Introduction to Language, Culture and Communication

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 
Analyse primary data and case studies
Evaluate ways in which communication can be analysed through language and cultural models
Describe how language and cultural models influence communication
Critically assess key issues and approaches to communication and language in use

Knowledge and Understanding

Having successfully completed this module, you will be able to demonstrate knowledge and understanding of:

theoretical approaches to communication, language and culture
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
mapping of the conceptual and analytical tools which can be used to critically analyse language in use
the intersection between language, culture and communication

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;

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

Study time
Type	Hours
Seminar	24
Independent Study	126
Total study time	150

Resources & Reading list

Internet Resources

Ethnographic Encounters Project: Cultural Knowledge for Language Learners.

Journal Articles

Li Wei (2018). Translanguaging as a practical theory of language. Applied Linguistics, 39(1), pp. 9-30.

(2005). Identity and interaction: A sociocultural linguistic approach. Discourse Studies, 7(4-5), pp. 585-614.

Rampton, B., Maybin, J., & Tusting, K. (2007). Linguistic ethnography: Links, problems and possibilities. Special issue of the Journal of Sociolinguistics, 11(5).

Textbooks

Delamont S. (1995). Appetites and Identities. London: Routledge.

Woolard, K. A. (1989). Double talk: Bilingualism and the politics of ethnicity in Catalonia. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.

Gumperz, J. J., & Hymes, D. (1972). Directions in sociolinguistics: The ethnography of communication. New York: Holt, Rinehart, & Winston.

Goffman, E. (1971). Relations in Public. London: Allen Lane.

Rymes, B. (2014). Communicating beyond language: Everyday encounters with diversity. London and New York: Routledge.

Hymes, D. (1974). Foundations of Socio-linguistics. London: Routledge.

Bonvillain, N (2020). Language, Culture and Communication. Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield.

Copland, F., & Creese, A. (2015).  Linguistic ethnography: Collecting, analysing and presenting data. Los Angeles: Sage.

Grillo, R (2018). Interculturalism and the Politics of Dialogue. Lewes: B and RG Books of Lewes.

Bourdieu, P (1991). Language and Symbolic Power. Cambridge: Polity Press.

Blackledge, A., & Creese, A. (2010). Multilingualism: A critical perspective. London: Continuum.

Tusting, K. (2019). The Routledge Handbook of Linguistic Ethnography. London & New York: Routledge.

Rings, G; Rasinger, S. (2020). The Cambridge Handbook of Intercultural Communication. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Assessment

Summative

This is how we’ll formally assess what you have learned in this module.

Breakdown
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.

Breakdown
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.

Breakdown
Method	Percentage contribution
Essay	50%
Empirical Project	50%

Repeat Information

Repeat type: Internal & External