SCIENZE UMANISTICHEEUROPEAN EUROAMERICAN AND ORIENTAL LANGUAGES AND CULTUREAcademic Year 2022/2023
1006546 - SOCIOLINGUISTICA DELL'ITALIANO A - Z
Teacher: GIULIO SCIVOLETTO
Expected Learning Outcomes
1) Knowledge and
understanding
Acquiring basic concepts of sociolinguistics. Developing reflection on the
variability of the Italian language. Developing awareness of the functions of a
widespread behaviour in the Italian situation, also among young people, i.e.
the alternate use of Italian, dialect and foreign languages in conversation and
on the web (phenomena defined as code switching and polylanguaging).
2) Ability to apply knowledge and understanding
Acquiring the main techniques of sociolinguistic investigation in order to be
able to carry out fieldwork. To be able to apply the acquired concepts and
themes (e.g.: the varieties of Italian, the values of dialect on the web, etc.)
to a given professional field. In other words, developing a sociolinguistic
reading ability, which contributes to tackling problems and finding solutions
to issues involving the use of language in a given field of work (e.g. adapting
the variety of language used to prepare public communications of a company or
activity, understanding the social meaning of the variety used by a given
client, etc.).
3) Autonomy of judgement
Knowing how to interpret data of socially situated language use, in order to
attain the capacity for personal and autonomous judgement, so as to be able to
make a critical reflection on social, ethical or professional issues (e.g.:
evaluating the linguistic behaviour used by or towards a minority, judging the
value of the variety of Italian used in a business communication, etc.).
4) Communicative skills
Knowing how to apply sociolinguistic knowledge to one’s own communicative
competence, to master the use of socially situated language, and to know how to
interact consciously and communicate effectively (e.g.: respecting stylistic norms
when writing an email, knowing how to adapt the diatopic markings of one’s
speech to a given situational context, etc.).
5) Learning skills
Developing the basic learning skills that are necessary to undertake further
studies with a high degree of autonomy (e.g.: to know diamesic variation in
order to adapt one’s use of the language to a new social network, to know the
trends in the re-standardisation of Italian in order to evaluate further
particular innovations, etc.).
Course Structure
The course is structured in
dialogical and frontal lectures, individual and group exercises,
self-evaluative reflections concerning the several contents dealt with.
Required Prerequisites
Basic knowledge
of the Italian language
Attendance of Lessons
optional
course attendance
Detailed Course Content
A) Definition of Sociolinguistics: scope, postulates and
methods; linguistic repertoire and community; communicative situation and
competence; social class, group and social network; types of linguistic
varieties; standard language and dialect; linguistic prestige; opinions and
attitudes, diglossia and dilalia; sociolinguistic variable.
B) The sociolinguistic repertoire of contemporary Italy: the sociolinguistic
situation in contemporary Italy: Italian, dialects, and minority languages;
historical development of the use of Italian and dialects; the “architecture”
of Italian; restandardisation: literary standard and neostandard; diatopic
varieties: Regional Italian; diaphasic varieties: registers and language for
specific purposes; diamesic varieties: written and spoken Italian; diastratic
varieties: “italiano popolare”.
C) Techniques of sociolinguistic research; Communicative strategies: code switching and polylanguaging. Definition and functions.
Textbook Information
Berruto Gaetano, Prima lezione di sociolinguistica,
Bari, Laterza, 2006 (189 pp.)
- D’Agostino Mari, Sociolinguistica dell’Italia
contemporanea, Il Mulino 2007:
Chapter I: Storie (pp. 13-22),
Chapter 3: L’Italia contemporanea, pp. 51-66.
Chapter 11: Progettare una ricerca, pp.
215-235.
- Berruto Gaetano, Sociolinguistica dell’italiano
contemporaneo, Roma, Carocci, ( 2012 updated reprint (280 pp.) (except
chapter 5).
- Alfonzetti, Giovanna, Parlare italiano e dialetto in Sicilia,
Palermo, Centro di Studi Filologici e Linguistici siciliani 2017 (100 pp.)
