Social Media Language and Discourse
The course provides an overview of research on language use and language-related practices in social media, with a special focus on qualitative and discourse analytical approaches in applied linguistics. The course treats key themes in research on linguistic practices in social media, and also touches upon practical aspects of how research on language use in social Karlstad University Faculty och Arts and Social Sciences media can be conducted. The concept social media is understood in the course as an umbrella term for many types of user-driven, digital, and online-based technologically mediated communication, ranging from e-mail and instant messaging to social network services, content sharing and streaming services, and digital games. The applied linguistics approach means that the course focuses specifically on the role of language use in social media in people's social lives, for example in relation to identity formation, learning, activism, and so on. Doctoral students have the option of specializing their studies in relation to their own research project or area of expertise.