We all speak differently and at least some of this variation is correlated with a speaker's social characteristics (e.g. age, gender, ethnicity). But why? This course focuses on socially-conditioned linguistic variation, people's attitudes toward it, and the meanings behind it. We will discuss developments in both social theory and methodology. Through applying the concepts covered, students will conduct individual research projects addressing some question of relevance to sociolinguistics.

This course will give students hands-on experience with conducting sociolinguistic interviews and analyzing sociolinguistic variables. For the final project, students are required to conduct a small-scale study investigating some aspect of sociolinguistic variation.

There are no prerequisities for this course, but students must have current graduate standing at UHM or have received prior consent from the instructor.

Grama, James and Bodo Winter. 2010. The Duality of a Homosexual Epithet in Sports. Proceedings of 14th Annual Graduate Student Conference of the College of Languages, Linguistics, and Literature.

Hardeman, Kate. 2011. Foreigners Speaking Chinese: Native Mandarin speakers' perceptions of Chinese as a second language (CSL) speakers. Paper presented at the 10th East-West Center International Graduate Student Conference on the Asia-Pacific Region. University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa. Honolulu, Hawai‘i.

Jung, Heeyeong. 2011. Pitch and Gender: Presentation of a professional yet friendly teacher persona. Paper presented at The 7th Worldwide Consortium of Korean Studies Centers Workshop, SOAS, University of London, June 2011.

Kirtley, M. Joelle. 2010. Making a Soldier out of a Civilian: Linguistic Identity in the U.S. Military. Paper presented at the American Dialect Society's Language Variation and Change in the United States and Canada 2010. Chicago, November 4-7, 2010.

Mawardi, Dzulfikri. 2012. Javanese language, Is it a falling legend? Paper presented at the 16th Annual Student Conference of the College of Languages, Linguistics, and Literature. University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa.

"It was fun and gave me a lot of helpful tools for future graduate level courses."

"One of my top 3 favorite grad courses @ UH"

"The assignments really made me think about sociolinguistic theory & made me step out of my comfort zone."

Dr Dre "was very helpful and excited to teach the class. She was understanding and had students' best interests at heart. Always made class fun and exciting."

"Was extremely flexible and challenged us to think through problems before giving us the answer right away."

"This instructor has very high standards for her students, but she offers all the training and tools needed for success. The key to doing well is communicating honestly with the instructor, and especially asking for help when you don't understand something. (Dr. Drager's classroom is a supportive environment & there are no stupid questions)."

"She is not only professional and experienced in this area but I think she is a 'good shoulder to cry on'. Thanks for your great lecture and help."

"This course is the most demanding, but definitely best course I've taken since I started my Ph.D. course. You were very helpful. I really appreciate it. Thank you very much!!"