Sept. 4

TOPICS:

Introduction to the class & class expectations
What is Linguistics?
What are 4 communication systems?

HOMEWORK:

(a) Read the description of this class on the class homepage.
(b) Start reading Chapter 1. "Actively" read the chapter. This means, read with intention and attention. Underline the main idea of each paragraph. Write questions in the margins for things you need to think about or ask about in class. DUE Sept. 10.

TOPICS:

Thought and Language: how are they connected?
What does Whorf propose about language and culture?

HOMEWORK:

Exercise 2, page 29, due September 13 (Changed from Sept. 10). Interview an American student native English speaker for the answers to the exercise. Ask the student why the sentences are grammatical or not. You probably have studied much more grammar than the native speaker; the native speaker may easily answer the yes/no but may not be able to explain the why/why not. That will be interesting to talk about.

SKILLS:

Review standards for writing summaries.
Review how to find/limit searches for articles in library.

TOPICS:

What are competence and performance?
What are: phonology, syntax, semantics, lexicon?

HOMEWORK:

(a) 3 article summaries are due on these dates: Monday 9/23, Monday 10/7, Monday 10/14.
(b) Paper #1: "Dog Language" due Thursday, Sept. 12.

Video: "Discovering the Human Language." This video is available in the library. If you want to watch it again, you can check it out and watch it by yourself or in a small group. The call number is: P106/H85/1995/pt.1.

HOMEWORK:

Write a summary of what you understood from the video. Turn it in Friday, Sept. 13.

DUE TODAY:

(Ex. 2, p. 29 DUE Chagned to Friday 9/13)
Finish reading Chapter 1 for TODAY. Underline main ideas. Write thoughts in margins.

TOPICS:

What are some linguistic universals?
How do animals communicate?
What are the different definitions of "grammar"?

DUE TODAY: Paper #1, "Dog Language"

TOPICS:

Begin Chapter 2 TODAY
What is neurolinguistics?
What was the evidence that lead to the idea of modularity of the brain? For what things is the idea of modularity true or not true?
What is the "critical period" or "critical age"?

DUE TODAY: Exercise 2 p. 29 (see Sept. 5 for details)

TOPICS:

What evidence is there for lateralization of the brain?

HOMEWORK:

Read Ch. 2.  

Sept. 16 ANNOUNCEMENT: Exam, Ch. 1 & 2, Monday, Sept. 23

DUE TODAY: Discuss Ex. 2 p. 29

TOPICS:

What is aphasia? What does it show us about how language is stored in the brain?
Explain these different theories of the origin of language: God's gift, first language, human invention.
What are the current theories on the evolution of language?

HOMEWORK:

Read Ch. 2., finish by Friday.

DUE TODAY:

TOPICS:

VIDEO: "The Human Language Evolves: with and without words."
This video discusses why and how human language may have evolved, and its possible biological basis. Linguists and educators discuss universal facial expressions, differences in communication style between men and women, body language and gestures, and more, defining the power of human language.

HOMEWORK:

Write 3 paragraphs about 3 major ideas that you found interesting in the video. Summarize what you understood. DUE THURSDAY, 9/19. 
If you want to watch the video, here's the call number to check it out at the library: P106/.H85/1995/pt.3

DUE TODAY: 3 paragraphs about Tuesday's video

TOPICS:

Finish up chapter 2.

HOMEWORK:

Do... 

DUE TODAY: Finish reading Ch. 2

SKILLS:

TOPICS: Review Ch. 1 & 2

Play a game, go to the library to find an article

HOMEWORK: EXAM on MONDAY, Sept. 23, bring a bluebook.

DUE TODAY: Turn in Summary #1. or you can turn it in Tomorrow.

EXAM Ch. 1-2

HOMEWORK:

Finish summary. 

DUE TODAY: Summary #1

TOPICS: Begin Ch. 8, Child Langage Acquisition

What are some examples of non-linguistic communication by babies?
How do linguists study child language acquisition?
What is some evidece that babies are born expecting to learn language?

HOMEWORK:

Read pages 317-319
Find another article and start your next summary.   

TOPICS: Video, The Developing Child: Cognition and Language LB1115 .D4 1995 Unit 10

(Use this sheet to take notes for the video)

How do babies take in information?
What is assimilation and accomodation?
What does Piaget have to say about child development?
How does the baby communicate before age 1?

TOPICS:

What is babbling? What is the baby doing linguistically by babbling?
What is motherese? What evidence do we have that it is important to learning to speak?
What is the connection between Piaget's sensorimotor stages and language learning?
Holophrastic stage--what is it? What do they talk about? What are the functions of words at this age?
How is a baby's pronunciation at this time? Comprehension?

HOMEWORK:

Read pp. 319-324.
Keep working on that summary!  

TOPICS:

Two-word stage: What do they talk about?
What is MLU?
What types of words do these babies use?
What is the telegraphic stage?
How do English speaking babies compare with babies of other languages?

