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| Semester | fall semester 2014 |
| Course frequency | Irregular |
| Lecturers | Danièle Klapproth Muazzin (daniele.klapproth@unibas.ch, Assessor) |
| Content | Any act of speaking (or writing) involves some kind of agency, as by using language we establish a reality that has at least the potential to impact others (as well as ourselves). Using ethnographic and discourse-analytical methods to focus on the microprocesses of human interaction, and considering linguistic case studies from a wide range of social and cultural contexts, we want to explore how agency - the human capacity to act - is encoded and enacted in (and through) language. We will approach these issues from within a linguistic-anthropological framework that understands language, culture and society as mutually constituted. Such a perspective is sensitive to power dimensions and cross-cultural variability. And it recognises that all action is socioculturally mediated and should therefore not be considered in isolation from the larger social and political structures that shape it (in both constraining and enabling ways). |
| Learning objectives | By examining the phenomenon of agency in language - both in terms of its linguistic encoding and in terms of its performative enactment - we want to work towards a better understanding of how human beings, in their capacity to act, reproduce and transform both language and culture. |
| Bibliography | A course reader will be made available on ISIS. |
| Weblink | ISIS |
| Admission requirements | Old BA (2005-): Open to students of English who have completed all modules of the introductory level (years 1 + 2). New BA (2013-): Open to students of English who have passed all three BA introductory modules. Open to MA English and MA SuK students. |
| Course application | Students need to register for this course by sending an e-mail to Daniele.Klapproth(at)unibas.ch. The number of participants is restricted to 25. |
| Language of instruction | English |
| Use of digital media | Online, mandatory |
| Interval | Weekday | Time | Room |
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No dates available. Please contact the lecturer.
| Modules |
Modul Advanced English Linguistics (Bachelor's degree subject: English) Modul English Linguistics (Master's degree subject: English) Modul English Sociolinguistics & Cognitive Linguistics (Master's degree subject: English (Start of studies before 01.08.2013)) Modul Extending the View (Linguistics) (Bachelor's degree subject: English (Start of studies before 01.08.2013)) Modul Focusing on the Discipline (Linguistics) (Bachelor's degree subject: English (Start of studies before 01.08.2013)) Modul Forschungspraxis und Vertiefung (Master's degree program: Language and Communication) Modul Research Skills in English Linguistics or Literature (Master's degree subject: English (Start of studies before 01.08.2013)) Modul Soziolinguistik (Master's degree program: Language and Communication (Start of studies before 01.08.2013)) Modul Sprache und Gesellschaft (Master's degree program: Language and Communication) |
| Assessment format | continuous assessment |
| Assessment details | Reading assignments, regular and active participation, oral presentation |
| Assessment registration/deregistration | Reg.: course registration; dereg.: not required |
| Repeat examination | no repeat examination |
| Scale | Pass / Fail |
| Repeated registration | as often as necessary |
| Responsible faculty | Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, studadmin-philhist@unibas.ch |
| Offered by | Fachbereich Englische Sprach- und Literaturwissenschaft |