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Language, Inequality and Globalisation

Code: 45370
Credits: 5
2026/2027
Degree programme Type Course
English Studies: Linguistic, Literary and Sociocultural Perspectives OP 1

Contact lecturer

Name :
Maria Rosa Garrido Sarda
Email :
mariarosa.garrido@uab.cat

Teaching staff

Melissa Moyer Greer

Group languages

You can consult this information at the end of the document.

Prerequisites

Students must have an advanced level of spoken and written English (between CEFR levels C1-C2) in order to successfully meet the course objectives.

Objectives

  • To develop critical thinking skills related to language and inequality within the context of a globalized world, using a qualitative/ethnographic sociolinguistic perspective. This includes engaging with the conceptual framework to understand how language practices reflect and reinforce social hierarchies across different cultural and geopolitical settings.
  • To explore current issues and scholarly debates in the study of societal bilingualism and multilingualism.Students will examine how multilingual practices are shaped by and respond to social, political, and economic forces, both locally and globally.
  • To gain familiarity with key conceptual frameworks that support the formulation of informed and original questions on language, inequality, and globalization. Emphasis will be placed on understanding and using foundational concepts to critically assess the role of language in various social contexts.
  • To acquire hands-on experience through class exercises and assignments that foster the application of theoretical knowledge to real-world linguistic situations. These activities will encourage students to conduct analyses of specific sociolinguistic cases, connecting theory with practice.

 

Learning outcomes

  • CA23 (Formulate research proposals that aim to ensure a more equitable management of language diversity in institutional or professional contexts.) Formulate research proposals that aim to ensure a more equitable management of language diversity in institutional or professional contexts.
  • CA24 (Design original research proposals that involve the analysis of minority multilingual and multicultural contexts and/or little studied contexts in sociolinguistic literature.) Design original research proposals that involve the analysis of minority multilingual and multicultural contexts and/or little studied contexts in sociolinguistic literature.
  • CA25 (Write up projects as part of a team that critically examines its own linguistic and cultural diversity.) Write up projects as part of a team that critically examines its own linguistic and cultural diversity.
  • KA25 (Describe the principles of critical sociolinguistics and its application to the study of language in society.) Describe the principles of critical sociolinguistics and its application to the study of language in society.
  • KA26 (Identify plurilingual practices and processes of inequality related to the use of English as a global lingua franca.) Identify plurilingual practices and processes of inequality related to the use of English as a global lingua franca.
  • KA27 (Describe the epistemological principles of ethnography as a research method and its contribution to the contextualised study of language use.) Describe the epistemological principles of ethnography as a research method and its contribution to the contextualised study of language use.
  • SA33 (Interpret sociolinguistic data taken from institutional contexts, the world of work or leisure practices in a situated, complex, and intersectional way.) Interpret sociolinguistic data taken from institutional contexts, the world of work or leisure practices in a situated, complex, and intersectional way.
  • SA34 (Apply sociolinguistic theory to the analysis of the impact language has on the construction of social inequality.) Apply sociolinguistic theory to the analysis of the impact language has on the construction of social inequality.

Contents

PART 1: Critical perspectives on language, social justice and education

Dates: 21st September-29th October 2026

Dr. Maria Rosa Garrido Sardà


Topic 1: Introduction to critical ethnographic sociolinguistics

This topic introduces interpretivist and ethnographic approaches to the study of language as a practice linked to social stratification processes.


Topic 2: The sociolinguistics of globalisation

This topic examines how people’s multilingual resources are (de)valorised across geographical and social spaces.


Topic 3: Language and social justice in social movements

This topic interprets linguistic issues as matters of social justice as reflected in the agendas of local and global activist movements.


Topic 4: Contemporary issues in language-in-education policy and practice

This topic critically analyses the ideologies, ambivalences, and contradictions surrounding the role of English in different educational systems.


PART 2: Language and work in context

Dates: 2nd November- 3rd December 2026

Prof. Melissa G. Moyer


Topic 5: An Introduction to Language & work. The case of call centers

This topic examines how language is used in workplace interactions, focusing on call centers as a key example. It explores communication strategies, customer service discourse, and the role of language in shaping professional identities.


Topic 6: English in job recruitment

This topic explores the role of English in job advertisements, interviews, and recruitment processes. It considers how language proficiency and communication skills influence employability and workplace opportunities.


Topic 7: Language in health

This topic investigates communication between healthcare professionals and patients in medical settings. It highlights the importance of clear language, empathy, and intercultural communication in delivering effective healthcare.


Topic 8: Tourism, multilingualism and mobility

This topic explores how tourism involves interactions among people from diverse linguistic and cultural backgrounds. It examines the role of multilingualism in facilitating mobility, hospitality, and communication in global travel contexts.


Each professor will provide a more detailed description of the course at the beginning of their respective parts.


