An Introduction to Sociolinguistics: Accents, Attitudes and Identity

Learn what your attitude to accents and dialects says about yourself and society

We all have preferred accents and ways of speaking, but what makes something ‘good’ or ‘bad’ English? On this course, you will explore where our attitudes to language come from, how they are formed, and what they tell us about society.

You will be introduced to a range of sociolinguistic research methods and learn what these methods tell us about our individual sense of identity. You will also study their impact on social factors like gender, social class, and national affiliation. Plus, you will determine the real-world implications of language attitudes on our society as a whole.

This course is designed for school or college students who are interested in studying English language and linguistics at University.

It also be of interest to English A Level and Advanced Higher teachers, and anyone with an interest in spoken language and accentism.

• Accents and language attitudes
• Introductions
• What is an accent?
• Attitudes toward accents
• Change in attitudes, accents and identity
• Overview and additional resources
• Measuring language variation and attitudes
• What is a sociolinguistic variable?
• Approaches to collecting data about language variation and attitudes
• Analysing our own speech data
• Overview and additional resources
• Language and identity
• What do we mean by identity?
• How sociolinguists explore language and identity
• The representation of accent attitudes and identity in the media
• Overview and additional resources
• Why language attitudes matter
• Accentism and accent reduction
• Accentism and linguistic bias in society
• Language in the legal system
• Overview and additional resources