PWR 1JJA: Linguistic Diversity and Language Change
How do languages connect us and sometimes divide us? Over 200 languages are spoken in California and nearly half of its residents use a language other than English at home (US Census). In 2025, however, English was designated as the official language of the United States. Languages are never static, they continually evolve, adapt and resist pressures from monolingual norms and “standard” ideologies. Today, these tensions also extend into the digital realm. OpenAI’s Sam Altman predicts that in the near future “billions of people a day will be talking to ChatGPT”. How will AI and increasing interconnectivity transform the ways we communicate and the languages we use?
In this course, you will sharpen your analytical, rhetorical, and research skills through an interdisciplinary approach to course themes drawing on scholarship from sociolinguistics to emerging AI language research. Together, we examine the social, political, and technological forces that shape language use. We ask how ideologies influence which languages and varieties are valued, how technology may reproduce linguistic biases or flatten linguistic diversity, and whether it might also offer opportunities for revitalization, connection and access. Finally, we examine how communities, researchers, educators and policymakers work to navigate and respond to the shifting landscapes of linguistic diversity.
Examples of Research Topics
You will propose an in-depth research project exploring how language is shaped, and is shaped by, society, culture, and technology. You are encouraged to focus on a language issue that interests you or involves your own communities. Sample projects include examining the role of technology in language revitalization, investigating the cognitive and psychological impacts of ChatGPT and chatbots, and analyzing accent or dialectal biases in AI. Other possibilities include exploring language hybridization in multilingual communities, the effects of globalization on language change, and the hybridization or appropriation of language in media, art or music.
PWR 1 Assignment Sequence
Rhetorical Analysis
(1200-1500 words; 4-5 pages) This assignment asks you to analyze the rhetorical strategies of a cultural artifact or text that makes an argument about linguistic diversity. You may also choose to analyze an artifact (including media and music) that draws on a linguistic variation or rhetorical tradition outside “standard” varieties of English.
Texts in Conversation
(1800-2400 words; 6-8 pages) This assignment marks the beginning of your research project. In the TiC, you will choose a topic of interest to you, do research, and compare a range of ideas and voices that are in “conversation” around your topic.
Research-Based Argument
(3000-3600 words; 10-12 pages): Your RBA is the final product of this course. Building on the research you did for the TiC, you will craft an original research question, integrate a variety of sources and evidence, and develop your own position(s) within a “conversation”. Students are encouraged to conduct primary research in the form of sociolinguistic analysis, interviews or other methodologies.