The study of sociolinguistics has traditionally dismissed data from popular culture because it is neither spontaneous nor naturally occurring. More recent attention, however, has been given to the linguistic performance of identity within popular culture and the implications that various performances have within the expression of language ideologies and ethnolinguistic identity. This class will examine some of the important theoretical developments within the study of language and identity, including stylisation, communities of practice approach, language crossings and the acts of identity approach. In addition, the course will review much of the recent literature on the globalisation of English and the development of world Englishes as it is related to an international spread of popular culture forms. These two strands of sociolinguistic research — linguistic identities and globalisation of English — will be used to understand the complex identities that performed in popular culture, and especially in the English of popular music.
- Teacher: Andrew, Andrew Moody