HOMEWORK:

pp. 324-328

TOPICS:

When do babies start to pay attention to word order?
When do babies start to acquire abstract words?
What are the "rules of conversation" that babies must learn?

HOMEWORK:

Read the article "How the Brain Processes Language." Summarize the main points that are related specifically to first and second language acquisiton. DUE FRIDAY, Oct. 4.

TOPICS: Video Acquiring the Human Language: Playing the Language Game P106.H85 1995 pt. 2

Use this handout to take notes on the video

What does Noam Chomsky say about how we acquire language?
Explain each of these: Imitation theory, Analogy theory.

HOMEWORK: Read pages 328-332

DUE TODAY: Summary from the article you got on Tuesday in class.

TOPICS:

Theories of child language acquisition:
In what ways can these explain (and not explain) how children learn language: imitation theory, analogy theory, reinforcement theory.

HOMEWORK:

Finish Summary #2 for Monday, 10/7

Read pages 332-338.

DUE TODAY: Turn in Summary #2

SKILLS:

What is the difference between primary source articles and secondary source articles?
What is the difference between library DB articles and WWW articles?

TOPICS:

What do a child's "mistakes" show a linguist?
What do we know about how children acquire the phonology, morphology, syntax, and semantics of their language.

HOMEWORK:

Bring 2 articles tomorrow from the web. You will choose one of these  for your "summary #3" due Oct. 21. If your first 2 summary articles were about your language, then #3 cannot be about your language.

Due tomorrow: summary of 3 interesting topics from the "Language Game" video.

Keep reading Chapter 8 in the book. Read pages 328-332.

<return to top of calendar>

DUE TODAY: (1) Video Summary from "Language Game" and (2) Bring 2 www articles to class.

SKILLS: How to choose a good article from the web: Web article evaluation checklist

TOPICS: (if time...)

Feral children: What have the discoveries and experiments with feral children shown us about language acquisition?

HOMEWORK:

Summarize 3 interesting ideas that you understood from the video. Due Tuesday, Oct. 15
Read pages 332-338.

DUE TODAY: nothing! I hope you had a great fall break!

TOPICS: Video Secret of the Wild Child (this video is borrowed from Linfield College. It doesn't belong to L&C)

HOMEWORK:

Read pages 342-346.

<return to top of calendar>

TOPICS:

(finish up feral children)
How much/what kind of language were Genie and Chelsea able to acquire?
What did dichotic listening tests and brain scans tell us about Genie's language use?
How do these stories support the Critical Age Hypothesis?

Can non-human primates learn language?
Compare the success/lack of success of experiments to teach language to apes using spoken langugae, computer-based languages, and American sign language.

TOPICS:

What is the difference between learning a 1st and 2nd language?
What are these methods of 2nd language teaching: Grammar Translation, Audio Lingual, Direct Method.
What belief does each method reflect about the process of learning/acquiring a 2nd language?

DUE TODAY:

SKILLS:

TOPICS:

VIDEO: A Conversation with Koko

HOMEWORK:

Write summary of 3 interesting topics that you understood from the video. Due oct. 28.  

DUE TODAY: Article Summary #3

TOPICS:

What can we learn from studies on the acquisition of American Sign Language by children?

HOMEWORK: Study for the test. Check this study guide for Chapter 8.

DUE TODAY:

SKILLS:

TOPICS:

Review Chapter 8 for the exam.

HOMEWORK:

Study. Buy a bluebook. Buy extras for your friends and sell them for more money.  

Exam today, Chapter 8 BRING A BLUEBOOK

HOMEWORK:

Be prepared to discuss tomorrow the three articles you have summarized.

TOPICS:

Discussion of research paper, ideas for topics. Each student presents articles they have read for consideration as possible research topics for other students.

Beginning second half of the semester. Research paper time!! and Welcome to our New Student. Please help her adjust to the class and get caught-up.

DUE TODAY:

TOPICS:

Begin language and society.
What do these words mean to a sociolinguist: idiolect, register, dialect (regional & social).
In what ways does one person shift his/her register?
What causes differences in dialects?

HOMEWORK:

Think about a topic for your research paper. Bring your topic to my office on Wednesday during conference time. 

READ pages 399-401.

Discuss research paper. Note these due dates:

Nov. 1: proposal due
Nov. 11: annotated bibliography due
Nov. 18: outline due
Dec. 2: first draft due (with copies of all cited articles, outline & bibliography)
Dec. 12 13, & 17: class presentations
Dec. 16: Final paper due (with cover page, outline, bibliography, and all cited articles)

HOMEWORK:

Come to my office on Wednesday to discuss your ideas. Proposal due FRIDAY, Nov. 1.

DUE TODAY:

SKILLS: Preparing an annotated bibliography.

TOPICS:

Give an example of why "mutual intelligibility" is not always a good definition of "language."
What do these words mean to a sociolinguist: accent, dialect levelling, diglossia?
In what ways do dialects of English differ?

