Ling 1150 Introduction to Linguistics
7 10:30-11:35 mwr 145 Ryder 10 1:35-2:40 mwr 460 Ryder What makes human language
unique
? What does a speaker of a language know (sometimes unconsciously) about that language?
How can languages
v
a
ry?
How dochildren learn a language?
Why do speakers from different PLACES or genders or
ethnicities
sound different?Part I
The main areas of formal linguistics will give us tools for understanding language
▪ phonetics & phonology (the sounds & sound patterns of language)
▪ morphology (the internal structure of words)
▪ syntax (the structure of sentences)
▪ semantics (meaning)
Part II
These new tools allow an informed look at how language works in applied contexts▪ Indigenous languages
▪ Sociolinguistic variation: region, class, ethnicity, gender
▪ Standards & attitudes: ideas about “correctness”
Along the way
▪ We’ll address some common myths and misconceptions about language
Required Textbooks
O'Grady, W. et al. (2010) Contemporary Linguistics: an Introduction 6th ed. Bedford St. Martin's
Pinker, Steven (1994) The Language Instinct. Harper Collins. Textbook Website: www.bedfordstmartins.com/linguistics
Contains tools, features, in-depth explanations.
Also provides links to resources, video clips, material you will use for your presentation and extra credit assignments.
A symbol in the margin of the text refers you here.
Additional readings, for your presentation, at Snell Library Reserve Desk
Clark, Virginia, et al. 2008 Language: Introductory Readings. 7th ed. Bedford St. Martin’s Blackboard
Requirements
▪ Readings Do the assigned reading before the first class of the week. The lectures assume that you’ve done it. Also, if you have questions about the reading, ASK right away! If you’re confused by something, chances are, someone else is, too.
▪ TextSleuths Whenever we read both O’Grady and Pinker on the same topic, you have a “TextSleuth,” assignment, to compare the approaches. Bring your write-up to class on the day the reading is due, then write it up to be graded as part of your HW. Here’s an example:
TextSleuth: Phonology (10 pts) Our secondary textbook, Steven Pinker's The Language Instinct, was written as a popular introduction to linguistics for laypeople. Using it in a linguistics course can be both good and bad. It can be good because it gives fun examples to illustrate what can sometimes be "dry" or "technical" linguistics concepts. But it can be bad because it can oversimplify concepts in an effort to make them fun, but this can lead to inaccuracies, contradictions, or confusion for linguistics students. Find two examples, one that shows how using Pinker for phonology is "good", the other one, "bad". Give the passage in O'Grady and the
corresponding one in Pinker and explain what's good or bad about it. Be prepared to present your passages in class.
▪ Homework Collected at the start of class, so bring an extra copy for in-class discussion. ▪ Midterm Exam In-class, covering the first half of the course
▪ Final Exam During exam period, cumulative
▪ Attendance/Participation Come to class regularly. The lectures expand on the readings! ▪ Group Presentation
Working in groups of two or three, you will give a 15-20 min. in-class presentation
Topics (readings for each topic are below) - Brain and Language
- Sign Language
- Language Endangerment - Animal Communication - Language and Gender - Standards and Attitudes
Use the articles in Clark, Language: Introductory Readings (on reserve) and other sources
Prepare a handout or a powerpoint (or both)
Email 2 topic choices to me randall@neu.edu by this Monday.
At least a week before your presentation is due, make an appointment with me to discuss it.
Grade Breakdown
Homework grade: the average of your 7 highest of these 8 grades 40% ∧∧ problem sets 5 grades
∧∧ Essay 1 grade
∧∧ Fieldwork project 2 grades
Midterm exam 15%
Final exam 25%
Attendance / participation 10%
Group presentation 10%
Extra credit see below
Extra credit You can earn extra credit (EC) points in two ways. (1) Some Problem Sets offer optional problems worth EC points. These increase the score on those Problem Sets. (2) Optional EC assignments, sprinkled throughout, also earn EC points. These are tallied throughout the term and used to decide between two grades. For example, if you’re running a B+ your EC points can move you to an A - .
Course Policies
CollaborationTry to work in small groups on the homework assignments. List everyone you worked with on the front of your assignment. If you don't list anyone and there is significant overlap between your assignment and another student’s, this will be treated as a case of plagiarism.
