LING 2221

Language and Society

Course Description

Course information provided by the 2026-2027 Catalog.

In this writing intensive course, we will explore how language and society affect each other. How do class, age, ethnicity, gender, and geography affect the way people speak? Why are some ways of speaking considered prestigious and others stigmatized? How does increased use of online communication and social media affect how we communicate? How are power relations captured in language? How does national policy-e.g., English-only policies-affect both politics and language use? What are the linguistic issues behind the Ebonics debate? In this course, through extensive discussion and various types of writing, we consider these questions both in the context of the United States and other parts of the world.

Enrollment Information Enrollment limited to: graduate and professional students, seniors, juniors, and sophomores; first-years by permission of instructor.

Distribution Requirements (D-AG, SBA-AG), (SCD-AS, SSC-AS)

Last 4 Terms Offered 2024FA, 2022FA, 2021FA, 2020SP

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