This course looks into the relationship between language and culture. Various theoretical frameworks are examined with special emphasis on Dell Hymes’ anthropological approach, better known as the ethnography of communication. Classroom discussion focuses on basic terms, concepts and issues in the field, the identification and analysis of communicative events, the patterns of communication in a society, the attitudes towards communicative performance, the acquisition of communicative competence and the relationship between language and politeness, power and politics, with special emphasis on Spanish-speaking contexts. In addition to the required text, there will be other readings on the subject provided by the instructor. (1 unit)

Required text: Muriel Saville-Troike, The Ethnography of Communication: An Introduction, 3rd ed. (Malden MA.: Blackwell, 2003).