ESL 7502 - Language and Society

Focus on the varieties of language and how they reflect social patterns. Explore the importance of language in all our interactions. Examine the social nature of language, and how language reflects social situations. Study the issues of language and social class, ethnic group, and gender, as well as topics in language and nationality, language and geography, and the social nature of writing. Learn to pay particular attention to the social-linguistic situations of second language learners (i.e., those who are not native speakers of a socially dominant language or dialect) as well as the sociolinguistics of language in the classroom.

Target audience: language arts, modern language, and ESL teachers, K-adult.
Credits: (4 credits)