SOCIOLINGUISTICS

The course is part of the Core Activities of the Degree Programme in Language Sciences, within the curriculum 'Linguistica per la sordità e i disturbi del linguaggio e dell'apprendimento'.
For the curricula 'Linguistica Teorica' and 'Linguistica Educativa', the course is a Supplementary Activity.
Taking the Italian context as the main reference, the course promotes theoretical knowledge and methodological competence that can be applied to the analysis of language as a social phenomenon.
Language will be investigated in its different dimensions of variation - across time, space, social stratification, and including contexts of interlinguistic contact - with the aim of highlighting its connection with actual communicative situations, and its role in the expression of ideological issuses and in the construction of identities. Examples will be drawn mainly from written and spoken texts in Italian.

Students will acquire the fundamentals of the sociolinguistic analysis of language. They will understand the concept of language as a diasystem and single out different dimensions of variation, exploring the possibility of analysing regularities behind variation.
The acquired theoretical and methodological competence will be applied mostly to the study of the Italian language, with special attention for language change and for interlinguistic/interdialectal contact.
The analysis of cases and situations will make it possible for the students to develop critical awareness of language varieties, understanding their ideological and social function, with a parallel improvement of their communicative competence.

No specific previous knowledge is required.

Basics of Sociolinguistics
Variation and change in Sociolinguistics
Eterogeneity of language and language variation
Varieties of the Italian language: historical development, diatopic differences, social and contextual constraints, written and spoken language
Italian historical dialects and modern local varieties
Standardisation
Languages and dialects in contact.
Bilingualism, diglossia, dilalia
New languages and language death
Language vitality
Language policy and planning
Language attitudes

Berruto, G., & Cerruti, M. (2015 or later editions). Manuale di sociolinguistica. Torino: UTET.

The following works will be discussed:
Berruto, G. (1987). L’italiano come gamma di varietà. In G. Berruto, Sociolinguistica dell’Italiano Contemporaneo. Rome: Carocci.
Masini, A. (2010). L’italiano contemporaneo e le sue varietà. In I. Bonomi, A. Masini, S. Morgana & M. Piotti (eds.), Elementi di linguistica italiana (pp.15-83). Rome: Carocci.
Antonelli, G. (2011). Lingua. In A. Afribo & E. Zinato (eds.), Modernità italiana: Cultura, lingua e letteratura dagli anni Settanta a oggi (pp.15-52). Rome: Carocci.
Ballarè, S. (2020). L’italiano neo-standard oggi: stato dell’arte. Italiano LinguaDue, 12(2), 469-492.
Bellone, L. (2022). Dalla strada a TikTok: sulle tracce del linguaggio giovanile contemporaneo. In A. Nesi (Ed.), L’italiano e i giovani. Come scusa? Non ti followo (pp. 25-41). Accademia della Crusca – goWare

Further materials will be made available on the Moodle platform of the course.

Oral exam: assessment of knowledge and understanding of theoretical and methodological principles; their application to the analysis of language phenomena in Italian and Italian dialects.

oral

The grading scale is based on the following criteria:

- knowledge of the topics covered in lectures and course textbooks (up to 13 points);
- ability to handle and interpret empirical and linguistic data (up to 10 points);
- use of appropriate technical terminology (up to 7 points).

Honours are awarded in the presence of excellent knowledge and ability to understand and apply the topics covered, outstanding skills in data interpretation, strong independence of judgment, and excellent communication abilities.

Conventional lectures; analysis of examples. Students are encouraged to participate to class discussions.

This subject deals with topics related to the macro-area "Human capital, health, education" and contributes to the achievement of one or more goals of U. N. Agenda for Sustainable Development