LANGUAGE IN THE USA LIN 4930Fall 2017
MAT 0102MWF 4th (10:40-11:30) 18E3

AND 0034MWF 6th (12:50-1:40) 2B51

Office hours: MWF 5th (11:45-12:35) Turlington Hall 4118

Text: Language in the USA: Themes for the Twenty-first Century. 2010. Edited by Edward Finegan and John R. Rickford. Cambridge: CUP.

Any supplementary materials will either be provided or accessible online.

This course will focus on linguistic diversity in the US and touch ontopics like American dialects, multilingualism in America, Native American languages, and sociolinguistic variation. Students will learn basic tools for dialect analysis and use them on class analysis projects. Course materials may include book chapters, online articles, and videos. This course will not assume previous knowledge of linguistics and is conceived of as a 2000-level introductory course, friendly to freshmen and non-majors.

Grading

A= 93-100 A-=90-92.9 B+=87-89.9 B=83-86.9 B-=80-82.9 C+=77-79.9 C=73-76.9 C-=70-72.9 D+=67-69.9 D=63-66.9 D-=60-62.9 E=under 60

Your course grade will be based on:

Class participation10%

4 short essays20%

4 dialect analyses20%

1 group project20%

2 exams30%

Class Participation: You are expected attend class having completed and studied in-depth all assigned readings and homework. Be prepared with unique and well thought-out contributions to each class discussion.

Short Essays: 1 page (single-spaced) or 2 pages (double spaced). Times New Roman size 12 font. (Approx. 500-600 words.)

Dialect Analyses: Problem sets to apply skills acquired in phonetics, phonology, morphology, syntax and other areas to the linguistic analysis of dialects.

Group Project: 20 minute presentation exhibiting skills acquired in the analysis of linguistic and sociolinguistic data

Exams: Short Answer, Short Essay and Multiple Choice questions testing relevant linguistic analytical skills.

Attendance will not directly impact grade. However, graded class participation questions, assignments and exams will be based upon material covered only in class.

Course Agenda & Assignments

Mon
8-21 / Syllabus & Class Overview. Native American Languages.
Reading for Wednesday:Chapter 9: 153 & 157-160 (including footnotes)
Wed
8-23 / Native American Languages
Reading for Friday:Chapter 9: 160-163 (including footnotes)
Fri
8-25 / Native American Languages
HomeworkFor Monday:Dialect Analysis I (Due Monday 8-28)
Mon
8-28 / Review Dialect Analysis I. Spanish in the Southwest.
Reading for Wednesday:Chapter 11: 205, 207-208, 215-218
Wed
8-30 / Spanish in the Southwest
Reading for Friday:Chapter 11: 218-222
Fri
9-1 / Spanish in the Southwest
HomeworkFor Monday: Dialect Analysis II (Due Wednesday 9-6)
Mon
9-4 / No Class
Wed
9-6 / US English
Reading for Friday:Chapter 1: 3-12
Fri
9-8 / US English
Reading for Monday:Chapter 2: 20-26
Mon
9-11 / US Dialects
Reading for Wednesday: Chapter 2: 26-31
Wed
9-13 / US Dialects
Reading for Friday: Chapter 2: 31-35
Fri
9-15 / US Dialects
Homework for Monday: Dialect Analysis III (Due Monday 9-18)
Mon
9-18 / Regional vs. Social Dialects
Reading for Wednesday: Chapter 3: 39-44
Wed
9-20 / Regional vs. Social Dialects
Reading for Friday:Chapter 3: 44-52
Fri
9-22 / Regional vs. Social Dialects
Reading for Monday:Chapter 3: 52-55. Chapter 4: 58-64
Mon
9-25 / Regional vs. Social Dialects
Reading for Wednesday:Chapter 4: 65-74
Wed
9-27 / Regional vs. Social Dialects
HomeworkFor Monday:Essay 1 (Due Monday 10-2)
Fri
9-29 / No Class
Mon
10-2 / Vowel Shifts
Reading for Wednesday:

Wed
10-4 / Vowel Shifts
Reading for Friday:

Fri
10-6 / Discuss Group Projects
Homework for Monday: Essay 2 (Due Monday 10-9)
Mon
10-9 / Exam 1 Review
For Wednesday:Prepare for Exam 1
Wed
10-11 / Exam 1
Fri
10-13 / No Class
Mon
10-16 / Creoles
Reading for Wednesday:Chapter 8: 133-142
Wed
10-18 / Gullah
Reading for Friday: Chapter 8: 142-150
Fri
10-20 / Lumbee
Homework for Monday:Essay 3 (Due Monday 10-23)
Mon
10-23 / US East Coast Dialects
Reading for Wednesday:
Wed
10-25 / US East Coast Dialects
Homework for Monday:Dialect Analysis IV (Due Monday 10-30)
Fri
10-27 / No Class
Reading for Monday:
Mon
10-30 / Southern Dialects
Reading for Wednesday:
Wed
11-1 / Mountain Dialects
For Friday:



Fri
11-3 / Language ideology, attitudes, and prejudice
Homework for Monday:Essay 3 (Due Monday 11-6)
Mon
11-7 / AAVE/Social Varieties
Reading for Wednesday:Chapter 5: 76-87
Wed
11-8 / AAVE/Social Varieties
Reading for Monday (11-20): Chapter 16: 305-316
Fri
11-11 / No Class
Mon
11-13 / Presentations
Wed
11-15 / Presentations
Fri
11-17 / Presentations/Review
Mon
11-20 / Social Varieties
Mon
11-27 / Chicano English
Reading for Wednesday:
Wed
11-29 / Chicano English
Reading for Friday:

(From History/Demographics To Topicalization)
Fri
12-1 / Multilingualism
Homework for Monday: Essay 4 (Due Monday 12-4)
Mon
12-4 / Exam 2 Review
Wed
12-6 / Exam 2