University of Massachusetts Boston Applied Linguistics Graduate Program. APLING 601 Introduction to Linguistics. Syllabus

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1 University of Massachusetts Boston Applied Linguistics Graduate Program APLING 601 Introduction to Linguistics Syllabus Course Description: This course examines the nature and origin of language, the history of linguistics, and new theoretical developments in the field. Principles of language analysis-phonology, morphology, syntax, and semantics-are discussed. The course systematically compares the structure of English with a variety of other languages. Prerequisites: There are no prerequisites for this course. Course Goals: APLING 601 has two primary goals: (1) to introduce you to the basic linguistic concepts necessary for understanding how sounds, words, sentences, and texts are structured in English; and (2) to help you use these concepts to contrast the structure of English with the structure of other languages. This is a course in language theory, not language pedagogy. Consequently, while this course will indirectly help you teach ESL/EFL, bilingual education, or foreign languages, it will not focus on direct applications of linguistics in the language classroom. Required Texts Charles F. Meyer, Introducing English Linguistics. This book is available as a free e-book on ebrary in the Healey Library (you'll need to supply a valid library barcode to access the book), or you can purchase the book either in the bookstore or from online vendors such as Amazon. All royalties Professor Meyers from sales of this book in this class will be donated to Father Bill's Shelter in Quincy, MA. Cambridge University Press has a website for the book that contains some of the material on the syllabus below, plus some voice-annotated PowerPoint presentations that I made covering various topics in the individual chapters. Blackboard Learn We will be using the Blackboard Learn online learning system as our platform for learning and communication. You can log into Blackboard here. If you have any difficulties using Blackboard, please contact Blackboard support, not the instructor. Additional readings will be available on ereserve (see link on the navigation menu of Blackboard) and the password for these readings on ereserve is: linguistics Course Requirements Regular attendance (i.e. logging into Blackboard); Participation in class discussions: You are required to post at least twice a week (unless otherwise specified in that week's assignments). One post should be an original message and the second a response to someone else s message. Of course, you are free to post as many times as you want to. Try to keep your postings from getting too long. Two screens of text (a couple of paragraphs) should be sufficient. Your postings should be concrete, concise, and your arguments supported by the class readings and your own ideas. Try to do more than merely summarize the readings. If you are not familiar with the Core Rules of 1

2 Netiquette, please review them: Participation will count 10% towards your final grade; Chapter/article critiques: Starting in week 3, each person will be responsible for leading our discussion on either an article we re reading, or a chapter (or chapter section). In week 2, I will provide a sign-up sheet and a list of readings for people to sign up for. At the start of the week during which your reading is covered, you will be responsible for circulating a 2-3 page (double-spaced, 12pt font) summary/evaluation of the reading, plus two questions you d like the class to discuss in the discussion section. I will provide feedback on your paper and two questions if you send me a draft by no later than the Friday of the week before your reading is covered. Reading Critiques will count 10% towards your final grade; Two take-home exams (the first exam covers the first part of the course, the second exam the second part of the course). Both will be open book exams (i.e. you can use the course text and course materials while writing the exams). The exams will count 40% towards your final grade. Two papers (each 6-8 double-spaced typed pages in length). The first paper will be based on observations you make of language usage at a specific "site" (e.g. the family dinner table, the lunchroom at work, a class, etc.) In your paper, you will report how language is actually used at the site (e.g. how texts are structured, how conversants take turns speaking, etc). For the second paper, you will have two choices of topic: you can write a paper that either (1) describes the actual structure of the language used at the site you observed for the first paper (e.g. the kinds of vocabulary that individuals use, the structure of the sentences/utterances that they speak, etc.), or (2) contrasts the structure of English with the structure of a language with which you have no familiarity (or only casual familiarity). The two papers will count 40% towards your final grade. Familiarity with and adherence to UMass-Boston's policies on plagiarism and academic dishonesty Relevant Policy Incomplete Grading Policy: Incompletes ARE NOT routinely given: They are reserved ONLY for extreme emergencies, catastrophic illness, etc. They are not to be used because "things got too busy at the end of the semester" and in addition, must be worked out with the instructor prior to the end of the semester. Any assignments not turned in without prior notification will be assigned an F. In the event that an incomplete is given in the course, a standard written form must be filled out by the student with specific course requirements, which remain to be completed. It is important to note that incompletes are not an optional grade in this course. (Please see University Policy regarding incompletes ) Need for Special Accommodations: Section 504 and the American with Disabilities Act of 1990 offer guidelines for curriculum modifications and adaptations for students with documented disabilities. If applicable, students may obtain adaptation recommendations from the Ross Center ( ). The student must present and discuss these recommendations with each professor within a reasonable period, preferably by the end of the Drop/Add period. Course Schedule (1) Readings that are underlined and highlighted can be accessed by going to the appropriate session in Blackboard and clicking on the article title. (2) IEL = Introducing English Linguistics. 2