Learning activities and methodology

Title Hours ECTS Learning outcomes
Analysis of sociolinguistic data 10 0.4 CA23, KA26, SA33, SA34
Task preparation and completion of exercises 11 0.44 CA23, CA24, CA25, KA25, KA26, KA27, SA33, SA34
Assigned readings 22 0.88 CA23, KA25, KA26, KA27, SA33, SA34
In class exercises 20 0.8 CA25, KA25, KA26, KA27, SA33, SA34
Oral exam preparation 17 0.68 CA24, CA25, KA25, SA33, SA34
Discussion of assigned readings 10 0.4 CA23, KA25, KA26, KA27, SA33, SA34
  • Each topic in the syllabus will be presented along with the key theoretical notions and concepts that each student will need to know.
  • Presentations and discussion of assigned readings
  • Analysis of practical examples from various social contexts
  • Correction of exercises and assignments in class



Annotation: within the schedule set by the centre or degree programme, 15 minutes of one class will be reserved for students to evaluate their lecturers and their courses or modules through questionnaires.

Assessment

Continuous assessment activities

Title Weight Hours ECTS Learning outcomes
4 exercises and active class participation 10% 10 0.4 CA23, CA24, CA25, KA25, KA26, KA27, SA33, SA34
Class presentation 20% 10 0.4 CA25, KA25, KA26, KA27, SA34
Oral exam 1 (Part 1) 35% 15 0.6 CA23, CA24, CA25, KA25, KA26, KA27, SA33, SA34
Oral exam 2 (Part 2) 35% 0 0 CA23, CA24, CA25, KA25, KA26, KA27, SA33, SA34

Continuous assessment

  • Oral exam (Part 1)- in pairs 35%
  • Oral exam (Part 2)- in pairs 35%
  • Class presentations -in groups 20%
  • 4 exercises and active class participation- individual 10%


To be eligible for reassessment, students must have been assessed on at least two-thirds of the total course assessment. They must have an average course grade of 3.5 or higher.


Procedure for Reviewing Grades: For each assessment activity, instructors will inform students via Moodle of the procedures for reviewing the grades awarded and of the date on which the review will take place.


Single-option assessment

It is possible to request a single assessment for this subject. For more information you can access the link: https://www.uab.cat/web/estudis/grau/informacio-academica/avavaluacio/avavaluacio-unica-1345885008033.html

The non-continuous assessment consists of:

  • Two Final assignments 70% (35% + 35%)
  • Written examination of the content of both parts of the course 30%


The review of the final grade follows the same procedure as for students registered for continuous assessment. The same reassessment method as continuous assessment will be used.

To be eligible for reassessment, students must have submitted all the required assessment tasks. They must have an average course grade of 3.5 or higher.


Reassessment


The two oral exams are eligible for reassessment. Students will have to resit the oral exam(s) corresponding to Part 1 and/or Part 2.

Assigned class presentations and active participation are not eligible for reassessment.


IMPORTANT:

  • All grades of 4.9 or higher will be included in the final grade according to the weight established.
  • Students will receive the grade of “Not Assessable” as long as they have not delivered more than 30% of the assessment activities.
  • Appropriate use of language will be part of the assessment criteria. Students are required to employe gender inclusive language in their written and oral productions. For guidelines, on how to do this, they are advised to check: https://www.lsadc.org/guidelines_for_inclusive_language


PLAGIARISM: In the event of a student committing any irregularity that may lead to a significant variation in the grade awarded to an assessment activity, the student will be given a zero for this activity, regardless of any disciplinary process that may take place. In the event of several irregularities in assessment activities of the same subject, the student will be given a zero as the final grade for this subject. Irregularities can refer, for instance, to submitting a piece of work not authored by them, copying in an exam, copying from sources without properly acknowledging authorship, or a misuse of AI such as presenting work as original that has been generated by an AI tool or programme. These evaluation activities will not be re-assessed.


AI USE POLICY: This subject entirely prohibits the use of AI technologies in all of its activities. Any submitted work that contains content generated using AI will be considered academic dishonesty; the corresponding grade will be awarded a zero, without the possibility of reassessment. In cases of greater infringement, more serious action may be taken.


INCOMING MOBILITY STUDENTS: Students requesting to reschedule an exam or assessment to an earlier date must present the instructor with a written document from their home university justifying their request.


Bibliography

More specific references will be provided at the beginning of each topic.


Topic 1

Ahearn, Laura (2012). Living Language: An Introduction to Linguistic Anthropology. Wiley-Blackwell.

Duchêne, Alexandre (2020). Multilingualism: An insufficient answer to sociolinguistic inequalities. International Journal of the Sociology of Language, 263, 91-97.

Heller, Monica (2007). Bilingualism as ideology and practice. In Heller, Monica (Ed.) Bilingualism: A Social Approach (pp. 1-22). Palgrave.


Topic 2

Blommaert, Jan (2010). The Sociolinguistics of Globalization. Cambridge University Press.