Course Planning
| Subjects | Text References |
1 |
Scope
and postulates of sociolinguistics |
Berruto, Prima lezione di
sociolinguistica and slides |
2 |
Linguistic repertoire and community |
Berruto, Prima lezione di
sociolinguistica and slides |
3 |
Linguistic varieties | Berruto, Prima lezione di
sociolinguistica and slides |
4 |
Communicative compentence and communicative
situation | Berruto, Prima lezione di
sociolinguistica and slides |
5 |
Social class, group and social network; age and
sex; domain | Berruto, Prima lezione di
sociolinguistica and slides |
6 |
Prestige and attitudes | Berruto, Prima lezione di
sociolinguistica and slides |
7 |
Types of linguistic varieties | Berruto, Prima lezione di
sociolinguistica and slides |
8 |
Labovian variable and variant | Berruto, Prima lezione di
sociolinguistica and slides |
9 |
Standard language and dialect | Berruto, Prima lezione di
sociolinguistica and slides |
10 |
Diglossia and dilalia | Berruto, Prima lezione di
sociolinguistica and slides |
11 |
Techniques of sociolinguistic research | D'Agostino and slides |
12 |
Italian sociolinguistic situations; the Italian
repertoire (Berruto) | Berruto, Sociolinguistica dell'italiano and slides |
13 |
Standard and neostandard Italian. Restandardization | Berruto, Sociolinguistica dell'italiano and slides |
14 |
Regional varieties: regional Italian | Berruto, Sociolinguistica dell'italiano and slides |
15 |
Diamesic varieties: written, oral and transmitted
varieties of Italian | Berruto, Sociolinguistica dell'italiano and slides |
16 |
Situational varieties: styles and special languages | Berruto, Sociolinguistica dell'italiano and slides |
17 | Social varieties | Berruto, Sociolinguistica dell'italiano and slides |
18 |
Contact between Italian language and local dialect | Alfonzetti, Parlare italiano e dialetto in Sicilia |
19 |
Code switching | Alfonzetti, Parlare italiano e dialetto in Sicilia |
20 |
Polylanguaging
in CMC | Alfonzetti, Parlare italiano e dialetto in Sicilia |
Learning Assessment
Learning Assessment Procedures
There are 2 written in-progress tests during the semester:the first at the end of the lectures relating to module A, the second at the end of the lectures relating to module B.a) the first test consists of open questions (definitions of concepts or phenomena covered by module A;b) the second consists of 2 open questions and 10 closed ones based on the analysis of utterances containing features of the different varieties of Italian studied (standard, neo-standard. regional, formal, informal, written, spoken, etc.). Those who have taken and passed both in-progress tests will only have to answer questions on the module C book, orally, at the time of the final examination. The mark for the in-progress tests is averaged with the mark for the oral examination. Anyone wishing to improve the grade for one or both of the in-session tests already taken may supplement the respective parts (module A and/or module B) in the oral examination. Those who have not taken the in-progress tests must take the final examination for the entire syllabus: one part will be written (like the in-progress tests on modules A and B, one part oral on module C. XWritten testXOral testXPractical examination For the assessment of the examination, account will be taken of the candidate's command of the content and skills acquired, linguistic accuracy and lexical propriety, as well as his or her ability to argue.
Examples of frequently asked questions and / or exercises
Objectives and postulates of sociolinguistics; community and repertoire;
language varieties: diatopic, diastratic, diaphasic and diamesic variation;
communicative competence and situation; sociodemographic variables: stratum and
group; age and sex; dominance and social network; prestige and stigma; Labovian
variable and variant; language and dialect; standard language; diglossia and
dilalia; methods and techniques of the sociolinguistic investigation; Italian
sociolinguistic situation; the repertoire model according to Berruto: standard
and neostandard; re-standardisation of Italian; regional varieties; diamesic
varieties: written, spoken, graphic speech; diaphasic varieties: registers and
subcodes; diastratic varieties: contact phenomena between Italian and dialect:
code-switching: generational differences; polylanguaging in computer-mediated
communication; etc.
Versione in italiano