Introduction to the English Language

TEXTBOOK:

Frank Parker and Kathryn Riley, Linguistics for Non-Linguists, 4th ed. (Pearson, 2005), ISBN 0205421180

COURSE DESCRIPTION.  An introductory linguistics course intended for students who have had no previous exposure to systematic language study. Students will examine the grammatical structures of the English language (syntax), its system of sounds (phonology), and the ways that languages instill words with meaning (morphology, semantics). Course will also address issues of current interest in linguistics, including language variation (dialects and styles), current attitudes about English dialects, and recent debates concerning the biological components of language.

I can almost guarantee that this course will be one of the most difficult but also one of the best classes you will ever take.  As a user of language, you already know a great deal about English intuitively.  In this course, we are going to learn about the nuts and bolts of how languages work and change.  We’ll take a lot of knowledge that you currently possess on an intuitive level and make you more conscious of it.  When you finish the course, you will have a better understanding of why English is the way it is (usually because of historical accident or a universal linguistic rule or both), and you will have a store of conversation starters and fun facts to know and tell about your mother tongue.  Most of the material we will cover in this class is inherently interesting.  Who doesn’t want to know the answers to such questions as

1. How do two people know when their conversation is over?
2. Why do people talk funny to babies?
3. How can anyone seriously propose that English, Hindi, and Persian are all descended from a common language when they’re so different from one another?
4. Why is English spelling so screwy?

But you will have to work hard to master a large amount of new material in order to be able to answer these questions adequately.  In this course, you will be introduced to a lot of information that will be entirely new to you.  You will need to memorize, digest, and assimilate a great deal as the term goes along.  But I will help you in every way I can, and your classmates will be there with you the whole way.

GOALS.  In terms of my goals for this course, I want you

1. to develop your appreciation – and respect – for the complexity and beauty of the English language;
2. to become more conscious of what you are actually doing when you use language;
3. to show an understanding of language acquisition and development;
4. to demonstrate how reading, writing, speaking, listening, viewing, and thinking are interrelated;
5. to recognize the impact of cultural, economic, political, and social environments upon language;
6. to show a respect for and understanding of diversity in language use, patterns, and dialects across cultures, ethnic groups, geographic regions, and social roles;
7. to show an understanding of the evolution of the English language and the historical influences on its various forms;
8. to demonstrate an understanding of English grammars; and
9. to demonstrate an understanding of semantics, syntax, morphology, and phonology.

REQUIREMENTS.  This course has the following graded assignments:

1. five homework papers (4% of your final grade each for a total of 20%),
2. three exams (20% each), and
3. a final essay (20%).

Your final grade will be based on the following scale:  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 = 60-66.9, and F = below 60.

In addition to your graded assignments, I will also periodically give ungraded quizzes.  These quizzes are primarily a diagnostic tool for both you and me.  They help me to see what you, as a class, are having trouble with, and they help you to see what you still need to study before the exam.  I intend them to be a low-stress experience and therefore do not grade them, but I do collect them and look them over in order to get a sense of what you have learned and what you may still need to learn in order to do well in the class.

HOMEWORK PAPERS.  In the course of the term, you are required to write 5 short, informal papers (about 2 pages each) on practical applications of topics discussed in class.  You may choose for which days you want to write a homework paper, as long as you have completed 5 homework papers by the end of the term and you submit each homework paper on the topic assigned for the day that you submit it.

Homework papers will be graded Pass/Fail.  I ask you to type them (so that they are easier for me to read), but they need not be a perfect, polished product.  Rather, think about the topic assigned for the day, do a little research on your own, and then write up your thoughts and conclusions.  Don’t worry about typos or comma splices or organization.  Be as specific as you can, getting down as much as you can, as quickly as you can.  Treat homework papers more like a journal entry than like a formal paper.  I don’t want a five-paragraph theme.  Rather, I want an exploration – as detailed and specific as possible – of the research topic assigned for the day.  Normally, as long as you submit a homework paper of suitable length, detail, research, and thoughtfulness (and as long as you submit it in hard copy in class on the assigned day), you will receive all the points that the homework paper is worth.

The purpose of the homework papers is

1. to help you master the concepts and methodologies of linguistic study,
2. to help me see where you’re struggling with the concepts in class,
3. to help you develop your intellectual independence and your confidence as a researcher and analyst of language, and
4. to allow you to explore beyond the basics and to delve into practical, real-world applications and research.

