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Semester 2

Colloquial Spanish. Social and Discursive Perspectives on Register, Style and Genre (ELCH09030)

Subject

European Languages and Cultures - Hispanic Studies

College

CAHSS

Credits

20

Normal Year Taken

3

Delivery Session Year

2023/2024

Pre-requisites

In order to be eligible to take 3rd/4th Year Options, Visiting Students should have the equivalent of at least two years of study at University level of the appropriate language(s) and culture(s).

Course Summary

Colloquial language it is the most common functional modality of speech and it is normally employed in conversation and other informal contexts. The central topic of this course is the study of Spanish colloquial language in context. The course will explore various linguistic theories and methodological approaches related to concepts connected with Spanish language use and communication, including register, style and discourse analysis. The goal of this course is to provide students with an understanding of the social and stylistic varieties of language. We will also study the most relevant issues arising from the analysis of interpersonal spoken and written registers, explicit vs. implicit meanings (the distinction between 'what is said' and 'what is meant'), conversational implicatures (suggested inferences that arise as a result of co-operative behaviour), figurative language (metaphor, irony, humour), etc.

Course Description

The course will engage with various linguistic concepts from sociolinguistic and pragmatic perspectives in order for students to understand the different social varieties of language and learn how to identify and describe the situational and communicative characteristics of registers, styles and genres in Spanish. Students will also be provided with theoretical and applied groundings in topics related to the analysis of communicative features and functions of language, identification of spoken and written registers, historical evolution of registers and style, etc. After taking this course, students will be able to better identify the boundaries of colloquial Spanish, its particularities and domains of use in our society by understanding how colloquial forms and meanings are constructed and negotiated in Spanish. In this course, students will read original and recent work in these areas, and engage themselves in analysing different types of utterances and their meanings as they are shaped by different contextual and discursive factors. This is a seminar-based course, which will include analysis of primary source texts, language corpora and real data, accompanied by recommended secondary readings. Each week, a presentation will be provided by the tutor, followed by workshop-based discussions of the course readings and group activities for practicing linguistic analysis. Students learning and understanding will be tested through coursework assignments and a final essay. The course will be delivered and assessed in Spanish.

Assessment Information

Written Exam 0%, Coursework 100%, Practical Exam 0%

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