ITALIAN LINGUISTICS 2: SOCIOLINGUISTICS

The course is one of the interdisciplinary activities of the degree course in Language Sciences. Focusing on the Italian language, it promotes theoretical knowledge and methodological competence that can be applied to the analysis of language as a social phenomenon.
The Italian language will be investigated in its different dimensions of variation - across time, space, social stratification, and including contexts of interlinguistic contact- with a view to highlighting its connection with actual communicative situations, and its role in the expression of ideological issuses and in the construction of identities.

Students will acquire the fundamentals of the sociolinguistic analysis of language. They will understand the concept of language as a diasystem and single out different dimensions of variation, exploring the possibility of analysing regularities behind and beyond variation.
The acquired theoretical and methodological competence will be applied to the study of the Italian language, with special attention for language change and for interlinguistic/interdialectal contact.
The analysis of cases and situations will make it possible for the students to develop critical awareness of language varieties, understanding their ideological and social function, with a parallel improvement of their communicative competence.

No specific previous knowledge is required.

Eterogeneity of language and language variation
Varieties of the Italian language: historical development, diatopic differences, social and contextual constraints, written and spoken language
Italian historical dialects and modern local varieties
Standardization
Languages and dialects in contact. The role of translations
Bilingualism, diglossia, language loyalty
Examples fron literature and from different discoruse genres

G. Berruto/M. Cerruti, Manuale di sociolinguistica, Torino, UTET, 2014
M. D'Agostino, Sociolinguistica dell'Italia contemporanea, Bologna, il Mulino, 2012
Further materials will be made available on the Moodle platform of the course.

Oral exam: assessment of knowledge and understanding of theoretical and methodological principles; their application to the analysis of language phenomena in Italian and in Italian dialects. Students are required to write a short report one of the topics of the course, with application of the methods of linguistic analysis to actual texts and contexts. The report will be discussed in the first part of the exam. In the second part, the knowledge of theoretical issues will be tested.

Conventional lectures; analysis of examples. Students are encouraged to participate to class discussions.

Italian

In case of more severe restrictions due to the Covid-19 emergency, part of the lessons may be held using an online learning platform

oral

This subject deals with topics related to the macro-area "International cooperation" and contributes to the achievement of one or more goals of U. N. Agenda for Sustainable Development