Language In Society

AY2025/2026 Semester 1

This course is an introduction to sociolinguistics - the study of language in its social context. We will discuss how language practices may differ across various communities. We will examine the multifaceted relationship between language use and various social categories such as class and socioeconomic status, age, gender and sexuality, race and ethnicity, education etc. Throughout the course, we will apply the new concepts when reflecting on the multiethnic, multilingual and multicultural sociolinguistic context of Singapore. If you are interested in the social life of language, or have wondered why we speak and write differently in different situations, how we use language to express social meanings and various aspects of our identity, and how we can understand social relationships in a community by examining language attitudes and ideologies, then this is the right course for you. What you will learn will be valuable in any future career that involves communication, particularly in multicultural and multilingual settings.