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Language & Power - EDU00094M

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  • Department: Education
  • Module co-ordinator: Dr. Ursula Lanvers
  • Credit value: 20 credits
  • Credit level: M
  • Academic year of delivery: 2024-25

Module summary

Language and Power
Module leader: Ursula Lanvers, Credits: 20
Module summary
This module is for students interested in socio-political and socio-educational issues around language use in society, including language activism, gender linguistics, online interaction, and education policy. You will focus on sociolinguistics, language and power in society and in educational discourses, and fairness in language use. All weeks will include some discussion of methods for analysing language use in relation to power in society. At the end of this module, you should be able to critically analyse texts from the point of view of power negotiation, and have an awareness of different theoretical stances to, and different methods of researching, power in language.



Assessment:
3,500 word assignment. 100% of module mark
Re-Assessment:
3,500 word assignment. 100% of module mark
Module feedback
You will receive feedback in a range of ways throughout this module.
This will include oral feedback in class, responses to posts on the VLE discussion board and written comments on work.
You will have the chance to obtain feedback on your writing during the module, and you will have a short one-to-one meeting with a module tutor to discuss assessments.
You will be provided physical written feedback on assignment report sheets as well as them being readily available on the VLE.
Core Reading
Fairclough, N. (2001). Language and power. London: Longman.
Holmes J. & Wilson, N. (2017). Introducing sociolinguistics. London: Routledge.
Macedo, D. & DrGraff, M. (eds) 2019. Decolonizing World Language Education. Routledge.
Mooney, A. & Evans, B. (2019). Language, society and power. London: Routledge.
Simpson, P., Mayr, A. & Strathman, S. (2019). Language and power. London: Routledge.

Module will run

Occurrence Teaching period
A Semester 2 2024-25

Module aims

Module aims:

  • To develop your understanding of different sociolinguistic frameworks and approaches tackling the interrelation between language and power,
  • To discover how injustices in education are replicated -and sometimes challenged- via language,
  • To consider different methods for analysing language use and its relation to power,
  • To develop understanding of specific linguistic campaigns and their relation to current issues in language in the education sector,
  • To apply criticality skills to a chosen educational discourse context.

Module learning outcomes

Module Learning outcomes :
By the end of this module, students should have a clear understanding of the compelling, ubiquitous and pervasive interrelation between of language and power.
By the end of this module, students will be able to:
Subject content
• understand how language can be used to assert, challenge and cement power in educational contexts,
• understand of how language is manipulated for specific educational goals
• appreciate different sociolinguistic theories and sociolinguistic approaches applicable to the field of education (e.g. liberational, emancipatory), and their practical applicability to different learning and teaching contexts.
Academic and Graduate skills
• critically evaluate power negotiation in texts and discourses
• appreciate advantages and disadvantages of different methods for the analysis of language, in educational contexts and beyond
• appreciate the pervasiveness of power in all language use, and different ways adopting communicative styles with more or less power distance

Module content


Module outline in detail :

Week 1 will offer a module overview and assignment requirements. You will then discuss methodologies used in usage-based language analysis, both of written and spoken discourse, and focus on a couple of examples of this, including Corpus based analysis.

Block 1: weeks 2,3,4 : Language in education.
This block includes the following topics:
• plurilingualism in educational contexts,
• Week 4 will focus on language use and class educational language rights, t
• provision for English as additional language) students,
• code mixing and translanguaging.
• decolonising foreign language learning, historical perspectives
Week 5 will include a discussion of gender linguistics, including historic perspectives, current theories and linguistic activism on the topic. You will critically discuss key authors on this issue, and discuss implications for educational contexts.

Block 2: weeks 5,6,7,8: Global language controversies
This block includes the following topics:
• Gender linguistics
• LGBTQ linguistic activism
• English dominance
• Language death and decline
• Language and cultural diversity
• Minority language rights
Block 3: weeks 8,10,11: Linguistic action, activism and critical language analysis
This block includes the following topics:
• Examples, pathways, limits and opportunities of linguistic activism
• Historical perspectives on linguistic activism
• Critical Discourse Analysis

The final week will be an assignment workshop, where you will have a chance to discuss an assignment outline, and assignment options in small groups.

Assessment

Task Length % of module mark
Essay/coursework
Essay : assignment		 N/A 100

Special assessment rules

None

Reassessment

Task Length % of module mark
Essay/coursework
Essay : assignment		 N/A 100

Module feedback

The feedback is returned to students in line with university policy. Please check the Guide to Assessment, Standards, Marking and Feedback for more information.

Indicative reading

Fairclough, N. (2001). Language and power. London: Longman.
Holmes J. & Wilson, N. (2017). Introducing sociolinguistics. London: Routledge.
Macedo, D. & DrGraff, M. (eds) 2019. Decolonizing World Language Education. Routledge.
Mooney, A. & Evans, B. (2019). Language, society and power. London: Routledge.
Simpson, P., Mayr, A. & Strathman, S. (2019). Language and power. London: Routledge.


The information on this page is indicative of the module that is currently on offer. The University is constantly exploring ways to enhance and improve its degree programmes and therefore reserves the right to make variations to the content and method of delivery of modules, and to discontinue modules, if such action is reasonably considered to be necessary by the University. Where appropriate, the University will notify and consult with affected students in advance about any changes that are required in line with the University's policy on the Approval of Modifications to Existing Taught Programmes of Study.