The course aims to provide an overview of the Italian linguistic context, with particular attention paid to the coexistence of the dialects, the Italian language and its varieties, and to the social factors affecting language variation and change. In order to reach this goal, on the one hand, the course offers an outline of the main interpretative categories of variationist sociolinguistics while highlighting the themes of "space" and "place" and providing, when possible, examples taken from the academic literature on dialect and Italian language phenomena; on the other hand, the course offers principles of dialectology, from core topics such as dialect classification and substratum up to topics at the crossroads of the two subdisciplines, such as code switching and advergence. The ultimate goal is to make the students appreciate the potentiality of variationist analysis of Italian phenomena, guide them towards the autonomous reading of the academic literature, and encourage them to formulate plausible research hypotheses. 

The course will be structured into two closely related main sections. The first one tries to define variationist sociolinguistics while highlighting the peculiarities of the American and Italian research traditions and providing an overview of the main social variables used to explain language variation and change phenomena. In this first section of the course, the students are introduced to the main dynamics of the Italian linguistic context, thanks to selected examples and critical readings of works describing Italian phenomena. Then the course moves on to Italian dialectology through a thematic bridge concerning recent discussions about "space" in variationist sociolinguistics brought into dialogue with some principles of geolinguistics. The second section provides some fundamentals of dialectology, apt to contextualize many of the phenomena discussed during the first section of the course. Lastly, an in-depth look on some topics pertinent to the close coexistence of dialects and Italian will be given: these are of interest for both the analysis of their evolutionary trends, and syncronic speech production.

A summary of the course themes can be found below:

- Variationist sociolinguistics vs. sociology of language

- The origins of sociolinguistics in the United States and in Italy

- Social variables and linguistic identity

- Space: from isoglosses and areal norms to perceived and lived space

- Perceptual dialectology: mind, space, and society on the map

- Dialects: sister and daughter languages

- Dialect classifications and substratum issues

- Italian-dialect bilingualism: dialects as variation phenomena?

- Auer's cone model: convergence and advergence

- Code switching

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knowledge and understanding: Students will have to understand the main features of the Italian linguistic context by learning the peculiarities of the different coexisting languages. They will also have to acquire some knowledge on the main sociolinguistic variables and understand how these can explain synchronic and diachronic dynamics pertaining to the languages of Italy.

applying knowledge and understanding: Students will have to begin developing autonomy with respect to the application of sociolinguistic concepts to the Italian linguistic and dialect context. They will also have to begin understanding the structure of an academic paper and the relative differences with handbooks. 

making judgements: Students will have to tell the core themes of sociolinguistics and dialectology apart from topics of current debate, in order to develop autonomous research interests in the pertinent disciplines.

communication skills: Students will have to prove their acquisition of the field jargons; moreover, they will have to use them in novel contexts.

learning skills: Students will begin understanding the linguistic processes of variation and change, with particular attention paid to the Italian context. They will also begin developing skills in autonomously reading academic works. 

The teaching material prepared by the lecturer in addition to recommended textbooks (such as for instance slides, lecture notes, exercises, bibliography) and communications from the lecturer specific to the course can be found inside the Moodle platform › blended.uniurb.it

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Teaching

Lectures. Critical readings of the scientific literature will be provided during the course lessons.

Attendance

In accordance with the structure of the academic calendar, this course should be taken after Professor Chiara Celata's General Linguistics I. A partial acquisition of the contents of Professor Celata's course is taken for granted here. 

Course books

The course program is the same for attending and non-attending students. In order to help non-attending students learn the contents of the lectures, a careful reading of the materials indicated in Blended Learning is highly recommended: these will allow students to reach a level of understanding of the course contents sufficient for its requirements.

In addition to the course slides and the materials uploaded on Blended Learning, students will have to compulsorily read:

-  Berruto, G., Cerruti, M. (2019). Manuale di sociolinguistica. Torino: UTET - except for § 3.5 (pp. 102-107), § 4.4 (pp. 131-136), §§ 5.1-5.2 (pp. 167-188), §6.3 (pp. 218-236; theoretical information about VARBRUL and regression models will be given during the course).

- Fanciullo, F. (2015). Prima lezione di dialettologia. Bari: Laterza - expect for from §3.2 up to the end of the book (pp. 115-162).

- Avolio, F. (2009). Lingue e dialetti d'Italia. Roma: Carocci - second chapter (pp. 37-59) and §§ 3.2-3.3 (pp. 67-76) only.

Assessment

Oral exam (approx. 30 minutes).

Each candidate will have to answer three questions about the contents of the course and the textbooks. Whenever possible, in order to test knowledge application skills and avoid testing for recall, the questions will be based on novel examples of learned phenomena. The evalution of the three questions will be based on the students' knowledge of the course topics, their use of the field jargon and their critical sensibility (e.g., their ability to link examples to the relative phenomena and provide an explanation to their answers). The Professor will evaluate each of the three aspects of the three questions on a four-point qualitative scale (poor - passing grade - good - excellent). In order to reach an overall passing grade of 18 out of 30, the students will have to obtain a passing grade in two out of three questions.

Disability and Specific Learning Disorders (SLD)

Students who have registered their disability certification or SLD certification with the Inclusion and Right to Study Office can request to use conceptual maps (for keywords) during exams.

To this end, it is necessary to send the maps, two weeks before the exam date, to the course instructor, who will verify their compliance with the university guidelines and may request modifications.

Teaching

Individual study.

Attendance

In accordance with the structure of the academic calendar, this course should be taken after Professor Chiara Celata's General Linguistics I. A partial acquisition of the contents of Professor Celata's course is taken for granted here. 

Course books

The course program is the same for attending and non-attending students. In order to help non-attending students learn the contents of the lectures, a careful reading of the materials indicated in Blended Learning is highly recommended: these will allow students to reach a level of understanding of the course contents sufficient for its requirements.

In addition to the course slides and the materials uploaded on Blended Learning, students will have to compulsorily read:

-  Berruto, G., Cerruti, M. (2019). Manuale di sociolinguistica. Torino: UTET - except for § 3.5 (pp. 102-107), § 4.4 (pp. 131-136), §§ 5.1-5.2 (pp. 167-188), §6.3 (pp. 218-236; theoretical information about VARBRUL and regression models will be given during the course).

- Fanciullo, F. (2015). Prima lezione di dialettologia. Bari: Laterza - expect for from §3.2 up to the end of the book (pp. 115-162).

- Avolio, F. (2009). Lingue e dialetti d'Italia. Roma: Carocci - second chapter (pp. 37-59) and §§ 3.2-3.3 (pp. 67-76) only.

Assessment

Oral exam (approx. 30 minutes).

Each candidate will have to answer three questions about the contents of the course and the textbooks. Whenever possible, in order to test knowledge application skills and avoid testing for recall, the questions will be based on novel examples of learned phenomena. The evalution of the three questions will be based on the students' knowledge of the course topics, their use of the field jargon and their critical sensibility (e.g., their ability to link examples to the relative phenomena and provide an explanation to their answers). The Professor will evaluate each of the three aspects of the three questions on a four-point qualitative scale (poor - passing grade - good - excellent). In order to reach an overall passing grade of 18 out of 30, the students will have to obtain a passing grade in two out of three questions.

Disability and Specific Learning Disorders (SLD)

Students who have registered their disability certification or SLD certification with the Inclusion and Right to Study Office can request to use conceptual maps (for keywords) during exams.

To this end, it is necessary to send the maps, two weeks before the exam date, to the course instructor, who will verify their compliance with the university guidelines and may request modifications.