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After completing this course students are able to:
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identify concepts important to the different areas of linguistics.
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identify the tools used for analyzing the properties of human language.
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recognize methods of argumentation and testing of hypotheses within the different areas of the discipline.
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recognize the empirical possibilities and impossibilities of natural language.
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apply insights from linguistics in relevant contexts, in the classroom and outside.
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The field of linguistics, the systematic study of language, reflects a combination of reasoning found in the humanities, the social sciences, and the natural sciences. Linguistics addresses the issues raised by questions such as:
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What is language?
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How does language work?
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What properties do all languages share?
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How do children learn language?
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How do humans know what they know about grammar?
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Where is language in the brain?
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What range of variation is found among languages?
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How do languages change?
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What are the influences of society, culture, politics and gender on the language that we speak?
People’s ability to use language for a multitude of communicative and cultural purposes and the role of the study of language in the history of learning makes linguistics officially part of the humanities. However, the perspectives of social science and natural science are integral to the study of Linguistics as a whole. Social science disciplines contribute to the study of the relationship between individuals, language use, and society; and natural sciences contribute to the analysis of language ability and the extent of its basis in human biology.
Format
The class meets twice a week. Students are expected to have read assigned readings prior to class. Classroom sessions will consist of a combination of lecture, discussion, presentation and project work. Examples from various languages are discussed and employed to illustrate and reinforce fundamental concepts in the field.
There are three tests (approximately in weeks 5, 10, and 15 of the semester) covering the concepts dealt with in the course, as well as regular written assignments and a presentation of a project on a relevant topic.
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