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This article describes a course called Social and Regional Variation, offered as part of the third semester of undergraduate English Studies at a Swedish university, with a special focus on one of the written assignments to be submitted by the students: a small empirical research project investigating some aspect of the areas covered by the course. These include geographically, socially and contextually determined variation in communication, with an emphasis on varieties of English and the usage of, as well as attitudes to, their individual features. The projects thus deal with a wide range of topics, e.g. the different functions of expletives, male vs. female humour, and attitudes to sub-standard forms, among others. After providing some background information about the rationale of the course, its place in the curriculum, and its general structure, a number of projects, including the original research that inspired them, will be presented. The objective is to share some ideas as to how pragmatics, as well as the areas of linguistic description and analysis that inform it, can be taught and studied in a constructive manner in foreign-language education at the tertiary level.