122047 PS Proseminar Linguistics 2 (BA) (2022S)

This course aims to familiarise students with sociolinguistic research by focussing on multilingual practices in different communicative contexts. More precisely, we will deal with code choice, codeswitching and translanguaging in different domains, both offline and online. Our focus will be on the written use of English and/or German (and possibly other languages) in settings such as the public space, newspapers & periodicals, or social media.

After an introductory phase dedicated to reading and learning about core concepts and sociolinguistic research methods, students will work in small groups, each dedicated to a different domain of bilingual language practices. In these groups, you will first work on the relevant literature review, which will be shared with all in short group presentations, before turning to the data collection phase. The respective data sets will then be the basis of the second round of group presentations. In the remainder of the semester, these data sets will then be used by each group member for writing their individual term paper.