Introduction to Sociolinguistics

This course focuses on the study of language in its social context, a branch of Linguistics that is referred to as sociolinguistics. On completion of the course students would have covered topics such as: introduction (basic concepts and issues in sociolinguistics); regional variation; social variation; language change; multilingualism; language and interaction; gender and language; language contact; pidgins, creoles and new Englishes; language planning and policy; language and education; the sociolinguistics of sign language. On completion of the course students would have covered topics such as: introduction (basic concepts and issues in Sociolinguistics); regional variation; social variation; language change; multilingualism; language and interaction; gender and language; language contact; pidgins, creoles and new Englishes; language planning and policy; language and education; the sociolinguistics of sign language.

DP requirements: All written work to be handed in and at least 75% attendance at lectures and tutorials.

Assessment: Continuous assessment (essays, projects, tests, etc.) counts 100%.

The University of Cape Town awards credits based on the National Qualifications Framework (NQF) to determine course and contact hour recommendations per course. 1 NQF credit represents roughly 10 notional hours of work which includes study time, assignments and examinations. Notional hours may very per courses depending on the course level and modality therefore, CEA recommends using NQF credits as a basis to determine U.S. equivalencies (1 NQF=.222 semester credits)