3 credits
Spring 2026 Lecture Lower Division
This course introduces linguistic diversity, including regional, cultural, and stylistic variation within a single language, code-switching in bilingual communities, and colonial, immigrant, Creole, indigenous, and sign languages. It also explores the role of language in supporting various types of social identity (e.g., age, gender, social class, race, ethnicity) as well as power structures that enable discrimination against less powerful groups.
Learning Outcomes1Distinguish empirically-grounded facts about linguistic diversity and language use from popular attitudes and opinions that are not based in facts.
2Recognize the legitimacy and systematic structure of all language varieties.
3Describe the phonetic, lexical, grammatical, and pragmatic features as found in the language of different groups, through close analysis of primary linguistic data.
4Show how individuals use linguistic features to help construct their social identities, through the close examination of case studies.
5Recognize forms of linguistic discrimination as depicted in the popular media and as enacted in the education system, the workplace, the judicial system, and daily life.
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