You may submit more than 5 homework papers in the course of the semester (to make up for any homework papers that do not receive a grade of Pass), but no matter how many extra homework papers you turn in, you will not receive credit for more than 5 total.  You may not submit more than one homework paper on a single day, nor may you submit a homework paper for a day that you are absent from class – absolutely no exceptions.

ATTENDANCE.  Regular attendance is a virtual necessity for successful completion of this class.  Class discussion constitutes important, useful preparation for your graded work.  If you miss a class, you will essentially lose out on that day’s contribution to your preparation, since it is never really possible to reproduce or recapture the dynamics and flow of information for a missed class meeting (even if you get notes from someone).  If, however, you positively must miss a class, I expect you to find out what you missed and to come fully prepared – without excuses – to the next class meeting.  And please, don’t ask, “Did I miss anything?”  Check out Tom Wayman’s poem about that question.

OFFICE HOURS.  My office is Bliss 216, and my office hours are 3:30-5:00 p.m. on MR.  If you cannot see me during these office hours, feel free as needed to call my office (771-2106) or to talk to me before or after class to arrange an appointment at another time.  You may also contact me by email (gsteinbe@tcnj.edu), or you may leave a message for me in my box at the English department offices in Bliss 124.  Email is generally the fastest way to contact me in an emergency.

EMAIL.  I may, on occasion, want to e-mail everyone in class.  I generally only have access to your TCNJ e-mail addresses, however.  As a result, if you regularly use an e-mail address other than your TCNJ address, I recommend that you have mail from your TCNJ address forwarded to the address you use more regularly.  That way, if I e-mail your TCNJ address, my message will be forwarded to your other address automatically.  To forward mail from your TCNJ address, go to http://www.tcnj.edu/~helpdesk/Zimbra.htm and click “Forward Email.”  Follow the directions there to set up mail forwarding.

If you would like to send an e-mail message to one or more of your classmates, you can do so through SOCS.  To access SOCS, go to http://socs.tcnj.edu and, after you have logged in with your TCNJ e-mail username and password, choose this class from the list of your courses this semester.  Then, when our course page comes up, click the “Email” button.  From there, you can select individual e-mail addresses or the entire class and send a message to the address(es) you’ve selected.

Accommodations.  The College of New Jersey prohibits discrimination against any student on the basis of physical or mental disability or perceived disability.  The College will also provide reasonable and appropriate accommodations to enable students with disabilities to participate in the life of the campus community.  Individuals with disabilities are responsible for reporting and supplying documentation verifying their disability, and requests for accommodations must be initiated through the Office of Differing Abilities Services (Eickhoff Hall 159).  If you require special assistance, I will make every reasonable effort to accommodate your needs and to create an environment where your special abilities will be respected.

COURSE SCHEDULE.  The schedule below is subject to revision at the discretion of the professor.  I recommend that you check this online syllabus regularly over the course of the term.

