Students will gain an understanding of bilingualism, including historical and contemporary motivations, sociolinguistic uses, and the significance of dual-language communication in a global context.

Students will acquire a robust vocabulary related to linguistics, including terms such as language, dialect, variety, style, register, lingua franca, and diglossia, and develop the ability to apply these concepts in real-world linguistic analysis.

Students will develop essential interview techniques, from identifying suitable interviewees to constructing effective interview questions and conducting interviews with bilingual individuals.

Students will explore the historical and contemporary factors that drive bilingualism, understanding who becomes bilingual and the varied motivations behind bilingualism.

Students will comprehend the concepts of language maintenance and language shift, and appreciate their impact on language communities and individual linguistic identities.

Students will analyze the attitudes and perspectives held by bilingual individuals towards their languages, as well as the societal attitudes that influence interactions with bilingual speakers.

Students will investigate the complex relationship between language choice and one's linguistic identity, gaining insights into how language choices shape cultural and social identities and vice versa.

Students will examine and compare bilingual practices from diverse societies worldwide, fostering a broader understanding of human diversity.

Students will develop the ability to compile and present their interview findings effectively, communicating the rich experiences of bilingual individuals in a structured and engaging manner.

Students will demonstrate their knowledge and communication skills by presenting their interview write-ups to the instructor and peers, showcasing their understanding of bilingualism and interview techniques.

Educational background and experience: PhD in Sociocultural Linguistics; BAE in secondary education; college-level teaching since 1998
Lived Experience: multilingual person
Outschool Experience: teaching high school students since 2020

Homework Offered
There is one project developed throughout the course: an interview with a bilingual person. Following the first class, students will identify, contact, and begin the interview process. Each week, we will develop questions for the ongoing interview. Students are expected to spend 15-30 minutes a week conducting the ongoing interview and taking notes/recording responses. Between Week 7 and Week 8, students will complete a write-up of the interview and present it during Week 8.
0 - 1 hours per week outside of class
Assessments Offered
Informal ongoing assessment during class and verbal feedback on the interview process. Peer and instructor feedback during the final week while sharing interview results.
Grades Offered

Sources I used to create this course include the following:


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Alexander, Neville (1989) Language Policy and National Unity in South Africa/Azania. Capetown: Buchu Books.

Allard, Réal, and Rodrigue Landry (1992) Ethnolinguistic vitality beliefs and language maintenance and loss. In Willem Fase, Koen Jaspaert and Sjaak Kroon (eds.), Main-tenance and Loss of Minority Languages. Amsterdam: Benjamins, 171–95.

Atkinson, David (2000) Minoritisation, identity and ethnolinguistic vitality in Catalonia. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development 21:185–97.

Bailey, Benjamin (1997) Communication of respect in interethnic service encounters. Language in Society 26:327–56.

Baker, Colin (2001) Foundations of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters.

Barth, Frederick (ed.) (1969) Ethnic Groups and Boundaries: The Social Organization of Cultural Difference. Boston: Little Brown.

Bell, Allan (1984) Style as audience design. Language in Society 13:145–204. —— (2001) Back in style: Reworking audience design. In Penelope Eckert and John R. Rickford (eds.), Style and Sociolinguistic Variation. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 139–69.

Bolonyai, Agnes (1998) In-between languages: Language shift/maintenance in childhood bilingualism. The International Journal of Bilingualism 2:21–43.

De Mejía, Anne-Marie (2002) Power, Prestige and Bilingualism: International Perspectives on Elite Bilingual Education. Clevedon, UK: Multilingual Matters.

Eastman, Carol M. (1983) Language Planning. San Francisco: Chandler and Sharp. Edwards, John (1994) Language, Society and Identity. Oxford: Blackwell.

Gal, Susan (1979) Language Shift: Social Determinants of Linguistic Change in Bilingual Austria. New York: Academic Press.

Hock, Hans Henrich, and Brian Joseph (1996) Language History, Language Change, and Language Relationship. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter.

Kasuya, Hiroko (1998) Determinants of language choice in bilingual children: The role of input. International Journal of Bilingualism 2:327–46.

Li, Wei (1994) Three Generations, Two Languages, One Family. Clevedon, UK: Multilingual Matters.

Maurais, Jacques, and Michael A. Morris (eds.) (2003) Languages in a Globalising World. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Piller, Ingrid (2001) Identity constructions in multilingual advertising. Language in Society 2:61–80.

Schmid, Monika S. (2002) First Language Attrition, Use and Maintenance, The Case of German Jews in Anglophone Countries. Amsterdam and Philadelphia: John Benjamins.