HOMEWORK:

Annotated bibliography due Nov. 11. You must have at least 5 sources on your annotated bibliography to get a passing grade. (You don't have to use them all when you finally write your paper, but you must find and evaluate at least 5 sources.)

READ pages 402-406.

DUE TODAY: Turn in Research Paper Proposal 

TOPICS:

What are 4 things we can infer about social class and dialect by studying the statistics from Norwich, England, and Detroit?
What is the difference between the standard and the non-standard dialect of a language?
Where do we hear them?
What do the rates of "post-vocalic /r/ in England and NY tell us about standard dialects of English?
What are 4 social functions of a dialect (besides to communicate)?

HOMEWORK:

Annotated bibligraphy due Nov. 11. 

READ pages 406-409.

 

SKILLS: Work in the library on finding articles.

TOPICS:

How do societies deal with the issue of non-standard dialects or 2nd languages in education?

HOMEWORK:

Do...  

SKILLS:

TOPICS:

Give some examples of "banned languages."
In what specific ways does Black English (=African American English) differ from standard English?
In what ways does Hispanic English differ? Why do speakers maintain these dialects?

HOMEWORK:

READ 412-420.

DUE TODAY: Bring your "Keys" book and all your articles today.

SKILLS: Work on annotated bibliography.

HOMEWORK:

Annotated bibliography due Monday.
Keep reading in your textbook, too.  

DUE TODAY: Turn in annotated bibliography.

SKILLS:

TOPICS: Lingua Francas, Pidgins, Creoles, Styles (=registers), Slang, Jargon (=argot)

What...

HOMEWORK:

Read 420-428  

TOPICS: Taboos, euphemisms

HOMEWORK:

READ 428-432

DUE TODAY:

SKILLS: Preparing an outline

SKILLS: Work in the library again.

HOMEWORK:

Read 434-439.
Bring the "Keys" book to class Monday.

DUE TODAY: Outline for Research Paper due.

SKILLS: Citing sources, integrating sources. Bring the "Keys" book to class today.

TOPICS:

How do men's and women's language differ?
Wht is hypercorrection?
What do men & Women talk about?
What is "covert prestige"?

HOMEWORK:

Write about 25% of your paper tonight.

MEET IN MAC LAB TODAY
SKILLS: Powerpoint presentations 

HOMEWORK:

Write about 25% of your paper tonight.

MEET IN MAC LAB TODAY
SKILLS: Powerpoint presentations   

HOMEWORK:

Write about 25% of your paper tonight.

MEET IN MAC LAB TODAY
SKILLS: Powerpoint presentations 

HOMEWORK:

Write about 25% of your paper tonight.

MEET IN MAC LAB TODAY
SKILLS: Powerpoint presentations 

HOMEWORK:

Tonight: Finish writing your paper.
This weekend: Type the first draft of your paper for Monday, Dec. 2.

DUE TODAY: First Draft Due!

SKILLS: Sign up for conferences to discuss your papers.

Tuesday, 12/3, 9:00
Tuesday, 12/3, 9:30
Wednesday, 12/4, 11:30
Wednesday, 12/4, 12:00
Wednesday, 12/4, 2:00
Wednesday, 12/4, 3:00
Wednesday, 12/4, 3:30
Thursday, 12/5, 9:00
Thursday, 12/5, 9:30
Thursday, 12/5, 2:00
Thursday, 12/5, 3:15
Friday, 12/6, 1:30
Friday, 12/6, 2:00

TOPICS:

In what ways does language encourage/demonstrate sexism in society?
How can we monitor sexist language to avoid being sexist in our speaking and writing?

HOMEWORK:

Finish reading chapter 10 in the textbook.

DUE TODAY:

TOPICS:

Let's look at taboos & euphemisms again.

HOMEWORK:

Don't forget, final draft is due Monday, Dec. 19.

TOPICS:

HUMOR! What are puns & tongue twisters?

HOMEWORK:

REVIEW SHEET FOR FINAL EXAM.
Make a group with some friends, divide up the questions, research them, and share them in a study group!

TOPICS:

REVIEW for exam.

 

TOPICS:

REVIEW for exam.

HOMEWORK:

Do...  

TOPICS: EXAM: SOCIOLINGUISTICS, ch. 10 in textbook & class notes

Class presentations of research papers, in the Macintosh Lab. Everyone MUST attend. 

Class presentations of research papers, in the Macintosh Lab. Everyone MUST attend. 

Final paper MUST be turned in Monday MORNING, Dec. 16. Include a title page, outline, the paper, bibliography, the first draft, and copies of all your articles.

Final Paper is due Monday, December 16, BEFORE 10:00 a.m.

"Final exam" will be Dec. 17. We will use that time to finish up our class presentations.

page created: 9/1/2002
created by: Debbie Anholt