This course will discuss the connection between language, 
race, and ethnicity in the United States, analyzing both how 
race and ethnicity affect language use and how language 
influences our understanding of race and ethnicity. The 
course will cover important aspects of language and ethnicity, 
including language contact effects, heritage language use, 
ethnic identity, and linguistic structure. It will also 
examine the ways in which race shapes our ideas about 
language and how language can affect our perceptions of an 
individual’s race. Students will be evaluated on the basis of 
their participation in class discussions based on the course 
readings, tests, and a final project. 

Graduate students will be required to complete additional
readings, give an in-class presentation, and complete a more
in-depth final project.

Upon successful completion of this course, students will be 
able to: 
•	Describe the differences between race and ethnicity, 
and how they both relate to language
•	Understand how ethnolects form and change over time
•	Analyze the patterned variation in ethnolects
•	Connect ethnolect use to social issues, like identity, 
place, or social class
•	Use language as an interpretive frame for 
understanding cultural and social difference
•	Apply concepts from the course to real-world issues of 
race or ethnicity

•	Defining Race and Ethnicity
•	Origin and Formation of Ethnolects
•	Structures of AAL (African American Language)
•	Latinx Englishes
•	Identity and Language Use
•	Code-Switching and Language Maintenance
•	Style and Repertoire
•	Performance and Representation
•	Linguistic Profiling
•	Education and Policy