Seminar: Analysis of online activism discourse

Teacher(s)

De Cock Barbara;

Language

Spanish

Prerequisites

Solid knowledge of Spanish linguistics and basic knowledge of pragmatics (in Spanish or other languages). Consolidated B2 level in Spanish. 

Main themes

This course will focus on the analysis of the discourse of online activism and will take into account different aspects of this discourse, namely the linguistic production, the multimodality of these discourses, the interaction with the specificities of the device used, and the interaction with discourses produced offline. Attention will also be paid to the transdisciplinary analysis of these discourses. Through a reading portfolio and discussions in class, a critical overview of existing theories and descriptions will be developed. This will be combined with a case study on Spanish data, for which students will have to make and justify methodological choices. 

Learning outcomes

At the end of this learning unit, the student is able to :
1	problematise a research question, while taking the relationship between language production and context into account
2	understand and apply methods and techniques for analysing online discourse produced online.
3	understand the relationship between theoretical approaches and methodological practice.
This learning unit contributes to the development and command of the following skills and learning outcomes of the ELAL programmes (ELAL learning outcomes): 1.6, 2.6, 3.1, 3.5, 3.6, 4.1, 4.5, 6.1

Content

This course will offer an overview of different phenomena of the discourse of online activism in Spanish, including linguistic resources to create a feeling proximity with the reader, the expression of responsibility, intensification and attenuation, multimodal elements,...
The discourses studied will concern different themes, including human rights and sustainability.

Teaching methods

The method will consist of a research seminar, which will be proposed as a blended format, in collaboration with the universities of Paris-Cité, Belgrade and Pisa. 
The course will include preparatory hybrid session with discussions concerning specialised readings. During an intensive in-person week, the course sessions will be combined with group work.

Evaluation methods

The course evaluation is continuous. It concerns class discussions (20%), a group presentation (60%) and discussing the results obtained by classmates (e.g. capacity to formulate critical questions and to compare the results with one's own results (20%). By consequence, the evaluation i
L’évaluation du cours portera sur les discussions en classe (20%), une présentation de groupe (60%) et la discussion des résultats des compagnons de classe (p.e. la capacité de formuler des questions critiques pertinentes et de comparer les résultats des autres avec les propres résultats) (20%). 
For the September session, the evaluation consists of an individual presentation (100%).
If the student uses generative artificial intelligence tools, this has to be done in a responsible way and in compliance with good practice standards of academic and scientific integrity. Since the scientific integrity implies that one cites one's sources, the use of AI always has to be mentioned. The use of AI for tasks where this has been explicitly forbidden will be considered a case of fraud. For a description of uses of AI that respect academic norms, students can consult the document "Lignes directrices pour une utilisation des outils d’intelligence artificielles génératives (IAG) en ELAL", available at LELALmemoire: L'utilisation des IA génératives et le plagiat | MoodleUCLouvain
The evaluation is entirely in Spanish.

Other information

The discourse analysed in this course concerns among others human rights and sustainable development. Generally speaking, the course concerns digital discourses.

Bibliography

OpenMoodle 

Faculty or entity

> ELAL