Introduction to the English Language

LNG 201.01 MR 10-11:20 Bliss Hall 228
 

Dr. Felicia Jean Steele

Office: Bliss Hall 207; 771-2698 (I prefer email)

Office Hours: MTF 1:00-1:50, Check schedule for availability.

Email: steele@tcnj.edu

Course website: http://steele.intrasun.tcnj.edu/fall2006/lng201

Course Description:

Introduction to the English Language is an introductory linguistics course intended for students who have had no previous exposure to systematic language study.  Students will explore the various ways that scholars have approached language, from traditional historical study, to the latest research in psycholinguistics.  The course is organized into three main sections, with two units each.  The first will address the questions, “What do linguists do and how is it different than the ways that I’ve already learned about language?” Then we will move on to the second section and ask “What exactly is a language, and how do our brains learn it and store it?” The second unit of the course will examine the production of sound (phonetics), the system of sounds of English (phonology), the ways that speakers instill words with meanings (morphology, semantics, and pragmatics), and the grammatical structures of the English language (syntax). The second section of this unit will examine how children learn language. Our final unit will address languages and communities, both contemporary and historical: semantics, conversation analysis, language variation (dialects and styles), current attitudes about English dialects, and issues in the history of the English language.

Course Objectives:

This course has three major objectives. You will: 

·         Discuss linguistic systems, language development, and change;

·         Demonstrate understanding of major linguistic processes; and

·         Use textual and field research for linguistic analysis. In other words, you will learn to use interviews with native speakers and examinations of literature as evidence for linguistic arguments; as a result, you should also learn to use linguistic evidence to serve arguments about literature, culture, and education.

Course Outcomes: By the end of this course, the student will be able to:

  •  show an understanding of language acquisition and development;
  • demonstrate how reading, writing, speaking, listening, viewing, and thinking are interrelated;
  •  recognize the impact of cultural, economic, political, and social environments upon language;
  • show a respect for and an understanding of diversity in language use, patterns, and dialects across cultures, ethnic groups, geographic regions, and social roles;
  • demonstrate an understanding of English grammars;
  • demonstrate an understanding of discourse, pragmatics, semantics, syntax, morphology, and phonology;
  • show an understanding of the relationships among linguistic subsystems and their effects on language change;
  • bring their new-found understanding of language to bear on their discussions of reading and writing;
  • understand how to engage non-native speakers of English, or speakers of non-standard varieties of English, in productive dialogue about their language use.

Required Texts:

Anne Curzan and Michael Adams, How English Works: A Linguistic Introduction (HEW)
Readings and Exercises from SOCS and Electronic Reserves
Unicode Compliant Browser, such as Netscape 8.1, Firefox, Opera, or Safari (if you use a Mac). (You must also have a unicode font installed on your computer. Go to the "Control Panels" and check for the Fonts folder. You should have Lucida Sans Unicode, or Arial Unicode installed on your machine. If you don't, I would recommend that you download Gentium. I've got a Unicode section on the Resources page in SOCS.)

Grading and Requirements:

Minimum requirements are: 1) satisfactory work and progress on weekly assignments, including response papers; 2) satisfactory performance on exams (a midterm and a final); 2) satisfactory work on two 4-6 page (double-spaced) papers; and 5) regular attendance and class participation in scheduled and out-of-class activities.

I will be using the SOCS gradebook function to keep track of your grades. Therefore, the following percentages will constitute these letter grades:

100 - 93.5 % = A 
93.4 - 89.5 %  = A- 
89.4 - 86.5 % = B+ 
86.4 - 83.5 % = B 
83.4 - 79.5 % = B-

79.4 - 76.5 % = C+ 
76.4 - 73.5 % = C 
73.4 - 69.5 % = C- 
69.4 - 59.5 % = D 
59.4 - 0 % = F

Be advised: I DO NOT round up on these percentages.

