SELCS

Language and Ideology


Course code: ELCS4013
Level: Advanced
Term: taught in Term 1

Course Description:
The study of language and ideology has developed as a subfield of sociolinguistics and is linked to issues of language and power, identity, ethnicity and discourse.
The aims of this course are threefold: students will develop an understanding of:

(1) the role of language in the development of cultural identity and nation states, which is linked to,

(2) ideologies about language and,

(3) language as a vehicle for ideology.

In block one, we will look at the role language has historically played in the development of regions, nation states and the EU; its application in state-funded language and cultural institutions (e.g. Académie Française, Goethe Institute; Dutch Language Union) and the production of codification material (e.g. grammars, dictionaries, language learning material); as well as language policy (e.g. education in multilingual settings).

Block two will focus on analysing popular discourse about language, with regard to the acceptance of standard languages versus regional, social or ethnic variation, and attitudes towards minority languages and their speakers.
Finally, in block three, we will consider the role language plays today in the perpetuation of (mainstream) ideologies (e.g. neo-liberalism, sexism, racism) by taking a critical discourse analysis (Fairclough 1989) approach to examples of popular discourse and representation.

Students will be given the opportunity to conduct independent research into their respective language backgrounds and produce case studies.

Tutor: Christine Sas.

Mode of Assessment: 2 assessed essays of 3000 words each

Initial bibliography:

  • Barbour Stephen, Carmichael Cathie. Language and Nationalism in Europe. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000.
  • Block, David [et al]. Neoliberalism and Applied Linguistics. London / New York: Routledge, 2012.
  • Blommaert, Jan. The Sociolinguistics of Globalization. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2010.
  • Blommaert, Jan (ed.). Language ideological debates. Berlin/ New York: Mouton de Gruyter, 1999.
  • Cameron Deborah. Verbal Hygiene. London/New York: Routledge, 1995.
  • Cameron Deborah (ed.). The Feminist Critique of Language. A Reader. London: Routledge, 1998.
  • Council of Europe. European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. Online, 1992.
  • Duchêne, A., Heller, M.. Language in Late Capitalism. London / New York: Routledge, 2011.
  • Durand, Jacques: 'Linguistic Purification, the French Nation-State and the Linguist'. in: Hoffman, Charlotte (eds), Language, Culture and Communication in Contemporary Europe. Clevedon: Multilingual matters, 1996.
  • Fairclough Norman. Language and Power. Harlow: Longman, 2001.
  • Gee, James Paul. Social Linguistics and Literacies. Ideology in Discourses. London: Routledge, 2011.
  • Jaworski Adam, Coupland Nikolas (eds). The Discourse Reader. London: Routledge, 2002.
  • Hoffman, Charlotte (ed.). Language, Culture and Communication in Contemporary Europe. Clevedon: Multilingual matters, 1996.
  • Kryzanowski, Michal, Wodak, Ruth. Hegemonic Multilingualism in/of the EU Institutions. An Inside-Outside Perspective on European Language Policies and Practises. in: Wodak, Ruth, Stegu, Martin (eds). sprache im context . Frankfurt: Peter Lang, 2010, pp. 115-134.
  • Mar-Molinero, Clare. Subverting Cervantes. Language Authority in Global Spanish. In: International Multilingual Research Journal. Vol 2, Issue 1-2, [Special Issue: Spanish as a Global Language], 2008, pp. 27-47.
  • Özkırımlı Umut. Theories of Nationalism: A Critical Introduction. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2010.
  • Patrick Stevenson. Language and German Disunity. A Sociolinguistic History of East and West in Germany, 1945–2000. Oxford: OUP, 2002.
  • Pütz, Martin, Neff-van Aertselaer, JoAnne, Van Dijk, Teun A. (eds). Communicating Ideologies. Multidisciplinary Perspectives on Language, Discourse, and Social Practice. New York: Peter Lang, 2004.
  • Ricento Thomas (ed.) (2000). Ideology, politics and language policies: focus on English. Amsterdam: John Benjamins
  • Schieffelin Bambi B, Woolard Kathryn A, Kroskrity Paul V (eds.). Language ideologies : practice and theory. New York / Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1998.
  • Vogl, Ulrike, Hüning, Matthias. 'One Nation, One Language? The Case of Belgium', in: Dutch Crossing, 34 (2010), pp. 228-47.
  • Wodak, Ruth (2007). 'Language and Ideology – Language in Ideology', in: Journal of Language and Politics. Vol 6:1, pp. 1-5. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.
  • Woolard, Kathryn A. . Double talk: Bilingualism and the politics of ethnicity in Catalonia. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 1989.