Social media communication it not only verbalized through written text but also materialized in dynamically changing websites or applications, including video and audio files, gifs, emojis, and the like. As a consequence, online configurations in social media ask us to rethink the categories of our communicative and linguistic analysis.

The seminar takes this need for rethinking as a starting point and brings together different strands of multimodal linguistic analysis that discuss methodological foundations, approaches, and research practices to analyze multimodal online discourse in social media and its evolving phenomena. We will look at these phenomena from a linguistic and multimodal perspective in order to analyze their meaning-making strategies and their potential to mediate socio-cultural values. We will ask: What do we learn from these phenomena and their strategies? Which (new) ways of communication are available and how do we cope with them in our daily life?

We will look at both qualitative and quantitative methods to analyze social media, with a particular view to empirical analysis. With many practical example analyses, we will work through the immense possibilities of communicating in social media and aim at a comprehensive and detailed description of the particularities of this communication in contrast to that in other forms of (multimodal) discourse.

In this seminar we will investigate the role of language in different types of media, e.g. printed (newspapers, magazines), spoken (radio, TV, film) and digital media (websites, social media like Facebook or Twitter). What role does language play? How can we tell if language is used to influence readers / listeners in a certain way? You will learn methods of corpus linguistics and critical discourse analysis that help to identify the different features, structures and functions of the language used in media.

Requirements
Please note that you can NOT take this class for the BA ESC D1 module. This is a class in the WD module, only 'Profilfach' students can and need to take classes in the WD module.
Homework assignments (reading 10-30 pages each week; possibly some exercises).
Regular and active participation in all class work.

BA ESC ( 2011) WD 1 a: An analysis + written report (not graded, 3 CP)
BA ESC ( 2011) WD 1 c: An analysis + poster presentation (graded, 3 CP)
BA Linguistics: An analysis, poster presentation and term paper (graded, 6 CP)
Erasmus 3 CP for regular active participation, 6 CP for an analysis and poster presentation
Report means that you will present the results of your analysis of three linguistic aspects in your DIY corpus, for this you will write 3-6 pages.

Literature (you don't have to buy any of these)
Durant, Alan & Marina Lambrou. 2009. Language and Media: A Resource Book for Students. London; New York: Routledge.
McEnery, Tony & Richard Xiao & Yukio Tono. 2006. Corpus-based Language Studies: An Advanced Resource Book. London; New York: Routledge. 13-21, 71-79.
Silverblatt, Art. 2008. Media Literacy. 3rd ed. Westport, Ct: Praeger.

This course examines how digital games interact with contemporary society as medium, technology, and evolving forms of creative expressions. To understand the complexity and socio-political implications of digital games, the course invites participants to critically and theoretically reflect on the medium through gameplay, media viewings and encounters, and materials across academic, journalistic, and creative sources. Specifically, the course examines digital games in varied degrees via five theoretical perspectives of the field: ludology, narratology, ideology, player studies, and platform studies. These provide contexts and vocabulary that enrich investigations of digital games, regarding their dynamics with other audiovisual media, refinement of theories and research methods, and consideration of connected concepts and phenomena, including semiotic mode, identity, embodiment, and affect.

This class attempts to introduce students to varieties of (spoken) English in the Caribbean and theoretical concepts central to language change and contact (e.g. models of World Englishes, standard /national/first language/pidgin and creoles, etc.). We will examine spoken data and will take a look at variety-specific phonological processes and features, but also similarities among varieties of English spoken on different islands in the Caribbean.
The main focus of this course will be on the sounds of different Englishes and contact languages such as English-based pidgins and creoles (e.g. Trinidadian Creole). In addition we will also take a look at some text excerpts of various genres by authors and artists from the Caribbean. Topics such as the relationship between language, culture(s) and society(-ies) with a special focus on the postcolonial setting(s) in the Caribbean will also be encountered.

Requirements:
BA E-SC D1c:
• Active participation: obligatory readings, some homework, some in-class (group) tasks, short presentation
• Term paper (12-14 pages, Prüfungsleistung [grade])
BA E-SC D1a:
• Active participation: obligatory readings, some homework, some in-class (group) tasks , short presentation
• Oral presentation (20-30min, Studienleistung [pass/fail])
SIK5:
• Active participation: obligatory readings, some homework, some in-class tasks , short presentation
• Oral presentation (20min) AND term paper (10-12 pages)

Current research in the field of English corpus linguistics challenges the traditional division between foreign language / learner varieties of English (English as a Foreign Language, EFL) and institutionalized second-language varieties of English (English as a Second Language, ESL), the so-called “paradigm-gap”. Despite the manifold differences between EFL and ESL, and although the two types of varieties have traditionally been examined in different research paradigms (EFL in Second Language Acquisition research, ESL in research on World Englishes), there are a number of similarities that warrant a comparative perspective. Both are ‘non-native’ varieties, are acquired in institutionalised settings as foreign or second languages in language contact situations, and, most importantly for the present context, have been assumed to be subject to similar cognitive processes of language acquisition and production. In this seminar we will review the current research literature in the field and then design corpus-based empirical research projects in which students will compare selected EFL and ESL varietes to examine similarities and difference between the two types of varieties.

> Obligatory reading <

Sridhar, K.K. & Sridhar, S.N. 1986. “Bridging the paradigm gap: Second language acquisition
theory and indigenized varieties of English”, World Englishes 5(1), 3–14.
[available as a PDF version in the folder "Dateien > readings"]

> Other suggested reading <

Deshors, S.C. ed., (2018), Modelling World Englishes in the 21st century: Assessing the interplay of emancipation and globalization of ESL varieties. Amsterdam: Benjamins.

Deshors, S.C., S. Götz, S. & S. Laporte, eds. (2016). Linguistic Innovations. Rethinking linguistic creativity in non-native Englishes. Special issue of the International Journal of Learner Corpus Research 2:2.

Gilquin, G. (2015). At the interface of contact linguistics and second language acquisition research. New Englishes and Learner Englishes compared. English World-Wide 36(1), 90-123.

Low, E.L. & A. Pakir, eds. (2017), World Englishes: Rethinking Paradigms. London: Routledge.

Mukherjee, J. & M. Hundt, eds. (2011). Exploring Second-Language Varieties of English and Learner Englishes: Bridging a Paradigm Gap. Amsterdam: Benjamins.

Galloway, N. (2017). Global Englishes and Change in English Language Teaching: Attitudes and Impact. New York: Routledge.

Jenkins, J. (2015). Global Englishes: A resource book for students. London: Routledge.

Schneider, E.W. 2012. “Exploring the interface between World Englishes and Second Language
Acquisition – and implications for English as a Lingua Franca”, Journal of English as a
Lingua Franca 1(1), 57–91.

Seoane, E. & C. Suárez-Gómez, eds. (2016). World Englishes: New theoretical and methodological considerations. Amsterdam: Benjamins.


> Assessment (depending on number of CPs required and regulations of study program) <

• regular, active paticipation
• project presentation
• research proposal for term paper
• term paper based on project