SPAN 392 - Spanish Language Theory and Practice

Credits: 3
Planned Offering: Winter

Prerequisite: SPAN 215 or SPAN 275. A topics course that approaches language study through theories of language use and meaning, as well as their practical application through extensive writing exercises. Topics may include translation theory, analysis of theoretical approaches to language study, and advanced grammar. May be repeated for degree credit if the topics are different.

Topic for Winter 2013:

SPAN 392: Spanish Language Theory and Practice: Power and ideology: (Critical) Discourse Perspectives (3). This course explores different theoretical approaches to account for the relationship of language and power, and therefore the relationship between language use and social processes. In particular, it observes how meaning is constructed and reconstructed in discourse, especially by the dominant classes with access to public discourse: politicians, academics, journalists, etc., whose messages generally reach and influence large audiences. For this reason, political discourse is an important source of data to observe how social actors employ specific linguistic choices to achieve political goals. Reyes.