Community-based sociolinguistic studies in the Carolinas

Workshop Announcement

Community-based sociolinguistic studies in the Carolinas

Walt Wolfram, William C. Friday Distinguished Professor

English Department, North Carolina State University

Friday, October 27, 2000 (2:00-4:30)

Saturday, October 28, 2000 (10:00-12:30)

Place: Gambrell Hall 428-429, USC-Columbia

Field-initiated, community-based studies offer one of the greatest resources for addressing the most fundamental issues in language variation and change, yet their potential is surprisingly underutilized in sociolinguistics in general and dialectology in particular. Relevant questions are:

What are the linguistic and sociolinguistic "issues" that make for a good community-based study?
How do researchers practically set up and carry out such a study?
How can a community itself be involved in the process?

This two-day workshop considers theoretical, methodological, and practical issues involved in conducting field-initiated studies, based on extensive field experience in different sites in North Carolina in the last decade.

A special emphasis includes the discussion and demonstration of applications of the linguistic gratuity principle, by which researchers work with communities to return linguistic favors. A practical goal of the workshop is the encouragement of more extensive community-based sociolinguistic projects in South Carolina and the Southeast US.

Day 1 will be devoted to theoretical and field issues; Day 2 will be devoted to applications of the linguistic gratuity principle.

Throughout the workshop there will be many audio and video clips, as well as illustrative and entertaining stories. Considerable interaction and questions from participants are highly encouraged, as the emphasis will be on the "how to" and "why" of community-based linguistics.

The workshop is open to the public and is not limited to interested parties only at the University of South Carolina, Columbia.

There is no cost to participate, but preregistration is required by October 20, 2000 in order to make proper planning arrangements. Please contact the Linguistics Program (linguistics@sc.edu, 777-2063) to confirm your participation, and specify which day(s) you intend to attend.

This talk is sponsored by the Linguistics Program, the Department of English and the College of Liberal Arts. For further information, contact the Linguistics Program via phone or e-mail, or visit the Linguistics Program website at http://www.cla.sc.edu/LING/Index.html.