Discourse Studies

Year
1
Academic year
2019-2020
Code
02025934
Subject Area
Language/Linguistic/Culture
Language of Instruction
Portuguese
Mode of Delivery
Face-to-face
Duration
SEMESTRIAL
ECTS Credits
10.0
Type
Elective
Level
2nd Cycle Studies - Mestrado

Recommended Prerequisites

Previous training in language and linguistics in the working languages of the course: German, Spanish, French, English or Italian.

Teaching Methods

Shared seminar sessions. Combined lecturing with debate will stimulate the preparation of materials beforehand and develop active critical engagement with them (15% - regular attendance). Individual oral presentation(s) (25%), will also develop analytical, argumentative, and dialogue skills, as well as public exposition. Final essay (20-30 pp., double spaced) on a topic agreed with experts of the chosen language should reveal student's ability to collect data and select relevant bibliography, organize and expose ideas with sophistication and critical positioning (60%).

Learning Outcomes

This seminar provides students with a discursive approach to the study of French, Spanish, German, English and Italian, in interdisciplinary dialogue with cultural and literary studies and guided by specialists in the linguistic areas of their choice. By the end of the seminar, students will have a) learned about the sociolinguistic contexts, as well as historical, cultural, ideological and identitary aspects of their languages of study; b) learned to analyse instances of structure, use and the ongoing construction of value of their chosen language in authentic contexts, in the light of these historical and cultural contexts and the corresponding social conventions and hierarchies; c) identify the legitimizing voices involved in these processes; d) use tools in discourse studies to strengthen critical skills in the performative, linguistic and sociolinguistic analysis; e) develop the ability to conduct rigorous and autonomous research in the fields of language, discourse and society.

Work Placement(s)

No

Syllabus

The seminar focuses on the discursive construction of languages as performative acts of representation, reproduction and reinvention of linguistic value, configured by socio-historical dynamics best understood from a focus on cultural identities. Starting with a linguistic and sociolinguistic introduction to the concepts of language, languages and multilingualism, the course explores three distinct ways of exploring this issue; 1. historical, cultural, sociolinguistic and linguistic representations of language systems, sedimented in time and in space; 2. performative dynamics of language use and negotiation: linguistic acts, discursive negotiation of language resources in offline and online contexts, communicative practices in institutional contexts – state, market and culture; 3. linguistic hegemony and construction of linguistic value as symbolic capital: issues of voice, linguistic inequality, language policies, language repertoires.

Head Lecturer(s)

Maria Clara Bicudo de Azeredo Keating

Assessment Methods

Continuous Assessment
In-class participationand oral presentations: 40.0%
Synthesis work: 60.0%

Bibliography

Ammon, U. D. N., Mattheier, K. J., & Trudgill, P. (2006). Sociolinguistics / Soziolinguistik. Berlin: Walter de Gruyter

Blommaert, J. (2005). Discourse. London: Cambridge University Press

Grillo, R. (2009 [1989]). Dominant Languages: Language and Hierarchy in Britain and France. London: Cambridge University Press

Lodge, A. (1993). French: From Dialect to Standard. London: Routledge

Martin-Jones, M., Blackledge, A., & Creese, A. (2012). The Routledge Handbook of Multilingualism. London: Routledge

Maybin, J., & Swann, J. (2006) TheArtofEnglish: everydaycreativity. London: The Open UniversityPress

Ostler, N. (2005). Empires of the Word: A Language History of the World. London, New York, Toronto and Sydney: HarperPerennial

Testa, E. (2014). L' italiano nascosto. Una storia linguistica e culturale. Torino: Einaudi

Wodak, R., de Cillia, R., Reisigland, M., & Liebhart, K. (2009 [1999]). The Discursive Construction of National Identity. Extended Edition. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press