Missouri Western State University
Division of Liberal Arts and Sciences
Department of English, Foreign Languages and Journalism

ENG 232: Language Awareness

Section 01 - TTh 8:00-9:30 -  JGM 119
Spring 2006
Instructor: Dr. Donaher
Office: Eder Hall (aka SS/C) 222 L
Office Hours: Tues/Thurs 11:00-12:00, 2:00-3:30 and by appointment
Phone: 816-271-5964
Email: donaher@missouriwestern.edu
URL: http://staff.missouriwestern.edu/~donaher

Course Philosophy and Objectives

 
          "When I use a word," Humpty Dumpty said, in a rather scornful tone, "it means just what I choose it to mean--neither more nor less."
          "The question is," said Alice, "whether you can make words mean so many different things."
          "The question is," said Humpty Dumpty, "which is to be master--that's all."
-- Lewis Caroll, Through the Looking Glass


The English language is nobody's special property.

-- Derek Walcott, Writers at Work


I love the language, that soft bastard Latin, / Which melts like kisses from a female mouth.

-- Lord Byron, Beppo


"You taught me language; and my profit on 't / Is, I know how to curse: the red plague rid you, / For learning me your language!"

-- Caliban in Shakespeare's The Tempest

Are you convinced your dog understands you when you talk to her? Do you think you have an "accent" or think that other people "talk funny"? Do you wonder how young children acquire language long before they can tie their own shoes? Are you interested in extraterrestrial communication? Do you enjoy the witty wordplay in cartoons? These are just some of the topics that we cover in ENG232, an introductory linguistics course. Linguistics is about more than just theories about language's roots, structures, and functions; it's about the essential place of language in our lives. Language is fun. This class is designed to show you just how cool (as in California  kewl ) the study of language can be. Come with questions--leave with answers! Over the course of the semester, we will

Required Materials

Textbook:

Other: Assignments

Daily Assignments and Quizzes
Daily assignments include answering questions about the readings, doing field research, learning to divide language into its components, and creating messages to send to other worlds. Some activities will extend beyond class time and require work outside of class. The reading questions and activities will highlight the important points from our readings and will help you prepare for the final exam. There will be frequent (read: pretty much daily) quizzes over the reading assignments. Quizzes cannot be made up. They will be done on WebCT, during the first ten minutes of the class hour.

Short Papers
We will write three one page papers in response to specific course activities and readings:

  • A report on the history of a word in the Oxford English Dictionary (OED)
  • An analysis of fieldwork done in your personal speech community
  • An explanation of your linguistic considerations for the message you created to send out to other worlds
    • Final Exam
    The Final Exam will will be drawn from the readings, films, lectures, activities, discussions, and quizzes. Most of the exam will be done on WebCT, but there will be a take home essay portion. You will be given some indication on a day-to-day basis of the kinds of knowledge you will need to retain for the final exam, as well as a study guide late in the semester to help you prepare for the knowledge portion of the exam. The best preparation, though, comes daily, by taking good notes and by reviewing those notes often.

    Have Fun
    And I mean it. Don't let academic sounding essay titles like "Developmental Milestones in Motor and Language Development" discourage you! Even the most abstruse essay contains some fascinating bits of language lore that we will enjoy testing, debating, mangling, and dismantling. And while technical jargon will be required learning, really, really, really technical jargon will merely be bandied about in class in the spirit of  "so that's what that's called!" and "hmm, isn't that interesting?" and "geez, who'd have thought?"

    Grading
    Over the course of the semester, you will read a variety of essays about language and linguistics. In addition to the readings and quizzes, you will do a number of daily assignments and quizzes, write three short papers, and take a final exam. The quality of your work, the percentage of the work that you complete, and your efforts at participation will determine your final grade.

    Your Final Grade Distribution is as follows:

    Other Requirements

    Attendance and Promptness
    Attendance is mandatory. School functions, illness, and personal crisis do not absolve you from your classroom obligations, so while due consideration is given to the student struck by lightening on the way to class, an absence cannot be designated as "excused" or "unexcused"--it simply "is." I consider two absences to be reasonable, but keep in mind that any absence can affect your final grade, as you are not here to take quizzes, participate, or turn in your work. Chronic lateness will count toward this total.

    Regular attendance is an essential part of the student's educational experience and a requirement for an adequate evaluation of student academic progress. You are responsible for material covered or assignments given which you missed because of absence. All out-of-class assignments are due at the beginning of the class period. No late assignments are accepted unless you have a well-documented emergency.

    You should note, however, that mere attendance does not mean you will pass the course. You must perform adequately on the tasks required and show initiative in completing the course requirements.

    If I should be unable to meet class, you will be notified in person by a secretary, a fellow instructor, or by the Lab Manager--NOT by a note on the classroom door. Be sure to note any assignments due upon my return.

    Participation And Preparation
    You will be expected to make significant contributions to the class in the form of participation and preparation. Participation includes the oral contributions you make and your efforts to be a part of our discourse community. Preparation includes doing the daily readings and assignments, as well as engaging exuberantly in our activities. Keep in mind that live classroom discussion

  • gives you practice arguing with others respectfully and professionally
  • gives you opportunities to formulate applications of principles
  • gives you prompt feedback on difficult or confusing issues and material
  • increases your retention of material through explaining, summarizing, and questioning.
    • Sharing Your Work
    Students are expected to share their writings and other work with members of the course, and all work that a student produces may be shared by the instructor with the class for purposes of example and training. Such work will be as anonymous as possible. Finally, the instructor may share your work anonymously with future classes or in her own writing and research.

