CRJ 7350 - Forensic Sociolinguistics

Credit Hours: 3

This course investigates how language shapes and is shaped by society. The course presents a general overview of the field of sociolinguistics, then focuses in depth on three major approaches: quantitative sociolinguistics (variation analysis), discourse analysis (analysis of conversations, narratives, and other connected speech/writing), and pragmatics (analysis of language in context, how people derive meanings from both context and the linguistic signal). The student will become acquainted with the major literature and research methods in the field and will learn how to apply their knowledge to designing and conducting an original sociolinguistic study. The student will also learn about applications of sociolinguistic knowledge beyond academia, including areas such as language policy and planning (including issues related to bi- and multilingualism and language endangerment), language and education (including teaching the standard language to native speakers of nonstandard dialects), and language and the law, especially the analysis of language evidence (e.g. ransom notes, threatening emails and text messages).