Department of Language and Linguistic Science
MOOC 2023 - An Introduction to Sociolinguistics: Accents, Attitudes and Identity
Posted on 30 June 2023
On Monday 17th July 2023, the Department of Language and Linguistic Science will launch the fourth facilitated run of the free-to-access massive open online course (MOOC) An Introduction to Sociolinguistics: Accents, Attitudes and Identity on the platform FutureLearn. This follows on from the success of its previous runs in 2019-2022.
The MOOC focuses on sociolinguistic research into language variation and language attitudes, covering topics including regional accent variation, sociolinguistic methods for investigating language variation and language attitudes, and accent bias in the workplace, courtroom and classroom. The course draws upon sociolinguistic research both within and outside the department, including recent research projects funded by the Economic and Social Research Council: The Use and Utility of Localised Speech Forms in Determining Identity and Accent Bias Britain.
The facilitators on the MOOC this year are Dr Claire Childs, Dr Beth Cole, and Ben Gibb-Reid. For four weeks after 17th July, the facilitators will be on hand to respond to users’ questions and comments to make the learning experience more interactive. If you sign up before or after this facilitation window, however, you can still take the MOOC as a self-directed course.
To sign up for six weeks’ free access, please go to: MOOC sign up portal
“I’m looking forward to joining the MOOC again this year. It’s free to join and open to everyone - please do come and join us to learn and talk about sociolinguistics!” - Dr Claire Childs, Dept. Language and Linguistic Science, University of York
Developing the MOOC was funded by the York Impact Accelerator Fund in 2018-19 and 2019-20:
‘Re-framing linguistic research to enhance practice in secondary education: Focus on language attitudes’ (2018-19); PI: Dr Sam Hellmuth; Co-Is: Dr Claire Childs and Prof. Carmen Llamas; MOOC Research Assistant: Dr Sarah Kelly.
‘Re-framing linguistic research to enhance secondary education: Consolidation’ (2019-20); PI: Claire Childs; Co-Is: Dr Sam Hellmuth and Prof. Carmen Llamas; MOOC Research Assistants: Sarah Lapacz and Vicki Noble.