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This
course provides students with a survey of the basic issues
in the field of sociolinguistics. Topics studied include
language attitudes, regional and social variations of
language, Black English Vernacular, language and gender, and
intercultural communication. The course will focus primarily
on English (and to some extent Japanese) to provide examples
of the topics and issues covered and will attempt to draw
attention to linguistic comparisons between the two
languages.
This course will take the approach of mapping out the broad
landscape of language study for those who have little or no
understanding of the field of linguistics in general and
sociolinguistics in particular. Specific course objectives
include helping students gain an appreciation for the
complex relationship between language, society and identity;
helping students develop some rudimentary language analysis
skills which they can employ in probing the social uses of
both their first and second languages; and assisting
students in applying the knowledge they gain about language
and the analytic skills they develop to their experience as
second language learners.
What will we learn?
- What is a dialect and what is the
status of dialect speakers?
- What kinds of dialects are spoken in
the United States and Japan and what can they tell us
about the relationship between speaking and social
power/status?
- What are pidgin and creole languages
and what do they tell us about language
contact?
- What is Black Vernacular English and
what is the current controversy about Ebonics in the
United States? Is this debate indicative of larger social
problems in American Society?
- What does it mean to be bilingual?
What tensions does bilingualism present for a society
such as the United States or Japan?
- Do males and females speak
differently? If so, is it a result of sexist
socialization practices or an indicator of biologically
motivated differences?
- How does language relate to our
social identity?
- How has English affected the Japanese
language and Japanese people's feelings about themselves
and their culture?
How will we learn?
This
course will combine English language learning with learning
about linguistics. Students will learn in the following
ways:
- reading short texts
- writing reaction papers and
journals
- participating in group discussions
and learning activities
- giving presentations about what you
have learned
- doing sociolinguistic research with
speakers of English and Japanese
- learning from film clips and
resources on the World Wide Web
What materials will we
use?
Our
textbook is:
Brown, Stephen and Attardo,
Salvatore. 2000. Understanding Langauge Structure,
Interaction, and Variation: An Introduction to Applied
Linguistics and Sociolinguistics for Non-Specialists.
Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.
- You will also be working with
information from the World Wide Web and with other short
readings that will help you with your group
projects.
What are the course
requirements?
You
will be responsible for all in-class and homework
assignments, such as the following:
- regular reading
assignments
- reaction papers
- weekly evaluations
- group projects
- an individual project
- final exam
- Class participation
How are grades earned?
An
A through F grading system will be used. Grades will be
based on the quality of the student's work and her/his
effort. Class participation is a significant part of the
grade. You will
receive the same grade for both the Applied English class
and the Elective class.
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A+
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97 - 100
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C+
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77 - 79
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A
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94 - 96
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C
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74 - 76
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A-
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90 - 93
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C-
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70 - 73
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B+
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87-
89
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F
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0 - 69
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B
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84 - 86
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B -
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80 - 83
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