| It is important to understand language as an integral part of the social and cultural lifeworlds of speakers, writers, and audiences. In this unit, students engage with the practical, theoretical, and research dimensions of sociolinguistics across Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities, the wider Australian context, and beyond. The unit provides a strong foundation in language variation, speech communities, and language situations. Students examine discursive and pragmatic features of language use and adaptation across diverse contexts, including everyday and institutional communication, casual and formal texts and interactions, media and journalistic discourse, activist movements, AI-human interaction, and social media networks. A central component of the unit is the ethnography of speaking, alongside the study of style, genre, register, language planning, social meaning, and speaker agency. Together, these perspectives highlight how linguistic practices shape identity, power relations, and social organisation in both everyday and institutional settings. |
