Language shapes our experience, our thinking, our perceptions, and the very social systems within which our lives unfold. In these 24 revealing lectures, you'll discover the remarkable ways in which our society is a reflection of our language; how differences in the way people use language create differences in society; and ultimately how our linguistic choices play a determining role in every aspect of our lives.
Language and Society: What Your Speech Says About You
Discover the remarkable ways in which our society is a reflection of our language and how our linguistic choices play a determining role in every aspect of our lives.
Rated 3 out of
5
by
Sart45 from
Wonderful content
But far too many syllables per SECOND, it seems?. I had to stop. Kind of like Scott Joplin.
Date published: 2023-04-24
Rated 2 out of
5
by
Tech Writer from
Great content...but please speak more slowly!
Dr. Fridland is an interesting lecturer and provides much information - BUT this course will deserve several viewings, not because of inherent difficulty, but because the instructor - apparently ignoring the implications of the course title - simply speaks way, way too quickly. Yes, I realize she's reading from a teleprompter, but SLOW DOWN!! I keep "rewinding" to rehear things since she gallops through sentences as though running a race. I suspect this "speed demon" proclivity is also the reason for the frequent pronunciation slips. The material is great - the presentation markedly less so - indeed, I often found it exhausting.
Date published: 2023-03-15
Rated 1 out of
5
by
billy doodoo from
tiresome
so boring i fell asleep multiple times not happy with this
Date published: 2023-03-15
Rated 5 out of
5
by
Robert Life Long Learner from
Excellent mental placement
This course is an experience within a lecture. I love the way Dr. Fridland utilizes the concepts as we learn them. Having a structure that begets semantic, episodic and procedural learning insures value of time invested. Plus the use of prescribed humour clinches my future with The Great Courses.
Date published: 2023-01-03
Rated 4 out of
5
by
Elkron from
Excellent title
Excellent material -delves beneath the surface. Global eye-opener.
Date published: 2021-12-19
Rated 4 out of
5
by
Wes D from
Could say more, ie Your words & You in Society
Excellent instructor. Informative & engaging. Even adds some humor.
Date published: 2021-10-22
Rated 2 out of
5
by
Ernie 21 from
Interesting Topic / Very Fast Speaker
Linguistics is something we all make use of every day and couldn't live without. Yet it follows certain specific rules many of which we are not even aware. I found the course material interesting, but the professor, speaking so fast and using very technical terms, completely lost me at time. I wish I could have gotten more from her "many puns and humor"! EAM Jr.
Date published: 2021-10-09
Rated 5 out of
5
by
Tech21 from
The Impact of Language on Society
Yvette Sanders, a representative for The Great courses, helped me "pick this course out" for my study of African American Vernacular English. I am enjoying the course very much and also very much appreciate Ms. Sanders' help in directing my search for an appropriate course. The instructor of this course is EXTREMELY knowledgeable, and I am benefitting from viewing each lecture a couple of times.
Date published: 2021-09-22
Overview
About
Professor Valerie Fridland is Professor of Linguistics at the University of Nevada, Reno. She received her Ph.D. in Linguistics, with a specialization in Sociolinguistics, from Michigan State University. Her teaching areas include general linguistics, sociolinguistics, syntax, language and gender, and language and social life.
As a sociolinguist, Professor Fridland's main focus is on varieties of American English. The goal of her research is to better understand how variability in speech production relates to variability in speech perception and how social identity (such as that related to region, gender, or ethnicity) affects speech. Her research explores links between social factors and speech processing, filling gaps in the speech science literature, which does not typically consider social influences on the understanding of speech. In addition to this main focus, she examines how gender and ethnicity are enmeshed with linguistic variation.
Professor Fridland presents her work at major meetings of the Linguistic Society of America and the American Dialect Society, and at the New Ways of Analyzing Variation conference. Her work is regularly published in such journals as American Speech, the Journal of Sociolinguistics, Language Variation and Change, Lingua, and the Journal of Phonetics, and appears in a number of edited collections. Professor Fridland is currently editing a collected volume on contemporary Western States English for the American Dialect Society.
Trailer
01: What Does Your Speech Say about You?
Begin to investigate how language both reflects and shapes our social world. Observe the ways in which your speech signals information such as your age, economic class, gender, ethnicity, or place of origin. Grasp how even subtle linguistic variants such as -ing versus -in' (e.g. going vs. goin') in verb endings communicate important information between speakers.
31 min
02: Does Language Influence Worldview?
Explore how social life affects language use, and how our social roles impact the way we organize our world linguistically. On the flip side, investigate how conceptual constructs regarding time, spatial relationships, and gender are encoded into language, influencing our perceptions and directing our thoughts into habitual patterns.
29 min
03: What Is Sociolinguistics?
Grasp the differences between theoretical linguistics, which studies the underlying mental system of language, and sociolinguistics, which studies how that system is used by speakers. Learn how we use linguistic resources to categorize people into groups, interpret events, and form "speech communities" that locate and define us socially.
30 min
04: Four Levels of Language Variation
As groundwork for the course's inquiry, learn about phonetics, how speech sounds are produced; phonology, how such sounds are organized into language systems; syntax, how sentences are constructed; and morphology, how words are formed and created. Consider how these linguistic features become important social markers.
30 min
05: How Do Dialects Develop?
Look carefully at two crucial terms in linguistics, "language" and "dialect," noting how historical, geopolitical, and cultural factors play major roles in distinguishing the two. Follow how dialect variations emerge within languages, taking account of key factors from the social and geographical to the economic, cognitive, and physiological.
