Dialects and Accents module (PY52010)

Everyone speaks a particular dialect and with a particular accent, but some accents and dialects are viewed more positively by society and others less so.

This module will introduce you to the topic of dialects and accents.

It will examine dialects and accents from the perspective of language learners and users as well as from a societal perspective, looking at topics like lexical organisation, accent bias, and discrimination.

What you will learn

In this module, you will:

• learn how languages, dialects, and accents are defined and learn about the challenges associated with defining these terms
• learn how children learn to discriminate between different regional accents of their language and how adult speakers process their regional dialect or accent, especially if non-standard
• learn about bias and discrimination targeting non-standard dialect and accent speakers, focusing on educational and employment sectors
• learn about the common methodologies used to investigate dialects and accents

By the end of this module, you will:

• understand the challenges surrounding research in this field
• be familiar with theories of language learning and usage and how they apply to dialects and accents
• be familiar with the social psychological context surrounding non-standard dialect usage
• be able to critically evaluate and analyse the evidence relating to these topics and construct an argument

Assignments / assessment

• coursework assignment 1 (50%)
• coursework assignment 2 (50%)

This module also has a formative assessment in the form of in-class small-group presentations.

This module does not have a final examination.

Teaching methods / timetable

• weekly two hour student-led seminars
  • you will be expected to read key articles beforehand and discuss them in small groups during class before engaging in a class-wide discussion
• tutorials
  • supplementation for the weekly seminars
  • offers you the opportunity to explores topics of interest

Classes will be interactive with limited lecture content.