Management of Linguistic Diversity
Code: 106313 ECTS Credits: 6| Degree | Type | Year |
|---|---|---|
| 2504212 English Studies | OT | 3 |
| 2504212 English Studies | OT | 4 |
Contact
- Name:
- Eva Codó Olsina
- Email:
- eva.codo@uab.cat
Teaching groups languages
You can view this information at the end of this document.
Prerequisites
There are no prerequisites for this course, but students who have not passed WRAP II and/or SLAP II are strongly advised not to take it.
Objectives and Contextualisation
The main objective of this course is to introduce students to the field of study of linguistic diversity and social multilingualism. The course aims to provide them with the theoretical concepts and historical perspective to understand the evolution of perceptions and social discourses about multilingual practices, policies and skills at supranational, state, regional and municipal levels. The course adopts a critical and reflexive approach in relation to the models for "managing" diversity, different forms of multilingualism and the (un)foreseen consequences of language policies. It focuses on the study of four social fields in which the handling of linguistic diversity is of particular relevance for individuals and groups.
Competences
- English Studies
- Apply the concepts, resources and methods acquired to the study of the English language in a global and multilingual social context of language learning and teaching.
- Demonstrate skills to work autonomously and in teams to fulfil the planned objectives.
- Distinguish and contrast the distinct paradigms and methodologies applied to the study of English.
- Students must develop the necessary learning skills in order to undertake further training with a high degree of autonomy.
- Understand and produce written and spoken academic texts in English at advanced higher-proficient-user level (C2).
- Use digital tools and specific documentary sources for the collection and organisation of information.
- Use written and spoken English for academic and professional purposes, related to the study of linguistics, the philosophy of language, history, English culture and literature.
Learning Outcomes
- Express oneself in English, orally and in writing, in an academic register and using appropriate terminology in relation to the study of English as a language of global scope, linguistic variation and, in general, the social uses of language.
- Identify and analyse—from a critical point of view—the existing models and concepts to conceptualise the rise and use of English as a lingua franca in global communication.
- Identify and understand different sociocultural approaches and their methodologies for the study of the English language.
- Locate specialised and academic information and select this according to its relevance.
- Organise academic work effectively.
- Plan work effectively, individually or in groups, in order to fulfil the planned objectives.
- Produce written and oral academic texts at higher-proficient-user level (C2) on the concepts and skills relevant to the study of sociolinguistics, multilingualism and varieties of English.
- Understand specialised academic texts on research into the use/learning of English in multilingual contexts, linguistic variation and change, sociolinguistics and language policy.
Content
- Introduction to societal multilingualism: concepts, models and historical evolution
- The construction of multilingualism by and at supranational organizations: normative recommendations and institutional policies
- Bilingual and multilingual education
- English in multilingual work contexts
- Multilingual cities: language and gentrification
- Introducció al multilingüisme social: conceptes, models i evolució històrica
- La construcció del multilingüisme per part de les organitzacions supranacionals: recomanacions normatives i polítiques institucionals
- L’educació bilingüe i multilingüe
- L’anglès en contextos laborals multilingües
- Ciutats multilingües: llengua i gentrificació
Activities and Methodology
| Title | Hours | ECTS | Learning Outcomes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Type: Directed | |||
| Correction and discussion of practical exercises | 20 | 0.8 | 1, 2, 8 |
| Presentation of theoretical concepts | 30 | 1.2 | 2, 3 |
| Type: Supervised | |||
| Tutorials | 4.5 | 0.18 | 1, 6 |
| Type: Autonomous | |||
| Individual study of theoretical concepts | 25 | 1 | 2, 3, 8 |
| Reading and understanding of relevant material for each topic | 50 | 2 | 4, 5, 8 |
This course follows an active methodology and requires students' regular engagement. A significant part of the course is structured around the critical discussion of assigned readings and/or audiovidual materials. Doing the homework and contributing meaningfully to in-class discussions are essential to successfully follow the course.
Annotation: Within the schedule set by the centre or degree programme, 15 minutes of one class will be reserved for students to evaluate their lecturers and their courses or modules through questionnaires.
Assessment
Continous Assessment Activities
| Title | Weighting | Hours | ECTS | Learning Outcomes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Assignment 1 | 20% | 7 | 0.28 | 1, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 |
| Assignment 2 | 20% | 7 | 0.28 | 1, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 |
| Exam | 40% | 1.5 | 0.06 | 1, 2, 3, 7 |
| Reflection activities and meaningful class contribution | 20% | 5 | 0.2 | 1, 2, 3, 7, 8 |
Note: The exact dates of the evaluation activities will be announced on the course Moodle at the beginning of the course.
ALL assessment tasks are compulsory. If a task is not submitted, the student will get a 0.
Students will obtain a Not assessed/Not submitted course grade only if they have submitted more than 1 of the assessment items.
To be able to pass the course, students must have an average mark of (minimum) 5/10. To calculate the average, they must have obtained a minimum of 4/10 in each assessment item (exam and two assignments). Otherwise, they will have to retake those items with a mark lower than 4 independently of the course average.
The student's command of English will be taken into account when marking all exercises and for the final mark. If a student's level of English is lower than C2, up to 40% of the final grade can be taken off.
