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

Knowledge and Understanding

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

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
theoretical approaches to communication, language and culture
the intersection between language, culture and communication
methodologies for the study of language in use and its underpinning communicative approaches

Subject Specific Intellectual and Research Skills

Having successfully completed this module you will be able to:

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

Transferable and Generic Skills

Having successfully completed this module you will be able to:

apply critical thinking and problem-solving techniques in order to address new issues and new data; 
work effectively in different modes: carrying out individual research and using this as input to collaborations with partners in seminars

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
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.

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

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

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

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

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.

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

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

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

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

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.

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
Essay	50%
Empirical Project	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