Department of Spanish and Portuguese

HISP-S 612 Topics in Linguistics: Variation and Language in Context           LINGUISTICS

Prerequisite:  S513 or equivalent  

This class is an advanced research-oriented course in language variation and change focusing on current issues in the study of Hispanic Sociolinguistics. Students will develop a research paper that will address a current issue of sociolinguistic variation depending on his/her interests. Theoretical discussion and practical exercises will be incorporated during the semester with the purpose of encouraging critical thinking and problem-solving skills. Some of the topics to be included are: 1) An overview of socio-phonological variation in Latin America and Spain, 2) Experimental approaches in socio-phonology, 3) Theoretical frameworks to study sociolinguistic variation, 4) An overview of mophosyntactic variation in Latin America and Spain, 5) Variation and Grammaticalization, 6) Acquisition of sociolinguistic variables, 7) Forms of address, 8) Statistical analysis, 9) Sociolinguistics and historical linguistics, and 10) Speech perception and attitudes.  Class time will be divided between lecturing, class discussion, and problem-solving exercises. 

After successful completion of this course, the student will: 

• Refine their understanding of variationist analysis
• Understand recent developments in the study of Hispanic Linguistics
• Be able to understand recent experimental approaches
• Be able to design a research paper, applying appropriate statistical analysis
• Comprehend the acquisition of sociolinguistic variation in child language
• Understand recent research on forms of address, how formal theories model variation, and the role of patterns of lexical diffusion in the spreading of language change
• Comprehend the role of social factors in the study of sociolinguistic phenomena
• Understand recent studies on speech dialect perception 
• Write a final abstract and paper in a professional fashion, and present the results of their research paper in a conference-like setting

HISP-S #32062    1:15P - 2:30P       MW       PV A203  (SPEA)     Prof. Manuel Díaz-Campos