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Lehrende: Dagmar Keatinge
Veranstaltungsart:
Seminar
Orga-Einheit: Anglistik/Amerikanistik
Anzeige im Stundenplan:
Semesterwochenstunden:
2
Unterrichtssprache:
Englisch
Min. | Max. Teilnehmerzahl:
- | 40
Voraussetzungen und Empfehlungen:
In order to attend this course, you MUST have passed the Introduction to Linguistics. This course is aimed at advanced BA students. Ideally you have already completed the modules "Beschreibungsebenen"/"Basismodul" and "History of English".“
Literatur:
A list with selected readings will be provided in the first session.
Kommentar:
Varieties of English in the Media
Have you ever noticed that smart supervillains in Hollywood movies frequently speak with a “posh” British accent, but hero protagonists speak American English? Or that dwarfs in fantasy video games have Scottish voiceovers? How it is impossible to find a German newsreader with a Bavarian accent (outside Bavaria), but not infrequent in commercials advertising beer.
In this class we will look into the role of different ways of speaking a language in different media formats. We will adopt a broad stance investigating literature as well as different audio-visual formats including movies, video games, ads, popular music etc. We will also connect the observed facts to more theoretical discussions in sociolinguistics on the role of standard vs. non-standard ways of using language.
This is a research based seminar. Students will design and carry out their own research projects on linguistic variation in the media and present their results in the context of a student conference.
Global English(es)
English is the most spoken language around the world. But not all speakers of English sound the same. Over time, several varieties of the English language have evolved. In this seminar, we are going to have a look at how you can, for example, analyse accents, elicit attitudes towards different varieties, as well as how the concept of global Englishes is integrated into the language classroom.
After the first five sessions, the students will develop and conduct their own small research project based on the first half of the seminar. At the end of the semester (date: tba) there will be a conference at which all participants must present the results of their own project.
Language and Politics
“Brexit,” “Mr Vice President, I’m speaking” and “Fake News” – all these utterances, words or expressions have one thing in common: they all have to do with politics and come with different connotations, contexts and usages that can be looked at from many different linguistic viewpoints. When looking at language and how it is used in different political contexts, topics such as politeness, speech acts, discourse and address forms come to mind, but the area of language and politics is not limited to those aspects. Word formation processes (Brexit), gender, semantic changes and many other areas can be connected to politics. In this seminar, we will explore different ways in which language and politics can interact, how politics are talked about, as well as how politicians express themselves and how we can put these findings into context.
After the first five sessions, you will work on a research project independently and can use the course time as individual office hours. The course will finish with a student conference in which you will present your own research project.
Language and Advertising
This seminar will look behind the curtains of advertising techniques and reveal the major (linguistic) strategies used by industries to persuade consumers into buying products. We will consider different types of ads and analyse how language is used in order to construct and convey a certain ideology. Thus, we will gain a greater understanding of the effect certain ads have on us as consumers.
After the first five sessions, students will work on a research project independently and can use the course time as individual office hours.
The course will finish with a student conference at which students will present their own research project. Participation on that day is mandatory. Attendance at all input sessions, in particularly the first session, is mandatory. Any spots on the course that are not taken will be given to other students in the first session.
"You don't know the power of the dark side!" - The Language of Good and Evil in Fiction“
The Joker and Batman, Harry Potter and Lord Voldemort, John McClane and Hans Gruber, Mr Burns and the Simpsons, Dr. Cox and JD, Loki and Thor… many narratives in films, TV series, literature or computer games, regardless of the genre, utilize the dichotomy between stereotypical „good“ and „bad“ characters.
In this course, we will explore the language of fictional characters from a number of different linguistic perspectives, for example by comparing the choice of words or accents of „good“ and „evil“ characters or by analysing the discourse between characters in order to understand the way language is used to shape characters.
After the first five sessions, students will work on a research project independently and can use the course time as individual office hours.
The course will finish with a student conference (date tba) at which students will present their own research project. Participation on that day is mandatory. Attendance at all input sessions, in particularly the first session, is mandatory. Any spots on the course that are not taken will be given to other students in the first session.
Wichtige Hinweise:
Please note that physical attendance is necessary in the first session so that we can determine the demand. Any spots on the course that are not taken will be given to other students.
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