolinguistics are popular with students at the moment. I encourage my students at Nottingham to generate their own areas for investigation and their own titles, in consultation with me. Obviously, their selection reflects current fashions and also the structure of my own course - though my course is structured very similarly to the Sociolingustics book. Note that some categories overlap, and some essays could appear in two or more categories - in these cases I have gone for the predominant approach of the essay.
Example Questions
- Describe the linguistic practices of a multilingual community. Which strategies are open to them that are not directly available to a monolingual community? You should focus on the social and situational factors that determine the choice of code in these communities.
- Discuss the notions of prestige and stigmatisation in relation to one or more languages, dialects or accents. You might include a discussion of language planning or prescriptivism in your essay.
- What have been the methodological innovations that have allowed urban dialectology to be undertaken? Consider the ideology and methodology of different approaches, and give examples of published studies.
- Describe the effects of language loyalty in one or more specific situations. How has the pressure of standardisation made itself felt in these contexts? You might focus on the effects within the education system of such attitudes and processes.
- What are pidgins and creoles and how are they formed? Give an account of typical pidgin/creole features, discuss their contexts of use, and discuss the various approaches to their classification.
- How could modern insights in sociolinguistics contribute towards an understanding of the historical development of the English language? You should focus on one or two specific areas of historical change.
- What features and strategies are available in modern English to express social relationships, politeness, power, solidarity, class affiliation, personal identity? Choosing ONE or TWO of these factors, illustrate your essay with reference to published studies.
- Give an account of the analysis of natural spoken discourse, focusing on one framework. You should also discuss the range, scope and applicability of this framework critically.
- Describe the ways either African-American Vernacular English (also called Black English, or Ebonics) or British Black English differs from the standard form of English. You should also discuss the consequences of different approaches to the phenomenon.
- Do men and women use language differently? Consider different approaches to the issue, and discuss whether there is variation between male and female language at different linguistic levels.
- Describe the effects of language planning and language loyalty in one or more specific situations. How has the pressure of standardisation made itself felt in these contexts?
- What has been the contribution of sociolinguistics to government language policy and educational policy?
- Give an account of the analysis of natural spoken discourse, focusing on one framework. You should also discuss the range, scope and applicability of this framework critically.
- Should sociolinguists be descriptive or interventionist in their own speech communities?
- What are the ethical responsibilities of sociolinguists?
Essay and Project Titles
Social Aspects of Language Acquisition
Is language the crucial element separating homo sapiens from the apes?
Investigate the social factors involved in language acquisition and examine how they affect a child's ability to learn a language.
Child language acquisition: a sociolinguistic angle.
Codes and Multilingualism
The use of code-switching within a bilingual community.
Discuss Singlish and the controversy surrounding it.
Spanish-English code-switching
The problem of 'Du' and 'Sie' in the German language.
Code choice and multilingualism.
Bilingualism and code-switching.
Black English (US and UK)
The rise of a multi-racial vernacular in modern 'youth' dialect.
A discussion of identity, education and the speech continuum in Jamaica and Great Britain.
An investigation into Black English vernacular and the social networks that contain it.
A theoretical and practical investigation into the usage of Black English vernacular by British white and Asian youth.
A study in BEV in the southern US: characteristics, evolution and social implications.
Educational Linguistics
Social class, language and educational performance.
A critique of Basil Bernstein and dialect prejudice within the UK.
An investigation into the influence of gender and education in the giving of verbal descriptions.
Deficit, deprivation, difference, disadvantage.
The use of restricted code, elaborated code and code-switching in Tony Harrison's V.
Social class, language and education: a study into the language of the working class.
Bernstein, linguistic codes, and education.
Sociolinguistic issues in education.
Gender and Power
Do women and men talk differently: do genderlects exist?
A personal investigation into gendered politeness strategies in interactive conversation.
An assessment of the relationship between feminist linguistics and the Whorfian hypothesis.
Gender and the social register of language.
Feminism and language: a critical study
Why do women speak differently from men?
Can language itself be sexist?
How do women and men talk differently?
A study of the linguistic behaviour of men and women.
Does language create ideologies or is it a product of them: a UK/US gender comparison.
Gender and politeness: women, men and society.
Are linguistic markings for words for women sexist?
Language and gender in radio conversations.
Male and female conversational style.
An investigation into theories of gender divisions in society through language.
To what extent is sexism embodied in the English language, and how does it affect our society?
Politeness
An investigation into perceived levels of formality and its usage in English.
Imprecision as courtesy: how are hedging and vague language used, and are they essential to polite conversation?
Politeness in Friends
Gender and politeness: a discussion of women, men and society.
Accent and Dialect
A study into the stereotypical working-class language of the North and South of England.
A study of swearing and its social factors in the late 20th century.
'A language is a dialect with an army and a navy'. Is this true, and what are the consequences?
Milroy's Belfast study: the social network concept in practice.
A modern sociolinguistic account of Middle English diglossia.
British linguistic representation in American popular culture.
The origins and perception of 'correct' English.
Consider why RP remains the prestige norm in England today.
Evaluative reactions to accents in 1999.
Pidgin and Creole
Pidgin and creole genesis and the nature of language.
At what point should a pidgin or creole be sued as the medium of instruction in schools?
How similar is the lexicalisation of Tok Pisin and Jamaican creole, and what is the significance of this?
How are pidgin and creole languages formed? How important are they to national development?
The colonial socio-historical impact on the linguistic development of pidgin and creole languages.
Media and Literature
A report on a sociolinguistic fieldwork study on television commercials.
The use of accent in television advertising.
Corduroy parents and a four cheese pizza: a sociolinguistic analysis of the humour of Harry Hill.
How Abigail went bird-spotting and hijacked the court: a turn-taking analysis of Miller's The Crucible.
The authority of BBC radio news.
A sociolinguistic study of TV news broadcasts.
Miscellaneous
An analysis of the sociolinguistics of computer-mediated communication.
An examination of the discourse used in internet chatrooms.
Misinterpretation in everyday conversation.
Analysing the 'D' word: euphemism and the grim reaper in newspaper obituaries.
Language as manipulation.
Idioms as a signal of conversational endings.
A sociolinguistic study of the 'F' word in modern English.
Portmanteau words and blends in English.
What is the use of sociolinguistics?