ALLAMA IQBAL OPEN UNIVERSITY, ISLAMABAD

(Department of English Language & Applied Linguistics)

WARNING
1. PLAGIARISM OR HIRING OF GHOST WRITER(S) FOR SOLVING
THE ASSIGNMENT(S) WILL DEBAR THE STUDENT FROM AWARD
OF DEGREE/CERTIFICATE, IF FOUND AT ANY STAGE.
2. SUBMITTING ASSIGNMENTS BORROWED OR STOLEN FROM
OTHER(S) AS ONES OWN WILL BE PENALIZED AS DEFINED IN
AIOU PLAGIARISM POLICY.

Course: Sociolinguistics (5656)

Level: Diploma TEFL Semester: Spring 2017
Total Marks: 100
ASSIGNMENT No. 1
Q.1 What do you understand by the term Sociology of Language? What is its
importance in studying the language of a particular class of people? How would
this study help in the learning of a certain language? Discuss in detail with specific
examples from everyday life. (20)

Q.2 How would you distinguish between the following? Give suitable examples. (15)
a) Minority and majority languages
b) Idiolect, dialect and sociolect
c) Lingua franca, ambilingualism

Q.3 It is believed that language can be used as a powerful tool in national politics.
Discuss with reference to some specific situation you have come across. (15)

Q.4 Write a short dialogue of 8-10 exchanges highlighting the use of register and style
and then identify and discuss both. (15)

Q.5 How does the language of the following individuals differ from one another and
why? (15
A business man and a teacher
A farmer and a government servant
A politician and a common citizen

Q.6 State answers: (10)

i. What is a speech community?
ii. What do you understand by the continuum of intelligibility?

Q.7 It is said that the boundaries between languages are arbitrary. Explain. (10)

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 ASSIGNMENT No. 2
Assignment no. 2 is based on a research-oriented activity. You are required to study the
relevant area, conduct research and prepare a brief report on your findings in the area
given. You will then have to submit one copy of the report to the tutor within the
scheduled period and at the same time present the report/project in one of the tutorials
(the schedule/plan of the tutorials for the presentation will be intimated by the Tutor
concerned or the Regional Director). The compulsory presentation carries 100 marks: 40
marks for the written report and 60 for the presentation.
A few guidelines for the written report and the presentation:
a) The written report should have an introduction, body and conclusion. It should be
written in clear concise and correct English.
b) It should be 5-8 double spaced typed/handwritten pages.
c) The presentation is to be assessed and evaluated mainly in the.
Contents of the assignment/report
Communication skills
Language accuracy
Language fluency
Presentation style
You may use transparencies, charts or any other relevant material for impressive
presentation with the permission of your tutor.
Attempt one of the following activities:
1. What influences do the following factors have on a specific language?
a) Politics
b) Social environment
c) Cultural values
d) Geographical location
e) Migration
Conduct a detailed research study on the influences of each of the above factors on either
Urdu or any of the provincial languages. Analyze your data and discuss the findings of
your study. Give recommendations based on your findings.
To collect the required data you need to review relevant literature. The books/materials or
authors you go through in this regard should be properly cited in your assignment.
Or
Different factors are considered while planning a language policy for a multilingual
society/country like Pakistan. What are those factors? Discuss in detail. Also discuss the
current language policy of Pakistan. Do you think it has been implemented in the true
sense of the word? If not, why not? To build your argument you need to go through some
literature on this issue. Analyze the data you collected through literature and varied
sources and come up with your findings. Give recommendations in view of your findings.
The books/materials or authors you go through in this regard should be properly cited in
the assignment.
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