Ateneo - UPO

Linguistic behaviour and social factors

Students who attend the course: (1) Slides and other material uploaded on DIR. (2) Chapters n. 3 (L’italiano regionale), n. 6 (L’italiano dei giovani) and n. 7 (L’italiano dei nuovi media) from: Silvia Ballarè, Ilaria Fiorentini and Emanuele Miola (eds.), Le varietà dell’italiano contemporaneo, Carocci, Roma, 2024. (3) For language and gender issues: (i) Paolo D’Achille and Anna Thornton. 2023. Se c’è il perito, ci deve essere anche la perita (e sono entrambi vivi e vegeti.)! Italiano Digitale 27/4: 1-2.; (ii) Anna Thornton. 2022. Genere e igiene verbale: l’uso di forme con ə in italiano. Annali del Dipartimento di Studi Letterari, Linguistici e Comparati. Sezione linguistica n.s. 11: 11-54. The two papers will be made available on DIR. (4) 1/2 papers to be chosen among those that will be made available on DIR. For more details about Sociolinguistics, attending students can consult: Gaetano Berruto and Massimo Cerruti. 2019. Manuale di sociolinguistica, nuova edizione. UTET/De Agostini, Novara. Beside the bibliographical references mentioned above, students who do NOT attend the course will also study: (5) Gaetano Berruto e Massimo Cerruti. 2019. Manuale di sociolinguistica, nuova edizione. UTET/De Agostini, Novara. (6) Chapter 1 (L’italiano come gamma di varietà) and Chapter 2 (Tendenze di ristandardizzazione) from: Gaetano Berruto, Sociolinguistica dell'italiano contemporaneo, Carocci, Roma, 2012 (new edition). Further reading suggested for consultation: Fabiana Fusco. 2024. Lingua e genere. Carocci, Roma.

The primary goal of this course is to lead students to know topics, aims and methodologies of Sociolinguistics, in order to understand how to identify and analyze several instances of the relationship between language and society and, in particular, the notion of variation as influenced by the so called external factors, such as social and cultural factors, age and gender differences.
A further, more advanced, aim is to develop students’ ability of applying theoretical and methodological principles to the examination of specific case studies, with particular regard to the sociolinguistic of the Italian language.

Students should have basic knowledge of general linguistics.
Those who have never taken an examination in general linguistics must contact the teacher in advance for a syllabus supplement, consisting of an introductory textbook. Fulfilment of these requirements will be preliminarily assessed during the examination.

Lectures and “Web didactic” (DIR). In the course of the lectures, the active involvement of students through the presentation, examination and discussion of linguistic data and case studies is also envisaged, in order to develop the ability to analyze language from a sociolinguistic perspective and to develop communicative skills.

Since the course is conceived of as a seminar, attendance is highly recommended.
Students with physical disabilities, learning disabilities or special education needs can request specific services and tools via the Staff Sviluppo e Coordinamento Carriere e Servizi alle Studentesse e agli Studenti, consulting the University webpage: https://www.uniupo.it/en/services/services-students-physical-or-learning-disabilities
Students with disabilities, learning disabilities or special education needs, once they have contacted the University Staff, can refer to the tutor in charge of the course to define the examination modalities, concerning academic aspects.

The final exam is oral and takes approximately 30 minutes. Candidates will be expected to answer some questions showing knowledge and understanding of the relevant topics, and using appropriate scientific terminology. More precisely, the exam is structured as follows, namely it is made up of 3 sections: Sect. 1 = questions on theoretical and methodological aspects related to sociolinguistics; Sect. 2 = questions on language variation as influenced by external factors; Sect. 3 = analysis and discussion of data on which to test both the theoretical and methodological knowledge acquired and the ability of applying it empirically (mainly on the basis of the material examined during the course and/or the material put on DIR). The final evaluation will be based on the following criteria: use of appropriate scientific terminology = 10%; answers to questions from Section 1 = 20%; answers to questions from Section 2 = 35%; answers to questions from Section 3 = 35%. The exam will be passed successfully if the final grade is equal to or higher than 18/30. To achieve18/30, students must be familiar with the main issues concerning the relationship between language and society, and be able to analyze the relevant data at least at a basic level. To obtain a higher mark, students must demonstrate autonomy of judgment, consistent argumentation and depth of analysis. Exams may be passed with a full grade (30/30) “cum laude” in the case of high accuracy in all answers.

I Part: theoretical and methodological sociolinguistic issues 1. Introduction to the lessons. 2. Basic sociolinguistic notions and preliminary issues on the relationship between language and society. 3. Variation and sociolinguistic variables. 4. Data in Sociolinguistics. Part II: Variation in the Italian language 5. The “architecture” of contemporary Italian. 6. Analysis and discussion of case studies. 7. (Gender mainstreaming) Language, gender and society.

In order to achieve a basic level of knowledge and skills students are required to show what follows: Knowledge and understanding: - to know and understand the preliminary issues and main aspects related to the analysis of the relationship between language and society. Ability to apply knowledge and understanding: - to be able to apply the learned notions to the analysis of language variation as influenced by external factors; - to be able to discuss, at least at a basic level, different linguistic data and case studies showing correlation between language and social or cultural factors. Autonomy of judgment: - to make a judgment about the examined data at a basic level at least. Communicative skills: - to know how to use specific scientific terminology in an appropriate manner. Learning ability: - to learn theoretical and methodological notions in the field of Sociolinguistics, increasing also the ability to analyze empirical data documenting language variation as influenced by external factors, at least with regard to some representative case studies. In order to achieve a more advanced level, students are required to show what follows: - to be able to apply knowledge and understanding showing solid independence of interpretation, evaluation and judgment in the analysis of the relationship between social factors and language use (especially as regards the Italian sociolinguistic situation). - to develop communicative skills at a high level, in order to use exclusively appropriate scientific terminology and to provide a well structured and consistent account of relevant topics.