30 min
06: Language Change-What's New Is Old Again
Review the fascinating history of the English language, as a case study in how language changes. Trace the linguistic evolution from Old to Early Modern English, encompassing Celtic, Germanic, Norse, and French influences as well as the effects of settlement, geography, and multilevel social forces. Examine how these same historical processes are shaping our language today.
28 min
07: The Origin and History of American Dialects
Discover how regional American speech is traceable to both pre-Revolutionary British dialects and to settlement patterns and immigrant groups within the North, South, and Midland regions of the U.S. Learn how linguists studying American speech use a variety of methods to measure the development of both regional dialects and social dialects within the same locale.
31 min
08: Your Shifty Vowels
Delve into the complex subject of English vowels and what they reveal about speakers. Learn about the massive vowel changes currently taking place in American dialects, and how these shifts identify social distinctions. Investigate how we produce vowel sounds, and why vowel shifts can drastically change a language over time.
29 min
09: Vowel Shifts and Regional American Speech
Now take a deeper look at the vowel changes affecting U.S. English, which are moving American dialects in very different directions. Observe how these changes operate like fashion trends, led mostly by the young. Identify specific vowel shifts in Southern, Northern, and Western speech, and explore the social dimensions associated with them.
30 min
10: Language and Social Class
Study the impact of socioeconomic status, class, and education on speech, noting how specific features such as pronunciation of "r" sounds reflect social status. Grasp how social differences between speakers are reflected systematically in language differences, and why language change usually originates with upper-working-class and lower-middle-class speakers.
29 min
11: Sex, Age, and Language Change
Investigate why language change tends to be led by the young, and discover what linguists observe about speech changes that occur as people age. Explore how gender shapes our language, why women are a huge force in language change, and how men and women gain social capital from contrasting forms of speech.
32 min
12: Language Attitudes and Social Perception
Attitudes about language play a significant role in our social existence. Examine how we evaluate others by whether their speech sounds correct, ethnic, foreign, or like our own. Consider how we alter our speech in response to what we hear, and how our beliefs about other speakers actually influence what we hear.
31 min
13: Language as a Communicative Process
This lecture moves beyond the observation of individual speakers to look at the interactive nature of conversation. Learn about eight distinct factors that go into a successful conversation-conversational parameters that we process intuitively-and grasp the profound roles our shared social norms and expectations play in being understood.
28 min
14: Making Sense of Conversational Intentions
Explore the separation between literal meaning and socially derived meaning in conversation. Discover the field of pragmatics, which studies how meaning is interpreted from context, and how we often convey meaning without explicit speech by relying on inference. Learn how we use shared conversational conventions to guide our interpretation of others' speech.
29 min
15: Analyzing Conversation
Whether we realize it or not, conversation is a highly structured interactional event. Study how conversations are organized, defining both our rights and obligations as conversational participants. See how conversation follows specific procedures such as turn-taking, bounded units of talk, speaker/listener cues, and repair of miscommunication.
29 min
16: The Mechanics of Good Conversation
Grasp how questions are crucial to managing conversations, and how we use them to negotiate power and status between speakers. Then examine what happens when speakers violate conversational rules through interruptions or simultaneous talk, and learn about the important functions of backchanneling-the "mmms" and "uh-huhs" that punctuate conversation.
29 min
17: Mind Your Manners-Politeness Speech
Investigate how we balance our need to be liked with our need not to be burdened in our interactions with others. Look into the conceptual framework of politeness theory. Study the range of strategies we use to express politeness, and the ways in which politeness serves to avoid conflict while accomplishing our purposes.
28 min
18: Linguistic Style and Repertoire
Observe how we all have a linguistic repertoire that allows us to vary our speech according to the situation or to present a certain identity. Note how we switch between different social roles, and how each role actually requires a corresponding linguistic expression. Study how our professional occupations significantly affect speaking style.
30 min
19: The Gender Divide in Language
How do men and women differ in how they use and hear speech? To answer this, look at contrasting linguistic features between the sexes, and compare theories that attempt to explain the differences. Consider whether it is being a woman or a man that creates the differences, or whether gender-related speech variations arise from social constructs.
31 min
20: Ethnic Identity and Language
Language is used in all societies to mark ethnic distinctions. Learn about how speech marked as "ethnic" emerges, noting how different social, historical, and cultural factors establish dialect features. Study the features of African-American English, and grasp how they evolved through the identical linguistic processes that formed standard dialects of English.
32 min
21: Socializing Children into Language
Take a close look at how children learn to speak, noting their innate predisposition to interpret language. Grasp the important role adults play in modeling the social and communicative aspects of speech, teaching children how to use language appropriately in their social world-a subtle, multistage process that continues to adolescence.
28 min
22: Language, Adolescence, and Education
Sociolinguistics identifies adolescent culture as a key force in advancing linguistic change in society as a whole. Investigate why this is so, taking account of teens' peer group influences and need for independent social identity. Study the unique social behaviors and activities in high school that drive the adoption of new linguistic features.
30 min
23: Textspeak-2 Bad 4 English?
How do computer-mediated forms of communication affect the way we express ourselves generally through speech and writing? Weigh the empirical evidence and the specific social functions of texting and instant messaging, and determine whether these technologies, in fact, negatively affect English or young people's ability to communicate.
29 min
24: The Changing Face of Linguistic Diversity
Finally, consider the current forces of change within English. Investigate whether English speech is becoming more homogenized, taking account of its thriving range of dialects across the world and assessing the impact on English of mass media. Examine evidence that supports the conclusion that language will continue to reflect our differences as well as our similarities.
32 min