Late Work
One assignment (except the last one) can be up to one week late with no penalty. No other late work will be accepted, except in exceptional circumstances.
Lowest HW Grade Dropped
Your homework with the lowest grade will be dropped from your homework average. If it is your fieldwork assignment, which counts as two grades, only one will be dropped.
Communication
a) Blackboard b) in class c) NU email account Check a-c regularly. Be in touch!
My office hours are on Mondays and Wednesdays but I can also meet with you on other days. To arrange a time, see me after class or drop me an e-mail. Also, feel free to e-mail me about any aspect of the class -- or about linguistics -- and I'll try to respond the same day. However, I'm not generally available on weekends so if you email me on Friday, you may not get a response until Monday. Please plan accordingly.
Academic Integrity
We operate under Northeastern University’s Academic Integrity Policy described at:
www.northeastern.edu/osccr/academichonesty.html. Please become familiar with it. Violations must be reported to the Office of Student Conduct and Conflict Resolution and may be subject to penalties within the course.
Course Schedule: ROUGH OUTLINE
The following schedule is a rough outline of the course. It's hard to know our pace through the material, so IT WILL PROBABLY CHANGE. Most of these changes will be announced IN CLASS. That’s another reason to make it to all the classes or, if you can’t, to get the notes from
DRAFT 1
Date Topic Reading due Assignments due
Week 1 Wed Sep 3 Introduction Thu Sep 4 Phonetics – Exploring the textbook website
O’Grady xi-xxiv; O’Grady 1-13
Website Activities (see handout - includes an extra credit opportunity) Week 2
Mon Sep 8
Phonetics O’Grady 15-55 Pinker Chs 1 & 2
Email 2 choices for your in-class presentation, to randall@neu.edu Wed Sep 10 Phonetics/Phonology Pinker 153-189 O’Grady 59-97 TextSleuth Thu Sep 11 Phonology PS 1 due: Phonetics Week 3 Mon
Sep 15 Phonology O’Grady 97-106
Presentation 1: Brain and Language Wed Sep 17 Phonology Thu Sep 18 Morphology Pinker Ch 5 O’Grady 115-130 TextSleuth PS 2 due: Phonology Week 4 Mon
Sep 22 Morphology O’Grady 130-145 Wed Sep 24 Morphology Thu Sep 25 Rosh Hashana, no class Week 5 Mon Sep 29 Syntax Pinker Ch 4 O’Grady 155-172 TextSleuth PS 3 due: Morphology Wed Sept 30 Syntax Thu Oct 1 Syntax Presentation 2: Sign Language Week 6 Mon
Oct 7 Syntax O’Grady 173-198
Wed Oct 8
Syntax
PS 4 due: Syntax Thu
Week 7 Reading due Assignment due Mon Oct 13 Columbus Day, no class Wed
Oct 15 Midterm Exam Thu
Oct 16 Go over midterm Week 8 Mon Oct 20 Semantics Pinker Ch 7 O'Grady 203-239 TextSleuth Wed Oct 22 Semantics Thu Oct 23 Language Acquisition film: Out of the mouths of babes
PS 5 due: Semantics Week 9
Mon
Oct 27 Language Acquisition
Pinker Ch 9 O’Grady 351-386 Wed
Oct 29 Language Acquisition Thu
Oct 30 Language Acquisition Presentation 3: Animal Communication Week 10
Mon Nov 3
Native Languages film: We Still Live Here: As Nutayunean (57 min.)
O'Grady 333-350 Essay 1 due. See below. Wed
Nov 5 Native Languages
Presentation 4:
Language Endangerment Thu
Nov 6
Variation: region, class, ethnicity, gender O’Grady 485-496, 507-508 Fri-Sun Nov 7-9 Extra credit opportunity
Attend the annual BU Conference on Language Development
http://www.bu.edu/bucld/ and write up a summary of one of the talks. See Essay 2 below for a list of suggested talks.
Week 11 Reading due Assignment due Mon Nov 10 Variation: Overview of social dialects O’Grady 497-500,
508-512 Essay 2 due. See below (extra credit). Wed
Nov 12
Variation: Regional dialects, or, "I pahked the cah in Hahved Yahd" Thu
Nov 13
Variation: African
American English O’Grady 512-514 Week 12 Mon Nov 17 Variation: African American English Wed Nov 19
Variation: Language &
Gender Essay 3 due. See below (extra credit).