Grade Breakdown

·         Homework                                                       5 %

·         Response papers                                              10 %

·         Midterm examination                                        15 % 

·         Two Papers                                                      30 % total

·         Final examination                                              30 % total

·         Participation                                                     10 % (calculated through SOCS discussion board participation and peer group assessments)

Expectations for Class Work:

A Note on Readings

LNG 201 serves as one of the foundational courses in the English major and acts as the anchor course in the Linguistics minor. Each foundational course has as its purpose to get get you "thinking in the discipline." In this case, you will be asked to "think like a linguist" who focuses on the English language. One of the ways that I can get you to do this is to ask you to read linguistics research and evaluate its methods and presentation. In addition to our textbook readings, we'll be reading genuine linguistics scholarship over the course of the semester when we address a topic “in-depth”.  I have chosen the essays for their brevity, but brevity is no guarantee the essays will have simple arguments or present simple evidence. The essays relate directly to our course topics and will enrich your understanding of the material that we cover.

As we read these scholarly articles, I would like you to follow this procedure: 1) read the article once all the way through without making notes; 2) read the article again, underlining or otherwise noting unfamiliar vocabulary, methods, principals, and the like; 3) look up what vocabulary you can the glossaries to your textbook or in dictionaries of linguistics in the library or online; evaluate the methods and presentation of the essay. How do you evaluate the methods and presentation of a piece of scholarship? Ask yourself the following questions: Who is the audience for this piece (other scholars in the same field, educators who might find the topic relevant to their practices)? What is the purpose of the research (does it build upon earlier research by the same linguist or does it supplement a tradition of research)? Are the conclusions of the researcher reasonable based on the amount of data (does the researcher reach wide-ranging conclusions based on little evidence)?  On at least two occasions, I will ask you to address these scholarly articles in your response papers.

Class Participation:

I expect you to treat this class the way that you would treat a science course, not the way you would treat a literature course. For most all of you, this will be the first time you will have ever heard of an alveo-palatal affricate or a nasalized vowel. We have a great deal of terminology to learn—a process that takes concerted effort.

In order to facilitate our in-class discussions and to ensure that you understand all the material you cover, I will assign you to a team with whom I expect you to meet at least one hour outside of class each week, as you would for a science class. This meeting also constitutes the "fourth hour" for which you are receiving credit without attending classes an additional hour. On most occasions you will do what you wish at these meetings—you can complete the homework, go over notes, or discuss the readings. Most of the time, I will assign you at least one specific homework task. If you are having a great deal of trouble with any of the concepts we are working on, I can arrange to come to these sessions occasionally. After each meeting, you should appoint one of your number to describe any "muddy points" in the homework or readings that need clarification or report any comments that you had collectively to the electronic discussion list that I’ve set up for your group on SOCS (http://socs.tcnj.edu). I expect you each to post to this group discussion list at least four times over the course of the semester as the spokesperson for your group (in order to make sure that work is divided equitably). I also expect each one of you to post to the general course discussion board any questions or comments you might have about the course work via a "critical question." Your critical question should address issues that are not immediately addressable through course materials. You will also receive credit for participating in the discussion board by answering a peer’s question.You will have lots of questions about the material, believe me. I expect you to submit at least six critical questions over the semester: three before the mid-term, three after. You should post the question to the discussion board before class.

  • At least four posts to the group electronic discussion list as “reporter for your group”;
  • "Critical questions” to the class-wide discussion list (at least six over the semester);
  • In total, you should post to a SOCS discussion list at least ten times during the semester. You will probably post more frequently than that.
  • One half of your participation grade will come from your peer assessments. You will assess one another's performance in the group. You will receive credit for doing the assessment and your group's assessment of you will carry weight.

Homework problems and responses:

For every unit of material that we cover, you will complete homework problems or brief responses to questions. For our section on sound (phonology), your homework will consist of transcription and phonotactics exercises. Much of the homework that you do for this class will be completed through the SOCS collaboratory. You will receive immediate feedback on these assignments and will be able to complete them as many times as you need. After we cover particularly difficult topics, I will ask you to complete a post-lecture assessment that tests your comprehension of the topic that we covered that day in class. These assessments will function as “quizzes” to help me measure your progress in the course.

