Ethnolinguistics Course

Lesson 1 • Ethnolinguistic Identity and Group Membership

Analyses how language marks ethnic and social identity. Connects identity theory to observable linguistic behaviour.

Lesson 2 • Core Theoretical Frameworks

Surveys structuralist, functionalist, and interactional frameworks used in ethnolinguistic analysis. Prepares students to apply these lenses in later chapters.

Lesson 3 • Defining Ethnolinguistics as a Field

Traces the emergence of ethnolinguistics from anthropology and linguistics. Positions the field relative to sociolinguistics, linguistic anthropology, and cultural studies.

Lesson 1 • Language Attitudes and Ideologies

Explores how speakers evaluate language varieties and what those evaluations reveal about cultural values. Introduces language ideology as an analytical concept.

Lesson 2 • Dialects, Registers, and Social Meaning

Distinguishes dialect, register, and style as socially meaningful variation types. Grounds each concept in ethnolinguistic data.

Lesson 3 • Variation in Multilingual Communities

Analyses how multilingualism intensifies variation and creates unique ethnolinguistic dynamics. Prepares students for code-switching analysis in later chapters.

Lesson 4 • Geographic and Regional Variation

Maps linguistic features onto geographic distributions and cultural regions. Introduces dialect geography and isogloss analysis.

Lesson 1 • Data Collection Techniques

Covers participant observation, interviews, and naturalistic recording as primary data sources. Addresses practical challenges of capturing authentic speech.

Lesson 2 • Managing and Organising Field Data

Teaches systematic organisation of recordings, notes, and artefacts for analysis. Introduces basic corpus-building practices relevant to ethnolinguistic work.

Lesson 3 • Ethics in Ethnolinguistic Research

Addresses informed consent, community benefit, and researcher positionality. Applies ethical principles to real fieldwork scenarios.

Lesson 4 • Principles of Linguistic Ethnography

Introduces ethnography as a methodology for studying language in natural settings. Distinguishes linguistic ethnography from purely linguistic or purely anthropological approaches.

Lesson 1 • Kinship Terminology and Social Structure

Analyses kinship systems as a classic domain linking language to social organisation. Applies componential analysis to kinship data.

Lesson 2 • Ethnosemantics and Folk Categorisation

Studies how communities organise knowledge through lexical categories. Introduces componential analysis and prototype theory.

Lesson 3 • Taboo, Euphemism, and Cultural Values

Explores how linguistic taboos and euphemisms reflect cultural priorities and power structures. Provides analytical tools for identifying value-laden lexical choices.

Lesson 4 • Metaphor, Conceptual Frames, and Culture

Applies conceptual metaphor theory to reveal culturally specific frames of understanding. Connects Lakoff and Johnson's framework to ethnolinguistic data.

Lesson 1 • Defining the Speech Community

Reviews competing definitions of speech community and their theoretical implications. Evaluates criteria such as shared norms, networks, and practices.

Lesson 2 • Genres, Registers, and Ritual Speech

Analyses culturally specific speech genres and the social functions they serve. Covers ritual, ceremonial, and specialised registers.

Lesson 3 • Speech Acts and Cultural Pragmatics

Examines how speech acts are culturally shaped and how pragmatic norms vary across communities. Connects Austin and Searle's theory to cross-cultural data.

Lesson 4 • Communicative Competence Frameworks

Introduces Hymes's SPEAKING model and related frameworks for analysing communicative competence. Applies these tools to ethnolinguistic description.

Lesson 1 • Code-Switching and Translanguaging

Analyses code-switching as a socially meaningful practice in multilingual communities. Introduces translanguaging as a more fluid alternative framework.

Lesson 2 • Language Contact Phenomena

Surveys borrowing, interference, and convergence as outcomes of language contact. Connects contact outcomes to social and cultural conditions.

Lesson 3 • Pidgins, Creoles, and Mixed Languages

Examines the formation and social contexts of pidgins, creoles, and mixed languages. Evaluates what these varieties reveal about contact and identity.

Lesson 4 • Language Shift and Language Death

Traces the sociolinguistic stages of language shift and the conditions that accelerate language death. Applies Fishman's Graded Intergenerational Disruption Scale.

Lesson 1 • Language Planning and Policy Frameworks

Introduces corpus, status, and acquisition planning as the three pillars of language policy. Applies each pillar to ethnolinguistic case analysis.

Lesson 2 • Community Engagement and Stakeholder Roles

Identifies the roles of speakers, institutions, and governments in revitalisation. Develops skills for facilitating community-led language planning.

Lesson 3 • Media, Technology, and Language Promotion

Assesses how digital media and technology platforms can amplify revitalisation efforts. Evaluates the reach and limitations of technology-driven promotion.

Lesson 4 • Education and Intergenerational Transmission

Examines how schooling can support or undermine intergenerational language transmission. Analyses bilingual and heritage language education models.

Lesson 1 • Ethnolinguistics in Intercultural Communication

Applies ethnolinguistic frameworks to diagnose and resolve intercultural communication breakdowns. Develops practical intervention strategies.

Lesson 2 • Language in Health and Social Services

Analyses how language barriers and cultural communication norms affect service delivery. Develops strategies for linguistically equitable service design.

Lesson 3 • Ethnolinguistics in Education Settings

Applies ethnolinguistic insights to classroom language dynamics and curriculum design. Addresses linguistic diversity as a pedagogical resource.

Lesson 4 • Language and Identity in Organisations

Examines how language policies and practices shape identity and inclusion in workplaces. Connects ethnolinguistic analysis to organisational communication.