Bilingual Voices: A Course on Linguistics and Interview Techniques

Bilingual Voices: A Course on Linguistics and Interview Techniques is an exploration of bilingualism, investigating the historical and contemporary motivations for and sociolinguistic uses of dual-language communication, linguistic identity, and cultural practices while equipping students with essential interview skills to investigate and present firsthand bilingual experiences. 
Throughout the course, students will conduct an ongoing interview with a bilingual person of their choosing and share the results in the last week. We will learn linguistics-related vocabulary such as language, dialect, style, register, lingua franca, diglossia, etc. Topics include motivations for who becomes bilingual, how first languages are maintained when a person moves, the phenomenon of generational shift toward the second language, perspectives from bilingual speakers, attitudes from society toward bilingualism and bilingual people, factors motivating language choice in social situations, and bilingual practices from around the world.

Week 1: We begin with general facts about bilingualism, and how we will identify a person to interview for the course. Students will choose a person to interview after this class.

Week 2: We concentrate on definitions in linguistics related to bilingualism:  key words include language, dialect, variety, style, register, lingua franca, diglossia. Then we will talk about how these concepts are related to each other. We will learn how to describe the languages and dialects of our interviewees and develop 1-3 interview questions.

Week 3: We answer two main questions: What has motivated bilingualism historically and today? Who becomes bilingual? We will develop 1-3 interview questions.

Week 4: The topics are language maintenance and language shift-- the preservation and continued use of a language within a community, and when a community gradually adopts a different language, leading to its decline or loss. We will develop 1-3 interview questions.

Week 5: Mindsets and attitudes are the topics of the week: what perspectives do bilinguals hold about their languages? What societal attitudes are reflected in social behaviors toward the speakers of those languages? We will develop 1-3 interview questions.

Week 6: The topic of this week is language choice and bilingual identity-- the selection of a specific language or dialect for communication in various social contexts, and the relationship between one's language use and their self-perceived cultural and social identity, reflecting how language choices shape who we are. We will develop 1-3 interview questions.

Week 7: We will do a cross-linguistic examination of bilingualism, looking at bilingual practices in different societies worldwide. Students will write up their complete interview.

Week 8: Students will present their interview write-up to the instructor and peers.