Module overview
This module will introduce you to the study of language, culture and communication, and the ways in which they are connected. Language is understood as a form of social action that allows us to carry out everyday activities through our communicative practices (construct images of ourselves, make friends, ask for information, convince others, etc.). Communicative practices shape our world, but at the same time are shaped by the different instances that form that world (cultural knowledge, institutions, society, social groups, norms, etc).
Linked modules
This is the year 1 semester 1 core introduction module for the new BA Language, Culture and Communication
Aims and Objectives
Learning Outcomes
Subject Specific Intellectual and Research Skills
Having successfully completed this module you will be able to:
- Apply models of communication to a wide range of language interactions
- Describe how language and cultural models influence communication
- Evaluate ways in which communication can be analysed through language and cultural models
- Critically assess key issues and approaches to communication and language in use
- Analyse primary data and case studies
Transferable and Generic Skills
Having successfully completed this module you will be able to:
- work effectively in different modes: carrying out individual research and using this as input to collaborations with partners in seminars
- apply critical thinking and problem-solving techniques in order to address new issues and new data;
Knowledge and Understanding
Having successfully completed this module, you will be able to demonstrate knowledge and understanding of:
- mapping of the conceptual and analytical tools which can be used to critically analyse language in use
- methodologies for the study of language in use and its underpinning communicative approaches
- the links between meanings, symbols and contexts attached to language in use
- theoretical approaches to communication, language and culture
- the intersection between language, culture and communication
Syllabus
The module will outline the main theories of communication which intersect with language and cultural models. It aims to provide students with a solid introduction to how language in the form of communication works in everyday life and how it shapes, but at the same time is shaped by culture, starting from a wide range of concrete language behaviours from speech communities, multiligualism, language ideologies, discourse, social power and control to more social practices.
Learning and Teaching
Teaching and learning methods
There will be a lecture and a seminar each week. The lectures will introduce the key elements of each research method and the seminars will cement this knowledge through group discussions, readings and practical tasks.
Learning activities include:
- Completing specified preparatory reading tasks;
- Individual and collaborative critique of research design in published studies of language and communication
- Practical exercises, group discussions and class debates on selected topics;
- Analysis of empirical data
| Type | Hours |
|---|---|
| Independent Study | 126 |
| Seminar | 24 |
| Total study time | 150 |
Resources & Reading list
Internet Resources
Ethnographic Encounters Project: Cultural Knowledge for Language Learners.
Journal Articles
(2005). Identity and interaction: A sociocultural linguistic approach. Discourse Studies, 7(4-5), pp. 585-614.
Li Wei (2018). Translanguaging as a practical theory of language. Applied Linguistics, 39(1), pp. 9-30.
Rampton, B., Maybin, J., & Tusting, K. (2007). Linguistic ethnography: Links, problems and possibilities. Special issue of the Journal of Sociolinguistics, 11(5).
Textbooks
Grillo, R (2018). Interculturalism and the Politics of Dialogue. Lewes: B and RG Books of Lewes.
Tusting, K. (2019). The Routledge Handbook of Linguistic Ethnography. London & New York: Routledge.
Copland, F., & Creese, A. (2015). Linguistic ethnography: Collecting, analysing and presenting data. Los Angeles: Sage.
Gumperz, J. J., & Hymes, D. (1972). Directions in sociolinguistics: The ethnography of communication. New York: Holt, Rinehart, & Winston.
Rings, G; Rasinger, S. (2020). The Cambridge Handbook of Intercultural Communication. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Bourdieu, P (1991). Language and Symbolic Power. Cambridge: Polity Press.
Blackledge, A., & Creese, A. (2010). Multilingualism: A critical perspective. London: Continuum.
Rymes, B. (2014). Communicating beyond language: Everyday encounters with diversity. London and New York: Routledge.
Goffman, E. (1971). Relations in Public. London: Allen Lane.
Woolard, K. A. (1989). Double talk: Bilingualism and the politics of ethnicity in Catalonia. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.
Hymes, D. (1974). Foundations of Socio-linguistics. London: Routledge.
Delamont S. (1995). Appetites and Identities. London: Routledge.
Bonvillain, N (2020). Language, Culture and Communication. Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield.
Assessment
Summative
This is how we’ll formally assess what you have learned in this module.
| Method | Percentage contribution |
|---|---|
| Essay | 50% |
| Empirical Project | 50% |
Referral
This is how we’ll assess you if you don’t meet the criteria to pass this module.
| Method | Percentage contribution |
|---|---|
| Empirical Project | 50% |
| Essay | 50% |
Repeat
An internal repeat is where you take all of your modules again, including any you passed. An external repeat is where you only re-take the modules you failed.
| Method | Percentage contribution |
|---|---|
| Essay | 50% |
| Empirical Project | 50% |
Repeat Information
Repeat type: Internal & External