    Classroom Courtesy
    You are expected to be courteous and respectful in all of their exchanges with the instructor and other students. We, as students of language, should be particularly careful to note how tone and language contribute to the overall impression of our words. The University expects all students to conduct themselves so as to maintain an effective environment for learning, to act responsibly in accordance with good taste, and to respect fully the rights of others.

    Student Disability
    Any student in this course who has a disability that prevents the fullest expression of abilities should contact me during the first week so that we can discuss class requirements.

    Late Work
    All assignments are due at the beginning of the hour on the due date, unless otherwise specified. Learning is a cumulative process and each assignment in this course is designed to build on the last assignment; therefore, late work disrupts this important aspect of the learning process. Therefore, no daily work will be accepted late and quizzes can not be made up or started late without a well-documented emergency. The short papers have a grace period of NO MORE THAN 24 hours from the due date/time for technical difficulties. No work will be accepted after the last class day before the final exam.

    Computer Usage
    You will be called upon to read materials online, use Webboard and WebCT, and to use computers in and outside of class time. We will post some of our materials to Webboard so that we may more fully share our ideas and increase our interchanges, while our quizzes and much of our final exam will be on WebCT. Further, the short papers for this course must be word processed.

    Plagiarism

    . . . it is better to fail in originality than to succeed in imitation. -- Herman Melville
    Plagiarism is literally the stealing of others' words and ideas and using them as your own. Make every effort to give credit where credit is due, and if you are not sure of "how"--ask. You are responsible for proving that all work turned in for grading is your own original work. Papers with evidence of plagiarism will receive a zero and may result in failure of the course.

    Final Thoughts
    Despite Einstein's assurances that even the motions of dust motes have pattern, life to us mere mortals is unpredictable. I recognize that at times your outside life may interfere with your classroom life. It is up to you to set your priorities and to realize that "doing it all" is not always possible or even desirable. If you are feeling overly stressed about all you have to accomplish, you need to come see me.

    Course Schedule

    Introduction to Language

    January

    17 (T)

    19 (Th)

    Reading for Class: Owner's Manual pp 31-44
    24 (T)
    Reading for Class: Daniels' "Nine Ideas About Language"pp 43-60


    History of Language
    26 (Th)

    Film: The Story of English, Part Two: The Mother Tongue
    Assign OED Report

    31 (T)

     Guest Speaker: Dr. Larissa Nizhegorodtseva - Topic: Language Issues in the Ukraine
    February

    2 (Th)

    Reading for Class: Owner's Manual pp 139-166
    7 (T)
    Reading for class: Hughes' "Language and Writing" pp 705-722


    Language and Culture

    9 (Th)

    Readings for class: Owner's Manual pp 277-306 and Shuy's "Dialects: How They Differ" pp 292-312
    14 (T)
    OED Reports Due
    Film: American Tongues
    16 (Th)
    Readings for class: Roberts' "Speech Communities" pp 267-276 and  Smitherman's "'It Bees Dat Way Sometime': Sounds and Structures of Present Day Black English" pp 328-343
    Assign Speech Community Fieldwork Assignment

    21 (T)

    Reading for class: Pfeiffer's "Girl Talk-Boy Talk" pp 357-364 and Tannen, "'I'll Explain It to You': Lecturing and Listening" pp 365-377


    Sounds and Structures in Language

    23 (Th)

    Reading for class: Owner's Manual pp 50-57 and Callary's "Phonetics" pp 113-133 [Class dismissed at 9:10 am for Convocation]

    28 (T)

    Reading for class: Ohio State University Language Files' "The Minimal Units of Meaning: Morphemes" pp 134-143
    March

    2 (Th)

    Francis' "Word-Making: Some Sources for New Words" pp 154-165
    7 (T)
    Reading for class: Jacobs and Rosenbaum's "What Do Native Speakers Know About Their Language?" pp 183-188
    9 (Th)
    Speech Community Field Work and Analysis Due
    Reading for class: Owner's Manual pp 205-237

    March 14-16: Spring Break

    21 (T)

    Reading for class: Continue with Owner's Manual pp 205-237

    23 (T)

    Reading for class: Emmorey's "Sign Language" pp 79-95
    Constructed and Symbolic Languages

    28 (Th)

    Reading for class: Owner's Manual pp 248-257
    Handout for class: "A Linguistic Anthropologist's Notes on the Klingon Language, Dialect, and Cultures"
    Assign ET Messages and Linguistic Explanation

    30 (T)

    Film: Star Trek Next Generation: Darmok
    April

    4 (Th)

    Reading for class: Pinker's "The Tower of Babel" pp 240-256
    Interplanetary Messages - Inclass readings

    Language Acquisition

    6 (T)

    Film: Acquiring the Human Language
    11 (Th)
    Reading for Class: Moskowitz's "The Acquisition of Language" pp 529-555

    13 (T)

    Reading for Class: Aitchison's "Predestinate Grooves: Is There a PreOrdained Language 'Program'?" pp 560-579
    Animal Communication (Bonus points to anyone who can sing the theme song from Dr. Doolittle)

    18 (T) 

    Messages and Explanation of Linguistic Considerations Due
    Film: Signs of the Apes, Songs of the Whales

    20 (Th)

    Reading for class: Kemp and Smith's "Signals, Signs, and Words: From Animal Communication to Language" pp 658-680 and Ohio State University Language Files' "True Language?" pp 74-77
    25 (T)
    Film: A Conversation with Koko
    27 (Th)
    Review for Final Exam

    May

    9 (T)

    Final Exam 8:30-10:20 am