Teaching
Sociolinguistics Courses
I regularly teach LLC Program courses on sociolinguistics.
These courses count as “specialization courses” and generally fit within two research clusters: (1) Language, Literature, Discourse, and Identity and (2) Education, Inequality, Critical Pedagogies, and Language Diversity.
- Language in Diverse Schools and Communities (LLC 612) explores the intersections of language and culture, region, race/ethnicity, identity, and other social factors within the contexts of diverse communities and social institutions, especially schools. We focus on language as a mechanism in the social construction of racial, ethnic, cultural, regional, and personal identities, the role of ideology, questions of language standards and standardization, and applications to current social problems, particularly those facing speakers of stigmatized language varieties. We address these issues for a variety of cultural groups; many of the course readings focus on the U.S. context, but students are able to apply these models to the study of other communities and institutions. Throughout the semester, students are engaged in designing educational or other applied projects that bring the sociolinguistic knowledge they learned in the course to a variety of publics. In 2009, LLC 612 students engaged in service-learning by interning with teachers in a Baltimore high school to co-develop linguistically informed lesson/project plans. In 2011, LLC 612 students produced four podcasts on Baltimore language and culture.
- Language, Gender, and Culture (LLC 613) is designed to promote an understanding of the interrelationships between language, gender, culture, and society. We critically assess research on the role of language in the construction of gendered identities from sociology, linguistics, gender studies, translation studies, education, and other fields. Students develop a deeper critical understanding of gender, language, and culture in daily practice, in our social interactions, and in our social institutions. They explore these connections in their own projects, by conducting original field research, data collection, and analysis.
- Methods in Language, Literacy, and Culture Research (LLC 644) provides students with an understanding of research methods for studying language, literacy, and culture, primarily from the disciplines of sociology, linguistics, education, anthropology, and communications. Major course objectives are to understand the various components and stages of the social science research process, to understand the values, politics, and ethics of social science research, and to learn how to design a manageable research project. I recently redesigned this course to employ Team Based Learning, an approach that has been found to significantly improve students’ long-term knowledge retention, while also building skills in collaboration, problem-solving, and application.
- Ethnographic Methods (LLC 650) provides a systematic overview of ethnographic methods, as used primarily in social science disciplines of anthropology, sociology, linguistics, and education. Students cover theoretical perspectives, research techniques, research design, data management, data analysis, and ethical questions relevant to ethnographic research. During the course, students propose and conduct original, short-term ethnographic research projects pertaining to language, literacy, and culture.
- I have also co-taught Analyzing Discourse (LLC 750), which provides an overview of an area of study collectively known as discourse analysis.
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My CV provides a complete list of courses I have taught. Please contact me at <mallinson AT umbc DOT edu> for more information.
