Spanish 612

Topics in Linguistic Variation and Language in Context

Course Area: Linguistics

Course Description:

This class is an advanced research-oriented course in language variation and change. A review of current literature and methodology will be pursued with the idea of applying it to Spanish variation phenomena in any variety of the Spanish speaking world. During the semester we will be examining topics such as:1) The development of sociolinguistic studies in Spanish, 2) Variable rule analysis, 3) Sociolinguistic variation in child language: Becoming part of the speech community, 4) Understanding the spreading sociolinguistic variation: Frequency and lexical diffusion, 5) Perceiving variation: Experimental methods for analyzing phonological variation, 6) Practical application of theoretical concepts: Apparent and real-time constructs, and 7) The role of style in describing sociolinguistic variation. Class time will be divided in lecturing, class discussion, and solving problem exercises.

Prerequisite: S513 or equivalent