You will also complete four brief responses to our course readings and discussions. You will receive a specific prompt for each response, but they may ask you to do a variety of things. For example, you may be asked to formulate a research problem to investigate a particular topic. How would you go about investigating the linguistic issue about which you've read? For example, if we read about language acquisition, how would you formulate a study to examine a child's linguistic development? What do you think are the probable methodological and ethical problems of such a study? The purpose of these responses is, once again, to get you thinking like a linguist. I will evaluate these brief responses according to three criteria: does your response demonstrate that you understand the linguistic concepts about which you have read and we have discussed; is your response formulated in clear and succinct prose written in an appropriate register; does your response demonstrate that you have thought through the problem. You will receive feedback on your writing for all responses. I take my duty to help you improve your writing seriously, so expect serious and sincere feedback. If you do not consciously strive to improve your writing, your grades will suffer. You may rewrite any writing assignment in the course to improve your grade. Be advised, however, if you simply make superficial changes without really revising, you might actually get a lower score than you did the first time.

Writing Assignments

You will complete two short research (five to seven page) essays that will require you to do primary and secondary research about language on your own. You must cite all your sources in MLA format. I have placed my standard grading rubric inside SOCS Resources under "syllabus." Therefore, you should have a sense of the criteria that I use to evaluate writing long before you ever start your assignments.

Minimal Expectations:  Each formal assignment will require you to construct an argument, appropriate for a given audience and purpose, in clear and understandable prose. Your sentences must be grammatically constructed, punctuated correctly, and state their ideas in an understandable manner.  Your essay must be organized and coherent from beginning to end. In order to present a reliable authorial voice, you must document all sources of information correctly and reliably.  Further Expectations:  You should create a clear and understandable structure for your essay, which will allow you to create a consistent pattern of assertion and support, to coordinate the various parts of the argument, and to integrate the various writing modes studied in the course smoothly. A logical progression of thought should be apparent from sentence to sentence and from one correctly structured paragraph to the next.  Supporting evidence should be relevant and deployed effectively. In addition, your essay must reflect your efforts to evaluate and interpret sources to determine their credibility. Higher Order Goals: The best essays will have style and originality and all essays should cultivate such virtues.  The ability to control and vary voice and tone, as well as the ability to devise original arguments and construct them in fluid and interesting prose, should be your ultimate objective. 

I’ve made a checklist available in SOCS that will help you proofread your paper and make sure that it has all the appropriate features (12 point serif font, double-spaced, proofread, MLA style). All written work should be turned in at the end of class on the day that it is due. Additionally, you must turn in an electronic copy (saved as a Microsoft Word or RTF file) in the SOCS dropbox. Doing so gives us an added measure of security. If I mislay your paper (which I have been known to do), I'll have another copy close at hand.

Accommodations

The College of New Jersey is committed to ensuring equal opportunity and access to all members of the campus community in accordance with Section 503/504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA). The College prohibits discrimination against any student on the basis of physical or mental disability, or perceived disability. The College will provide reasonable and appropriate accommodations to enable students to participate in the life of the campus community. Individuals with disabilities are responsible for reporting and supplying documentation verifying their disability. Requests for accommodations must be initiated through the Office of Differing Abilities Services, Eickhoff Hall 159, 609.771.2571. If you require special assistance, I will make every effort to accommodate your needs and to create an environment where your special abilities will be respected.

Academic Honesty

The College has a detailed policy on Academic Integrity, which I encourage you to read. (http://www.tcnj.edu/~academic/policy/Academicintegrity.htm)

It details a wide variety of behaviors, but the infraction of academic integrity that becomes relevant in writing-intensive courses (such as English courses) usually relates to plagiarism: "Using another author's words without enclosing them in quotation marks, without paraphrasing them, or without citing the source appropriately." Even if you provide a citation to a source at the end of a text, you have still plagiarized if you haven't distinguished the material you've used from that source from you own words.