VERY IMPORTANT: PLAGIARISM. In the event of a student committing any irregularity that may lead to a significant variation in the grade awarded to an assessment activity, the student will be given a zero for this activity, regardless of any disciplinary process that may take place. In the event of several irregularities in assessment activities of the same subject, the student will be given a zero as the final grade for this subject. Irregularities can refer, for instance, to submitting a piece of work not authored by them, copying in an exam, copying from sources without properly acknowledging authorship, or a misuse of AI such as presenting work as original that has been generated by an AI tool or programme. These evaluation activities will not be re-assessed.
Students are required to employ non-sexist language in their written and oral productions. For guidelines on how to do this, they are advised to check the website of the Linguistic Society of America (LSA): https://www.linguisticsociety.org/resource/lsa-guidelines-nonsexist-usage. Appropriate use of language will be part of the assessment criteria.
REASSESSMENT
Re-assessment for this subject will be undertaken on an item-by-item basis, for which the following conditions apply:
- The student must have previously obtained an average mark higher than 3.5.
- The student must have submitted the two assignments and taken the exam. They must have at least passed one item (with a 5/10).
- The maximum grade for re-assessed items is 6/10.
- it is not possible to reassess the item “reflection activities and meaningful class contribution” (20%).
On carrying out each assessment activity, lecturers will inform students (on Moodle) of the procedures to be followed for reviewing all grades awarded, and the date on which such a review will take place.
SINGLE-ASSESSMENT OPTION:
Students will have sit an exam covering all the concepts in the course (65%) and submit a portfolio with three evaluation activities (35%).
RE-ASSESSMENT OF SINGLE-ASSESSMENT OPTION:
Students must have a minimum of 3.5 in the exam to be allowed to reassess.
Bibliography
More specific references will be provided at the onset of each topic.
Bruyèl-Olmedo, Antonio & Juan-Garau, Maria (2009). English as a lingua franca in the linguistic landscape of the multilingual resort of S’Arenal in Mallorca. International Journal of Multilingualism, 6(4), 386-411.
Chimbutane, Feliciano (2012). Multilingualism in education in post-colonial contexts: A special focus on sub-Saharan Africa. In Marilyn Martin-Jones, Adrian Blackledge and Angela Creese (Eds.), The Routledge Handbook of Multililingualism. Routledge.
Codó, Eva (2022) The dilemmas of experimental CLIL in Catalonia. In Jürgen Jaspers (ed.) Linguistic dilemmas and chronic ambivalence in the classroom. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, 43(4), 341-357.
Creese, Angela and Blackledge, Adrian (2011). Separate and flexible bilingualism in complementary schools: Multiple language practices in interrelationship. Journal of Pragmatics, 43 (5), 1196-1208.
Duchêne, Alexandre (2020). Multilingualism: An insufficient answer to sociolinguistic inequalities. International Journal of the Sociology of Language, 263, 91-97.
García, Ofelia (2009). Bilingual Education in the 21st Century: A Global Perspective. Wiley-Blackwell.
Garrido, Maria Rosa (2022). The evolution of language ideological debates about English and French in a multilingual humanitarian organisation. Language Policy, 21, 47-73.
Jakubiak, Cori (2016). Ambiguous Aims: English-language Voluntourism as Development. Journal of Language, Identity and Education, 15(4), 245-258.
Lonsmann, Dorte (2014). Linguistic diversity in the international workplace: Language ideologies and processes of exclusion. Multilingua, 33 (1-2), 89-116.
Park, Joseph (2013). Metadiscursive regimes of diversity in a multinational corporation. Language in Society, 42, 557-577.
Lorente, Beatriz P. (2017). Scripts of Servitude: Language, Labor Migration and Transnational Domestic Work. Multilingual Matters.
Lovrita, Veronika (2021). Prestigious language, pigeonholed speakers : Stances towards the « native English speaker » in a multilingual European institution. Journal of Sociolinguistics, 25, 398-417.
Tesseur, Wine (2014). Institutional multilingualism in NGOs: Amnesty International’s strategic understanding of multilingualism. Meta, 59(3), 557–577.
Sokolovska, Zorana (2017). Languages in “the United Nations of Europe”: Debating a postwar language policy for Europe. Language Policy, 16, 461-480.
Textbooks:
Coulmas, Florian (2018). An introduction to multilingualism: Language in a changing world. Oxford University Press.
Gazzola, Michele, Grin, François, Cardinal, Linda and Heugh, Linda (Eds.) (2024). The Routledge Handbook of Language Policy and Planning. Routledge.
Martin-Jones, Marilyn, Blackledge, Adrian and Creese, Angela (Eds.), The Routledge Handbook of Multililingualism. Routledge.
Martin-Jones, Marilyn & Martin, Deirdre (2016). Researching Multilingualism: Critical and Ethnographic Perspectives. Routledge.
Piller, Ingrid (2016). Linguistic diversity and Social Justice: An Introduction to Applied Sociolinguistics. Oxford Academic.
Tollefson, James W. & Pérez-Milans, Miguel (2018) The Oxford Handbook of Language Policy and Planning. Oxford Universtity Press.
Weber, Jean-Jacques & Horner, Kristine (2012). Introducing Multilingualism: A social approach. Routledge.
Websites:
Language on the Move: https://www.languageonthemove.com/
Software
N/A
Language list
| Name | Group | Language | Semester | Turn |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| (PAUL) Classroom practices | 1 | English | first semester | morning-mixed |
| (TE) Theory | 1 | English | first semester | morning-mixed |