Thu
Nov 20 Variation: Language &
Gender Presentation 5: Language and Gender
Thu Nov 21
Variation: discuss Language & Gender project hypothesis & methods Week 13 Mon Nov 24 10:30 Continue discussion of Fieldwork Project
Fieldwork Project part 1: Literature Review paragraph, Hypothesis & Method sections due Wed Nov 26 Thanksgiving Break Thu Nov 27 Thanksgiving Break Week 14 Mon Dec 1
Field Work: Discussion of results
Fieldwork project, part 2: Results section due
Wed
Dec 3 Standards & Attitudes
O'Grady 518-522 Pinker Ch 12
Fieldwork project, part 3:
Full report due today (=Prob.Sets7&8) Presentation 6: Standards & Attitudes
Study Study Study
for Final Exam Dec ? Final Exam
Presentation Topics + Readings
. These reading on each topic can be found in your textbooks: O'Grady, Pinker, or from Clark et. al. Language: Introductory readings (on reserve at Snell Library). You may use additional reading as well.1. Brain and Language
Pinker chapter 10 – "Language Organs and Grammar Genes" O’Grady chapter 12 -- “Brain and Language”
2. Sign Language
Clark chapter 3 – Emmorey, Sign Language
Clark chapter 46 – Wolkomir, American Sign Language: 'It's Not Mouth Stuff - It's Brain Stuff' O’Grady chapter 15 – “Natural Sign Languages”
3. Language Endangerment
Clark chapter 29 – James Crawford, Endangered Native American Language Clark chapter 34 – Nancy Lord, Native Tongues
4. Animal Communication
Clark chapter 41 –Kemp & Smith, Signals, Signs & Words: From Animal Communication to Language Clark chapter 6 – Jean Aitchison, Chimps, Children and Creoles: The Need for Caution
Pinker chapter 11 (340-359) – “The Big Bang” 5. Language and Gender
Clark chapter 37 – Fern Johnson, Discourse Patterns of Males and Females
Clark chapter 38 – Deborah Tannen, ‘I’ll Explain It to You’: Lecturing and Listening Clark chapter 39 – Deborah Tannen, Ethnic Style in Male-Female Conversation 6. Standards and Attitudes
Clark chapter 56 – John Algeo, What Makes Good English Good? Pinker chapter 12 – “The Language Mavens”
ESSAYS (1 required, 2 for EC)
1. Language Acquisition
A father says, "Correcting my child's mistakes is very important. If a parent doesn't take the trouble to do this, his kids won't learn the language." Respond to this parent's statement, by either supporting or disagreeing with it, and bolster your discussion with evidence from lectures, videos, and readings. Include issues such as: critical period (critical-age hypothesis), negative evidence, the poverty of the stimulus, structure-dependent rules, overgeneralization, etc. Support your point with some concrete examples of what children do and do not do.
2. Language Acquisition: Summarize a Conference talk (EC: 10pts, on your Essay grade)
Attend the annual BU Conference on Language Development on Nov 7,8, or 9. Here is the schedule: http://www.bu.edu/bucld/conference-info/schedule/
Summarize one of the talks. Recommended authors are: Snedeker, Carey, Lidz, Demuth, Valian, Golinkoff, but other talks are possible. Check with me if you are planning to go to this; I have to notify the organizers of the number of my students attending.
3. Language Variation (EC: 10 pts, added to your Essay grade)
Imagine the following: The Boston School Board has decided to spend some of its funds to educate its teachers (in weekend workshops) about Black English. They claim that the more teachers understand about the dialects the students use, the better they can teach them the "standard" and the better the students' self-esteem will be since they will understand that their dialect is not simply bad grammar, but a rule-governed and logical -- but different -- version of English, on a par with other dialects. Many parents are outraged, including some black parents. They say things like, "this is not how money should be spent;" "teach standard English" and "this is patronizing; if we teach bad grammar to kids, this is only one more way to disadvantage them." Jesse Jackson at first was against the Boston decision but now supports it. Argue for or against the Boston decision, using linguistic arguments.