Date	Topic	Assignment
R Aug 28	Introductions	––––––––––––
M Sep 1	NO CLASS	Labor Day
T Sep 2	Conversation	Linguistics for Non-Linguists (hereafter LfN-L), pp. 1-12
R Sep 4	Speech Acts	conversation exercise; LfN-L, pp. 12-26
M Sep 8	Semantics	LfN-L, Chapter Two, Supplementary Exercises 1, 3, 4, 7, 8, 9, 10, 12, 13, 15, 16; LfN-L, pp. 31-49; Homework Paper:  Go to the MICASE web site at http://micase.umdl.umich.edu/m/micase/.  Choose a transcript of a conversation (a meeting, interview, advising session, office hours, or other).  Choose a portion of the transcript that seems interesting (about 6-10 turns).  Describe what is happening in that portion with respect to the cooperative principle, adjacency pairs, repairs, dispreferred responses, and turn taking.  Provide a copy of the relevant portion of the transcript with your paper.
R Sep 11	Syntax	LfN-L, Chapter Three, Supplementary Exercises 2, 4, 6, 7, 10, 13; LfN-L, pp. 53-66; Homework Paper: LfN-L, p. 30, #2
M Sep 15	Syntax	syntax exercise 1; Homework Paper:  Visit a store or website that sells something to a particular kind of audience (e.g., lipstick for women).  Make a list of the terms used to describe the different varieties of the product (e.g., the different lipstick colors).  What sorts of connotations do the terms seem designed to evoke?  What sense relations are illustrated by the terms?  How do they relate to one another and to other terms?  Do they share semantic features?  Do any themes emerge that are specifically geared toward the target audience?
R Sep 18	Transformations	transformations exercise 1; click here for a list of prepositions; click here for an optional exercise to practice more sentence diagrams; LfN-L, pp. 66-79
M Sep 22	Transformations	transformations exercise 2
R Sep 25	Morphology	transformations exercise 3; LfN-L, pp. 85-101; Homework Paper:  AAE transformation exercise
M Sep 29	Review	morphology exercises; optional transformations exercise; Homework Paper:  In deriving new words with the suffix -able, there seems to be some constraint on what is permitted.  Looking at the following examples of acceptable and questionable instances (as well as examples that you can add), can you work out what the rule(s) might be for making new adjectives with the suffix -able? breakable              pencilable                     dieable doable                   chairable                      downable inflatable                deskable                      oldable movable                 hairable                        housable (house + -able) understandable       sleepable                      runable wearable                sitable                          carable (care + -able) charitable               restable (rest + -able)   graduatable (graduate + -able)
R Oct 2	EXAM 1	Study, study, study.
M Oct 6	Phonemes	LfN-L, pp. 105-116
R Oct 9	Phonemes	phonetic transcription exercise 1; LfN-L, Chapter 6, Supplementary Exercises 1, 2, 4; phonetic transcription exercise 2
M Oct 13	NO CLASS	Fall Break
R Oct 16	Allophones and Phonological Rules	phonetic transcription exercise 2 (continued); phoneme exercise; LfN-L, pp. 116-127; Homework Paper:  English has a number of expressions such as chit-chat and flip-flop which never seem to occur in the reverse order (i.e., chat-chit, flop-flip).  Other examples include criss-cross, riff-raff, dilly-dally, see-saw, and tick-tock.  Can you think of others?  Can you think of a phonetic description of the regular patterns in these expressions?  What is the relationship between the sounds in the first element and the sounds in the second element?  Can you make up a “rule” for forming these kinds of expressions?  Make a new expression up as an illustration.
M Oct 20	Sound Changes	LfN-L, Chapter 6, Supplementary Exercises 6, 7, 8, 9
R Oct 23	Sound Changes	sound change exercise 1; sound change exercise 2;
M Oct 27	Review	sound change exercise 3; sound change exercise 4; Homework Paper:  Visit the Archive of Misheard Lyrics at http://www.kissthisguy.com.  Many misperceptions of song lyrics can be explained as resulting from phonological processes.  Write an analysis that classifies at least six of these “mishearances” by the phonological processes (i.e., sound changes) that resulted in them.  For example, is one sound being substituted for another?  What is the relationship between the two sounds (the correct one and the one substituted)?  Or is the mishearance a matter of metathesis, intrusion, ellipsis, or other common sound changes?
R Oct 30	EXAM 2	Study, study, study.
M Nov 3	Language Aquisition	LfN-L, pp. 176-208, 273-293
R Nov 6	History of the English Language	language aquisition exercise
M Nov 10	History of the English Language	Grimm’s Law exercises
R Nov 13	Dialects	Great Vowel Shift exercise; triplets exercise; LfN-L, pp. 134-169
M Nov 17	Orthography	LfN-L, Chapter 7, Supplementary Exercises, 2a-b, 3, 4a, and 5a; LfN-L, pp. 235-248 Homework Paper:  Use the Oxford English Dictionary to research the history of a single English word.  Where and when did the word originate?  How did English originally acquire it?  When did it come into English usage?  How has it evolved over time in terms of meaning, spelling, pronunciation, morphology?  Click here to go to the online Oxford English Dictionary.
R Nov 20	Review	Review and catch up. Homework Paper:  Survey 10 people from at least three different regions using the survey available here.  What dialectical differences do the speakers exhibit?  What patterns do you see in terms of dialect and region?
M Nov 24	EXAM 3	Study, study, study.
R Nov 27	NO CLASS	Thanksgiving
M Dec 1	Discourse Analysis	LfN-L, pp. 251-269
R Dec 4	Sound and Sense, More Discourse Analysis, and Literary Conversations	discourse analysis exercise; Homework Paper:  LfN-L, Chapter 11, Supplementary Exercise 2
Final Exams Period	NO FINAL EXAM	FINAL PAPER DUE

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