23.  RON SOUTHERLAND, The University of Calgary 

southerl@acs.ucalgary.ca
   					      		 
Fall Session 
Department of Linguistics  						
		 
1992
Linguistics 309 (01)
Language and Power
MWF 1400-1450

Instructor: R. H. Southerland.  Office: SS846.  Hours: T 1330-1600, or 
by appointment. 
Department of Linguistics General Office (SS820) telephone 220-
5469.

Required texts:
(1) 	Lakoff, Robin.  1992.  Talking Power.  Harper/Collins. 
(Available in the University Bookstore)

(2) 	Sources and Selected Readings in Language and Power. 
(Available at cost from the Department of Linguistics during the first 
week of classes. Students who purchase the reader and drop this course 
by the last date for changing registration in Fall Session half courses 
(17 September) may receive a refund of the purchase price if there is 
no writing at all in the reader. Refunds are not available after 17 
September.) [Reader]

Reserved items:
The following books have been placed on reserve in the Reserve 
Reading Room in the University Library.  Assigned portions of them 
are required reading.  A few articles (not listed in this outline) will be 
placed on reserve in the University Library from time to time.

(1)	Fairclough, Norman. 1989. Language and Power. Longman.

(2)	Ricks, Christopher, and Leonard Michaels. (Eds.). 1990. The 
State of the Language. California.

(3)	Wilson, John. 1990. Politically Speaking: The Pragmatic 
Analysis of Political Language. Blackwell.

Evaluation of Student Performance:
(1) Midterm test, Friday, 23 October 1992, 30% of course grade

(2) Team project: Groups of three-to-five students will combine their 
efforts to produce a presentation to the class on a topic of relevance to 
the course. This topic must be approved by the instructor in advance. 
The presentations will be 15-20 minutes in length and will be 
scheduled at various times throughout the course. [Volunteers are 
solicited earlier rather than later in the course. A schedule will be made 
available as soon as possible.] Subject matter of the project may be 
drawn from the sources in the course bibliography (in the Reader) or 
the reserved items. The grade on the presentation will be based on 
content, level of interest stimulated in the rest of the class and degree 
of participation by all members of the team. Students are encouraged 
to combine secondary sources with current happenings (political, 
gender or ethnic relations and the like). 10% of course grade.

(3) Term paper:  Paper proposal and sample bibliography must be 
submitted to the instructor in writing no later than Wednesday, 14 
October 1992.  Students will not proceed with their term papers until 
their proposals and bibliographies have received written approval from 
the instructor.  Any subsequent changes in paper topic must be 
approved in writing by the instructor as well.  Students are strongly 
urged to begin considering term paper topics early in the course.  An 
examination of all texts and the course bibliography will give an idea 
of the range of suitable topics.  Papers may be based primarily on 
secondary sources or may involve observation/analysis of language in 
social context; in the latter case, work with human subjects will be 
involved.  In either case original thought and critical analysis together 
with a clear and succinct writing style are highly valued.  All materials 
taken or adapted from other sources must be appropriately 
acknowledged in the paper.  Students should be aware that plagiarism 
(whether through conscious intent or carelessness) is a serious matter 
which can have grave academic consequences. 

Term papers may be presented orally in class in the form of a five-to-
ten-minute precis during the last week or so of term. The instructor
will ask for volunteers for the oral presentation in late November.
Final versions must be turned in at the last class meeting (9 December
1992).  Papers will not be accepted late for other than medical or
similar reasons.  Any such reasons must be supported by a written
excuse from a qualified professional.  30% of course grade.

(4) Final examination to be scheduled by the Registrar's Office during 
the Examinations Period (14-23 December 1992) 30% of course grade.


Note: The Midterm and Final will consist mainly of essay questions 
with a small number of questions on terminology (e.g., definitions, 
comparisons and the like).  Students who miss the Midterm and 
present what the instructor regards as a valid excuse for so doing 
will have the weighting normally assigned that test transferred to the 
Final.  Students who miss the Midterm and do not present an 
acceptable excuse will receive a grade of 0 for that test. There are no 
make-ups in this course. Regulations regarding deferred Final 
Examinations are on page 68 of the 1992-93 Calendar.

Course content: The topics covered in a course of this nature are all
interrelated and are all linked to the notion of power. No particular
structure or sequence of topics necessarily imposes itself on the
subject matter. One could start with any of the topics listed below
(or others not treated in this course) and proceed in almost any
order.  The sequence chosen partially reflects that in the Lakoff text
but is also ordered to allow relevant topics to coincide with the fall
election campaigns, referenda and the like. Note that readings below
from the Fairclough text are suggested (encouraged even) but not
required. That volume will provide you with a more theoretical
overview of (and a somewhat different perspective on) the topic area
of language and power.

9-11 Sep 
Introductory, course overview
Lakoff: introduction [pp. 1-7]

11-18 Sep 
The micropolitics of language: discourse types, politeness, directness 
vs. indirectness, verbal aggression (cursing and swearing).
Lakoff: Part I [chapters 1-3]

21-25 Sep 
Language and the law: the explicit encoding of power in the 
courtroom.
Lakoff: chapters 5 and 6 
Reader:  Conley, J. M., W. M. O'Barr, and E. A. Lind. The power of 
language: presentational style in the courtroom.

28 Sep - 2 Oct 
Language and medicine. Power in public and power in private: therapy 
and courtroom compared. Medical and dental interviews.
Lakoff: chapters 4 and 7
Reader:  Coleman, H., and J. Burton. Aspects of control in the dentist-
patient relationship.

5-14 Oct 
Language and minorities. Language across cultural and social groups. 
Language and "illness".
Lakoff: chapters 9 and 10.
Reader:  Greenberg, J., S. L. Kirkland and T. Pyszczynski. Some 
theoretical notions and preliminary research concerning derogatory 
ethnic labels.
Ricks and Michaels:  Grover, Jan Zita. AIDS: Keywords. [pp. 142-
162]; Kostenbaum, Wayne. Speaking in the Shadow of AIDS [pp. 163-
170]; Callen, Michael. AIDS: The Linguistic Battlefield [pp. 171-181].

16-21 Oct 
Persuasive language.
Lakoff: chapters 12 and 13.
Reader:  Geis, Michael. The strength of a claim.
Fairclough: suggested additional readings.

26 Oct - 4 Nov 
Language and politicians.
Lakoff: chapter 14.
Wilson:  chapters 1 and 2.
Fairclough: suggested additional readings.

6-20 Nov 
Language and gender:
Lakoff: chapter 11
Reader:  West, Candace, and Don Zimmerman. Small insults: a study 
of interruptions in cross-sex conversations between unacquainted 
persons.
Ricks and Michaels: Algeo, John. It's a Myth, Innit? Politeness and the 
English Tag Question. [pp. 443-450].
Additional readings on reserve (for assignment over Reading Days).

23-25 Nov
Academic discourse.
Lakoff: chapter 8.
Fairclough: suggested additional readings.

27 Nov - 
Language "authorities". 
Lakoff: chapter 15.
Reader: Fries, Charles C. Other attempts to determine what language 
matters to teach.
Ricks and Michaels: Nunberg, Geoffrey. What the Usage Panel Think 
[pp. 467-482].
Fairclough: suggested additional readings.