EKIS5160 Investigating Social Media Discourse (5 op)

Content

The course gives an overview of social media as sites for everyday language use, communication, (inter)action and cultural activities. In particular focus are informal and interest-driven social media practices. Drawing on sociolinguistics and multimodal discourse analysis, the course offers a theoretical and methodological grounding for investigating social media practices and provides students with tools to analyze how language and other semiotic resources are used in them for specific social and cultural purposes.

Completion methods

Contact teaching: active participation in discussion and activities, group work, presentations and a final report

Assessment criteria

Attendance and participation in discussion and activities (33 %), group work & presentations (33 %), and a final report (33%)

After completing this course, the students will

• understand social media as sites of language use, communication and (inter)action

• have tools to analyse the features, functions and meanings of social media practices

• discuss the roles and significance of social media practices in everyday life 

80 % attendance in classroom practices is required. 

Some knowledge of sociolinguistics, the study of multimodality, and discourse studies is useful.