17373

WiSe 15/16: VS-Sociolinguistics and Varieties of English II: The Commodifilation of English

Theresa Heyd

Kommentar

Commodification is the process by which previously unsellable things, ideas or other entities are turned into goods that can be marketed and sold. In this sense, language can be commodified, as Johnstone (2009: 161) explains: "A linguistic variety or a set of varieties is commodified when it is available for purchase and people will pay for it." It has been claimed that the commodification of language, and in particular the English language, is a hallmark of language practices in the 21st century. Through the traction of global economic and cultural flows, specific ways of speaking English have become highly coveted commodities. This has been witnessed on the level of global economy, where scripted talk is prescribed for service encounters in order to promote a certain brand image; it is found in pop cultural production, where artists strategically use stylized varieties in their performances; and it has been observed at the individual level, where speakers are targeted by "accent reduction courses" to conform to standard varieties of English. Tapping into these forms of linguistic commodification allows us to witness some central sociolinguistic processes as they unfold.
In this class, we will lay the ground by looking at some key concepts that help to understand linguistic commodification such as globalization and the role of global English, as well as sociolinguistic concepts such as indexicality, social meaning and enregisterment. We will then analyze linguistic commodification in different settings, both through current research and real-life instances. We will include spoken and written discourse from domains such as tourism, call centers and service encounters, language teaching, TV talk, and imprinted clothing. We will conclude by critically discussing the findings: who are the winners and losers of linguistic commodification? And how do these recent tendencies tie in with older, more traditional forms of selling (through) language?

Literature: Selection of key publications. A detailed reading schedule will be distributed at the beginning of class.
Cameron, Deborah. 2000. Styling the worker: Gender and the commodification of language in the globalized service economy. Journal of Sociolinguistics 4(3): 323-347. Gaudio, Rudolf. 2003. Coffeetalk: Starbucks TM and the commercialization of casual conversation. Language in Society 32(5): 659-691.
Heller, Monica. 2010. The Commodification of language. Annu. Rev. Anthropol. 39: 101-14.
Heller, Monica. 2003. Globalization, the new economy, and the commodifcation of language and identity. Journal of Sociolinguistics 7(4): 473-492.
Johnstone, Barbara. 2009. Pittsburghese shirts: Commodification and the enregisterment of an urban dialect. American Speech 84(2): 157-175.
Rubdy, Rani, Peter Tan (eds). 2008. Language As Commodity: Global Structures, Local Marketplaces. London: Continuum.

Requirements: Regular attendance and active participation; short presentation and project work; essay. In the second half of the semester, you will identify and collect your own data. You will present your fieldwork in class at the end of the semester; its analysis will provide the basis for your term paper.

Readings: Blommaert, Jan. 2009. A market of accents. Language Policy 8:243-259.
Blommaert, Jan .2012. Lookalike language. English Today 28(2): 62-64.
Cameron, Deborah. 2000. Styling the worker: Gender and the commodification of language in the globalized service economy. Journal of Sociolinguistics 4(3): 323-347.
Cameron, Deborah. 2012. The commodification of language: English as a global commodity. In Terttu Nevalainen & Elizabeth Closs Traugott (eds.), The Oxford handbook of the history of English . Oxford: Oxford University Press. 352-361.
Dougill, John. 2008. Japan and English as an alien language. English Today 24(1): 18-22.
Eckert, Penelope. 2008. Variation and the indexical field. Journal of Sociolinguistics 12(4): 453-476.
Gaudio, Rudolf. 2003. Coffeetalk: Starbucks TM and the commercialization of casual conversation. Language in Society 32(5): 659-691.
Heller, Monica. 2010. The Commodification of language. Annu. Rev. Anthropol . 39: 101-14.
Heyd, Theresa. 2010. How you guys doin'? Staged orality and emerging plural address in the television series Friends. American Speech 85(1): 33-66.
Johnstone, Barbara. 2009. Pittsburghese shirts: Commodification and the enregisterment of an urban dialect. American Speech 84(2): 157-175.
Leeman, Jennifer and Gabriella Modan. 2010. Selling the City: Language, Ethnicity and Commodi?ed Space. In E. Shohamy, E. Ben-Rafael and M. Barni (eds.) Linguistic Landscape in the City . Clevedon: Multilingual Matters. 182-197.
Sebba, Mark. 2007. Identity and language construction in an online community: the case of 'Ali G'. In Peter Auer (ed.) Social identity and communicative styles - An alternative approach to linguistic variability . Berlin: de Gruyter. 361-392 Schließen

16 Termine

Regelmäßige Termine der Lehrveranstaltung

Do, 08:00 - 10:00 16 Termine

Do, 15.10.2015 08:00 - 10:00

Dozenten:
Dr. Theresa Heyd