Course Description and Outcomes

This course surveys trends in theoretical linguistics and emphasizes the practical applications of language theory. Thus, in addition to introducing students to the nature of language and its role in society, we will examine fundamental technical aspects of language such as phonology, morphology, syntax, and semantics. With those skills in hand, we will then peruse the applications of that theoretical knowledge to issues in education with tie-ins to sociology, psychology, literature, and so on. Topics will include first and subsequent language acquisition, the relationship between reading and phonetics/phonology, the debate concerning the value of teaching syntax in improving writing skills, and a variety of social issues connected to language (sexist/__-ist language, the bilingual education debate, and the U.S. English movement, among others).

In general, the course has these outcomes for students to pursue:

1. Understand the fundamental principles of linguistic theory, both descriptive and historical.

2. Become familiar with the phonetic alphabet and phonological elements of language.

3. Be able to identify the morphological, syntactic, and semantic/pragmatic elements of language.

4. Know the connections between those elements and "real-life" teaching, personal, and social contexts.

5. Apply the principles and techniques to those real-world contexts.

6. Be able to locate scholarly material concerning linguistics in electronic and print formats.

7. Understand the basic methods and problems of field research in linguistics and other fields.