SOCIOLINGUISTICS OF ITALIAN

To develop students’ ability to reflect upon the variability of the Italian language in correlation with: communicative situation, geographical area, speaker’s gender, age and level of education; written or spoken channel. To acquire the main techniques of sociolinguistic research by carrying out some fieldwork. To develop students’ awareness of the communicative potentiality of using Italian, dialect and other languages in conversation and in the internet (code switching and polylanguaging).

A) Definition of Sociolinguistics: scope, postulates and methods.


B) The sociolinguistic repertoire of contemporary Italian: standard and neo-standard; written and spoken; Italian in mass media; geographical and social varieties of Italian.

C) Communicative strategies: code switching and polylanguaging. Definition and functions

A) Introduction to Sociolinguistics

- Berruto G. e M. Cerruti, 2014, Manuale di sociolinguistica, Utet. (pp. 250).

B) Italian sociolinguistic repertoire

- Berruto G. 2012, Sociolinguistica dell’italiano contemporaneo, Roma, Carocci (new edition) (pp. 280).

C) Communicative strategies

- Alfonzetti G., 2012, Il Discorso bilingue, Milano, Franco Angeli (only chapters 1, 2 and 3 = pp. 1-170);

- Alfonzetti G., 2012, I giovani e il code switching in Sicilia, Palermo, Centro di Studi Filologici e Linguistici Siciliani, pp. 170.

The lectures outlines are avaiable on Studium.

Please remember that in compliance with art 171 L22.04.1941, n. 633 and its amendments, it is illegal to copy entire books or journals, only 15% of their content can be copied.

For further information on sanctions and regulations concerning photocopying please refer to the regulations on copyright (Linee Guida sulla Gestione dei Diritti d’Autore) provided by AIDRO - Associazione Italiana per i Diritti di Riproduzione delle opere dell’ingegno (the Italian Association on Copyright).

All the books listed in the programs can be consulted in the Library.