Dr. Michał Głuszkowski to lead workshop "The use of sociology and social science methodology in linguistics"

On Friday September 16, at 3:00 PM in Gilbert Hall, room 118 Dr. Michał Głuszkowski will lead a workshop "The use of sociology and social science methodology in linguistics".

This workshop will examine historical and contemporary relationships between sociology and linguistics, focusing on the application of sociological methods and theoretical approaches to language contact. Cooperation between representatives of the given disciplines is possible on the grounds of structuralism and, in fact, has been implemented in many joint research projects. It is important to emphasize that the range of mutual influence within the structuralist paradigm not limited to Durkheim’s and de Saussure’s ideas, but was much wider. While language contact is often connected with cultural contact, this fact will be considered in the description of bilingual communities. We will discuss various theories, conceptions, and ideas, such as:. a) the process of language socialization, which is realized, first of all, in primary groups, e.g., in the family or peer group (the role of these groups in creating the group and personal identity of the bilingual individual);  b) the idea that language is simultaneously a product of identity and one of its constituents. Each person plays their own individual role in society (Goffman), and language and language behavior may be considered as attributes of that role; c) the fact that the gender of the individual is also part of their social role: there are differences in the bilingual behavior of men and women; d) the concept of ecolinguistics — language is not a separated phenomenon; therefore, Einar Haugen proposed to describe it together with its “habitat”, i.e. speakers, and the social, political and economic situation.