3 (3) Copyrighted readings are on e-reserve (to obtain an article on e-reserve, go here and then click 'accept' after typing in the course password) (4) A good reference guide for linguistics is the Wikipedia, an online encyclopedia that can be searched. Just go to the main page and type in words or phrases that you'd like to read more about. You can also refer to David Crystal's Dictionary of Linguistics and Phonetics (2003), which is available in the reference section of the library (P29.C ) and also as a searchable e- book through the library catalog. Week 1: Language Study Introductions IEL, Ch. 1, "The Study of Language"; Pinker, "Grammar Puss"; "Prescriptive Grammar"; Gee, "Literacy, Discourse, and Linguistics" (on e-reserve) Week 2: Language Change, Development, Classification, and Death IEL, Ch. 2, "The Development of English"; Nicholas Wade, "What We All Spoke When the World Was Young"; Language families: "Ethnologue Language Family Index" (just browse through this link) O'Hehir, "Excuse me, do you speak Klingon?"; "World's 18 Most Endangered Languages"; Green, "Spanish," pp (ER); Kay, "Arabic," pp (ER); DeLancy, "Chinese," pp (ER). Week 3: Pragmatics IEL, Ch. 3, "The Social Context of English": Grammatical vs. Pragmatic Meaning (pp ); Sentence vs. Utterance (pp ); Speech Acts (pp ); The Cooperative Principle (pp ); Politeness ( pp ); Week 4: Pragmatics IEL, Ch. 3, "The Social Context of English" (cont.): Politeness ( pp ); Angier, "The Politics of Polite"; Wikipedia, "T-V Distinction"; Speaker Variables (pp ) Week 5: Pragmatics IEL, Ch. 4, "The Structure of English Texts": Defining a Text (pp ); 3

4 Register or Genre? (pp ); Spoken and Written Registers (pp ); Unity of Structure (pp ); Unity of Texture (pp ) Week 6: Syntax IEL, Ch. 5, "English Syntax": Constituency (pp ); Formal vs. Notional Definitions (pp ); Linear and Hierarchical Structuring of Constituents (pp ); Form and Function (pp ); Word Classes and Phrases (pp ); Paper #1 due Week 7: Syntax IEL, Ch. 5, "English Syntax" (cont.): Clauses, Sentences, and Clause Functions (pp ) Week 8: Syntax Generative Grammar: Radford, "Grammar" (ER); Green, "Spanish," pp (ER); Kay, "Arabic," pp (ER); DeLancy, "Chinese," pp (ER); Exam #1 due Week 9: Morphology IEL, Ch. 6, "English Words: Structure and Meaning": Introduction and The Morpheme (pp ); Rubba, "An Overview of the English Morphological System"; Green, "Spanish," pp (ER); Kay, "Arabic," pp (ER); DeLancy, "Chinese," pp (ER). Week 10: Semantics IEL, Ch. 6, "English Words: Structure and Meaning" (cont.): Lexical Semantics (pp ); Jackendoff, "Compounding in the Parallel Architecture and Conceptual Semantics" (focus on the first 10 pages of this article); "Number Systems of the World"; 4

5 Week 11: Semantics IEL, Ch. 6, "English Words: Structure and Meaning" (cont.): Deixis (pp ); Deutscher, "Does Your Language Shape how You Think?"; Colapinto, "The Interpreter"; Petruck, "Frame Semantics" Week 12: Phonetics and Phonology IEL, Ch. 7, "The Sounds of English": Speech Segments (pp ); The International Phonetic Alphabet: Consonants and Vowels Week 13: Phonetics & Phonology IEL, Ch. 7, "The Sounds of English" (cont.): Suprasegmentals (pp ); Green, "Spanish," pp (ER); Kay, "Arabic," pp (ER); DeLancy, "Chinese," pp (ER); Paper #2 due; Exam #2 due date TBA This is an ambitious syllabus. We will probably fall behind as the semester progresses. If this happens, some of the later topics may not be covered in as much detail as the earlier topics. THIS SYLLABUS IS SUBJECT TO CHANGE AT ANY TIME 5