Plagiarism is a difficult subject to deal with, for faculty as well as for students. The College's policies mandate two things: that I report significant infractions to the academic integrity policy and that I discuss the matter with responsible students before I do that reporting.

If I suspect a student has plagiarized in one of his or her assignments, I will document that plagiarism using either Turnitin (software available also to you through the SOCS dropbox) or through another method that will produce physical documentation. I will then contact the student and ask for him or her to meet with me privately to discuss the issues in my office or in the English department office.

If the issue arises at the conclusion of the semester, the issue is slightly more complex, because students may no longer be on campus. In that case, I will submit an incomplete for the semester and request the same face-to-face meeting. I will not rely on email or phone messages to reflect my concerns, because they are inherently not private and not as reliable as face-to-face communication.

I want to tell all of you the following, however: it's not my job to catch plagiarists, even if electronic tools make that a fairly easy endeavor. I'm much more interested in making sure that you're learning. Plagiarism usually happens when students are under pressure, anxious, or otherwise "not themselves." If you feel as if you are having difficulty keeping up with coursework in this class (or any other), please do not hesitate to talk with me about it. It's much better to negotiate an extension (even with a slight grade penalty for lateness) than it is to risk plagiarism and all its consequences. If you are having difficulty keeping up with other classes or responsibilities, I can also help you work through those concerns. I encourage you to keep these lines of communication open with the faculty members for all your courses.

Preliminary Schedule of Work and Readings:

Thursday, August 31 Introduction to the course, field of inquiry, methods; Complete Linguistic Autobiography in Collaboratory

Tuesday, September 5 UNIT ONE: Language, Power, and the Brain Read HEW 1-32; Read Michael Corballis, "The Origins of Modernity" (SOCS Resources)

Thursday, September 7 Language and Authority Read HEW 33-46; Complete exercises 2.1 and 2.2.2 (retain these results—along with the informants’ names and contact information—because they will serve as a source for your first paper)

Short Research Paper One Assignment: Investigate attitudes toward standard English in the United States, using both primary research methods (the results of your informal surveys) and secondary research methods (research conducted using journalistic and scholarly essays). The exercises above offer some guidance for you in the direction of particular topics, but there are other topics that you could pursue fruitfully. For example, in mid-August, one New Jersey township put an “English only” resolution on its fall ballot. How do negative attitudes toward Spanish speakers intersect with anxieties about standard English in communities such as this one? You could also investigate attitudes toward the teaching of standard American English in public schools? How do communities characterize the teaching of “grammar”? Your essay should be five to seven pages double-spaced with a full bibliography of all cited and consulted texts. You must use data you have collected yourself and at least two scholarly (peer-reviewed) articles as sources. Due Monday October 2.

Monday, September 11 Dictionaries and English Read HEW 46-60; Complete exercises 2.2.1 and 2.3

Response One: Use Exercise 2.5 as the foundation for examining a linguistic issue in MICASE (Michigan Corpus of Academic Spoken English). Choose one of the three prompts (or formulate your own question) and use the corpus to investigate it. Use your one-page single-spaced response to discuss the experience as well as the results of your investigation. What did the corpus tell you about the usage of real speakers? 

Thursday, September 14 UNIT TWO: Linguistic Description and Child Language Acquisition; English Phonetics Read HEW 64-79; Complete SOCS Assessments: Phonetics Homework 1, 2, 3

Monday, September 18 English Phonology Read HEW 79-93; Complete SOCS Assessments: Phonetics Homework 4, Phonology Homework 1, Phonology Homework 2

Thursday, September 21 English Morphology Read HEW 101-124; Complete SOCS Assessments: Morphology 1, 2

Monday, September 25 Lexical Categories and Syntax Read HEW 129-160; Complete exercises 5.1, 5.2, 5.3, 5.5, 5.6, 5.7 (prepare them to turn in)

Response Two: Use Exercise 4.3.5 as the foundation for a one-page single-spaced response to discuss the morphological processes at work in TCNJ slang. I recommend that you examine websites, such as Facebook, and look for patterns of usage here at TCNJ and at other colleges with which you’re familiar. The best essays will identify at least three words used on our campus or others with which you are in direct contact, describe the processes (blending, clipping, backformation) at work in their creation, and provide definitions for them. You may even want to speculate about what those words tell us about the communities in which they are used.

