Do men interrupt too much in conversations? Do women use too many pointless words? Why should we not use the term “lady doctor”? What is your idiolect? Is the Geordie accent sexy? How do children learn to speak? Do you ever feel like someone just can’t take a hint? All this and much more will be addressed on this course. It’s the science of language in everyday use. It will teach you so much about how we communicate. Course Content • Analysis of various texts - everything from a poem to a crisp packet. • Dialects - how people from different places speak. • Language and gender - how gender affects language. • Language and occupations - how your job affects your language. • Child language acquisition - how children learn to talk and write. • Language change - how English has changed over time. • Coursework - a research project and some creative writing.