Hassemer, Jonas (2026). Inside Refugee Support Work: An Ethnography of Language, Labour and Subjectivity. Multilingual Matters.

Pujolar, Joan (2007). Bilingualism and the Nation-State in the Post-national Era. In Monica Heller (ed.) Bilingualism: A Social Approach (pp.71-95). Palgrave.


Topic 3

Garrido Sardà, Maria Rosa & Miguel Pérez-Milans (Eds.) (2026). Re-imagining Language and Communication in Collaborative Projects: Ethnographic Perspectives on the Future. Routledge.

Muehlmann, Shaylih & Alexandre Duchêne (2007). Beyond the nation-state: international agencies as new sites of discourses on bilingualism. In Monica Heller (Ed.) Bilingualism: A Social Approach (pp.96-110). Palgrave.

Piller, Ingrid (2016). Linguistic diversity and Social Justice: An Introduction to Applied Sociolinguistics. Oxford Academic.


Topic 4

Codó, Eva (2022) The dilemmas of experimental CLIL in Catalonia. In Jürgen Jaspers (ed.) Linguistic dilemmas and chronic ambivalence in the classroom. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, 43(4), 341-357.

Creese, Angela and Blackledge, Adrian (2011). Separate and flexible bilingualism in complementary schools: Multiple language practices in interrelationship. Journal of Pragmatics, 43 (5), 1196-1208.

Cushing, Ian (2022). Standards, Stigma, Surveillance: Raciolinguistic Ideologies and England’s Schools. Palgrave.

McDaid, Jessica (2025). ’An immersion of us’: A critical sociolinguistic ethnography of Spanish teenage year-abroad experiences in Northern Irish boarding schools. Unpublished PhD thesis: Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. https://www.tdx.cat/handle/10803/695783?show=full



Topic 5

Cameron, Deborah (2000). Styling the worker: Gender and the commodification of language in the globalized service economy. Journal of Sociolinguistics, 4(3), 323–347. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-9481.00119

Cowie, Claire (2007). The accents of outsourcing: The meanings of "neutral" in the Indian call centre industry. Journal of Sociolinguistics, 11(3), 316–336. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-971X.2007.00511.x

Duchêne, Alexandre (2009). Marketing, management and performance: Multilingualism as commodity in a tourism call centre. Language Policy, 8(1), 27–50. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10993-008-9115-6


Topic 6

Kerekes, Julie A. (2006). Winning an interviewer's trust in a gatekeeping encounter. Language in Society, 35(1), 27–57. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0047404506060027

Klimava, Hanna (2022). Language and Access to Work:The Role of English in Recruitment Process. Unpublished PhD thesis: Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona.

Roberts, Celia (2012). Translating global experience into institutional models of competency: Linguistic inequalities in the job interview. Diversities 14(2), 49–67. https://newdiversities.mmg.mpg.de/fileadmin/user_upload/2012_14-02_art4.pdf

Roberts, Celia (2021). Linguistic penalties and the job interview. Equinox Publishing.


Topic 7

Dalley, David, Rahman, Rachel, & Ivaldi, Antonia (2020). Health care professionals' and patients' management of the interactional practices in telemedicine videoconferencing: A conversation analytic and discursive systematic review. Qualitative Health Research. https://doi.org/10.1177/1049732320942346

Mesinioti, Polina, Angouri, Jo, & Turner, Chris (2023). "Do you want me to take over?" Displaying epistemic primacy in medical emergencies. Journal of Applied Linguistics and Professional Practice, Article 21858. https://doi.org/10.1558/jalpp.21858

Moyer, Melissa G. (2013). Language as a resource: Migrant agency, positioning and resistance in a health care clinic. In Alexandre. Duchêne, Melissa Moyer, & Celia Roberts (Eds.), Language, migration and social inequalities: A critical sociolinguistic perspective on institutions and work (pp. 196–224). Multilingual Matters.


Topic 8

Bruyèl-Olmedo, Antonio (2025). "Dear guest, pay for your language": How accommodation rating and ownership affect language presence on the online linguistic landscape — The case of Palma de Mallorca. Linguistic Landscape, 11(1), 1–31. https://doi.org/10.1075/ll.23061.bru

Heller, Monica, Jaworski, Adam & Thurlow, Crispin (2014). Introduction: Sociolinguistics and tourism – mobilities, markets, multilingualism. Journal of Sociolinguistics, 18(4), 425–458. https://doi.org/10.1111/josl.12091

Heller, Monica, Pujolar, Joan, & Duchêne, Alexandre (2014). Linguistic commodification in tourism. Journal of Sociolinguistics, 18(4), 539–566.



Software

N/A

Course groups and languages

The information provided is provisional until November 30. After this date, you will be able to consult the language of each group through this link. To access the information, you will need to enter the course CODE

Type of teaching Group Language Semester Shift
(TEm) Theory (master) 1 English first semester morning-mixed