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Understand the main disciplines and subdisciplines that explore the relationship between language and society. Identify key authors and theoretical approaches that have contributed to the study of the relationship between language and society. Grasp the fundamental concepts of the subject and become familiar with its specific terminology. Develop skills to locate, select, and use relevant information within the field of study. Read and critically interpret specialized texts related to the subject. Understand the historical, geographical, social, and stylistic dimensions of languages. Acquire knowledge about the communicative techniques and strategies used by various social agents. Assess the role of language policies in actual language use and in the social perception of languages.

Language is a varied living reality, which is defined by the linguistic usages of the speakers in their social context. Variation can be due to the speakers geographical dispersion, but also to their position in the structure of society (stratification). The latter form of variation, which intersects the former one, will be here taken into consideration. We will start from the premise that, beyond the abstract linguistic competence, established by theoretical grammar and based on the work of Saussure and, later, Chomsky (which has led to the acknowledgement of a naïve "linguistic communism") there is a social competence. The social competence is unequally spread and is bound to the different microcosms of a stratified human community, all governed by rules which determine the form of the existing discourses at work in society. These rules can be explicit or implicit and more or less coercive. Their learning is an essential component of our construction as speakers / social actors. 1. Language as a cultural practice. Cultural and linguistic diversity. 2. Linguistic communities? 3. Linguistic competence / Social competence. 4. Social stratification and language. 5. Linguistic discourses and social construction.

THEORETICAL-PRACTICAL CLASSES. These sessions will present the knowledge that students are expected to acquire. They will be provided with basic reference texts to facilitate class follow-up and the development of subsequent work. Students will solve exercises, and workshops and evaluation tests will be conducted to acquire the necessary skills. TUTORIALS. Individual (one-on-one) or group (collective) assistance provided to students by the professor.