Thursday, September 28

Monday, October 2 .Short Research Paper One Due

Thursday, October 5 Phrase Structure Syntax Read HEW 166-181; Complete exercises 6.1, 6.2 (prepare them to turn in)

Monday, October 9 Complex Phrase Structures and Transformations Read 181-200; Complete exercises 6.3, 6.4, 6.5, 6.6

Short Research Paper Two Assigned: Investigate the congruencies and the contrasts between the linguistic understanding of language acquisition and the popular understanding of language acquisition. For this essay, I would like you to examine parental attitudes about language acquisition. I would like you to formulate a survey that invites parents to reflect on their sources of information about language and their assumptions about language acquisition. For example, do the fifteen parents you interview believe that children exposed to multiple languages learn all of them imperfectly? Or do the parents believe that teaching their infants a reduced form of sign language hastens their children's language acquisition? You must write your own survey and turn in a copy of it with your paper. Write up your conclusions in a five to seven page essay, using MLA format for any secondary sources you may cite. You will likely want to do a little bit of research on successful questionnaires. You may also want to look at popular magazines (such as Time, Parents) for additional support about popular ideas about language acquisition. You must cite at least two scholarly (peer-reviewed) articles about child language acquisition. Due Monday, November 20.

Thursday, October 12  Catch up

Monday, October 16 Review for Midterm

Thursday, October 19 Midterm Exam

Thursday, October 26 Child Language Acquisition Read 320-353

Monday, October 30 Anne Sinclair and Michal Golan, “Emergent Literacy: a case-study of a two-year-old” (SOCS); Ulrike Halsband, `Bilingual and multilingual language processing` (SOCS)

Thursday, November 2  CLASS CANCELLED DUE TO ILLNESS

Monday, November 6 UNIT THREE: Semantics Read HEW 207-238; Complete exercise 7.4 (prepare to turn in and discuss in class)

Thursday, November 9 Spoken Discourse Read HEW 242-269 Topic In-depth: Donn Bayard and Sateesh Krishnayya, “Gender, Expletive Use, and Context”

Response Three: Write a one-paged single spaced response to the following prompt: Bayard and Krishnayya use New Zealand as the primary site for their research. Conduct an informal survey of your friends (at least five men and five women) and investigate their attitudes toward expletive use and gender. Then formulate a research question based on their responses. How would you follow up on Bayard and Krishnayya’s study using TCNJ as a research site?

Monday, November 13 Language Variation Read HEW 356-391; Complete exercise 11.3 (make sure that you have access to an audio recording device)

Thursday, November 16 American Dialects Read HEW 392-418

Monday, November 20 Case Study in Social Variation Read HEW 418-434; Topic In-depth: John Rickford, “Social Contact and Linguistic Diffusion: Hiberno English and New World Black English” (SOCS Resources); SHORT RESEARCH Paper 2 Due

Monday, November 27 History of the English Language Read HEW 435-469; Complete SOCS Assessment History of the English Language

Thursday, November 30 The Future of English Read HEW 477-580; Stylistics Read 281-319; Presentation from Eric and co.

Response Four: Use exercise 9.3 as the foundation for a one-paged single spaced response. In addition, address the following concerns: how do speakers determine the intended meaning of “like” in spoken discourse? What is its range of possible meanings? Is there a distinction in meaning related to the gender of the speaker or the hearer?

Monday, December 4 Catch-up day

Thursday, December 7 Review for Final Exam