Enrico Grazzi Lingua e Traduzione Inglese I LCMC 6 Cfu A.A. 2016-17

Wednesdays 9 am / 11 am Room B Lesson 1 Feb. 28, 2017 Textbook: Mooney, A. & Evans, B. (2015). Language, Society & Power: an Introduction (4° ed.). Abingdon: Routledge ISBN 978-0-415-74000-5 Web: www.routledge.com/cw/mooney Tuesdays 11 am / 1 pm Room B Wednesdays 9 am / 11 am Room B Meet me on Tues. 10 am / 11 am Room 3.09 E-mail: enrico.grazzi@uniroma3.it Web: http://lingueletteratureculturestraniere.uniroma3.it/bacheca/egrazzi/

Key question: What is language? Chapter 1 Language? Key question: What is language? Brainstorming Discuss the following point: Language varies depending on the people using it, the task at hand, and the society in which it all takes place. (p. 1)

Norman Fairclough (1999: 73) Critical awareness of language Critical awareness of language arises with the normal ways people reflect on their lives as part of their lives. To understand power, persuasion and how people live together, a conscious engagement with language is necessary. That is, critical thinking about language can assist in resisting oppression, protecting the powerless and building a good society.

Ferdinand de Saussure (1966: 7) In the lives of individuals and societies , speech is more important than anything else. That linguistics should continue to be the prerogative of a few specialists would be unthinkable – everyone is concerned with it in one way or another. This refers to the meaning of the words used (semantics) but also the context in which the words are used.

What language can tell us about The study of the sounds of speech and their production, combination, description, and representation by written symbols (phonetics) The study of the distribution and patterning of speech sounds in a language and of the tacit rules governing pronunciation (phonology) The ways in which we order specific words to create logical, meaningful sentences (syntax) the form and structure of words in a language, especially the consistent patterns of inflection, combination, derivation and change, etc. (morphology) The way words are used, classified, and structured together to form coherent written or spoken communication. (grammar = syntax + morphology) The study of meaning, changes in meaning, and the principles that govern the relationship between sentences or words and their meanings (semantics)

What language can tell us about The study of language as it is used in a social context (pragmatics) The study of the languages of particular ethnic groups and the relationships between language and culture (ethnolinguistics and anthropology) How our brains understand and process language (psycholinguistics) How we learn/teach languages (applied linguistics) How social factors affect the way people use language (sociolinguistics) How it might be possible to have a conversation with a computer (artificial intelligence) What is distinctive about literature and poetry (stylistics) The structure of verbal and non-verbal languages (semiotics) The relationship between words and meaning and the ‘real’ world (philosophy) Whether someone is guilty of a criminal offence (forensic linguistics)

Language as a rule-governed system Linguistics is descriptive, not prescriptive Languages change; building codes vary Chomsky: competence (grammar) and performance (individual speaker’s use of language) Recursivity: process of change and innovation of languages.

Classification of language varieties The classification of language varieties can vary according to linguistic, geographical and political considerations. Accent: geographical, socio-political variations Dialect or variety: different varieties of a language exist on a hierarchy that awards a lot of prestige to those at the top and very little prestige to those at the bottom. The definition of standard language is very often related to power (e.g. British RP; General American; Australian Standard English) Neologisms: dictionaries are descriptive but they are also conservative in that they tend to include new meanings of words only when they have demonstrated some longevity. However dictionaries are not supposed to be prescriptive.