The following assignments will be factored into your course grade. In addition, these will also help assess your progress in mastering the outcomes noted above.
(1) Class Attendance & Participation (15 points): The nature of this class demands that students attend the initial and final class meetings and contribute regularly to the on-line discussions. Both quality and quantity will be considered, with an emphasis on the former.
(2) Online Seminar Leader (40 points): Students will work individually to prepare a section from the text for on-line discussion. The seminar leadership will include the following:
—pointing out or clarifying important ideas and concepts by way of synthesized outline or PowerPoint posted on VCampus
—preparing a question(s) to be posted on VCampus
—leading the discussion by responding to online responses to question(s)
—synthesized outline/PowerPoint/question(s) must be emailed to instructor for approval by Wednesday, September 26
(3) Review of Literature (40 points): Students will write a paper summarizing and commenting on at least three journal articles and/or other scholarly sources in sociolinguistics related to their field research project. Possible topics for this paper will be discussed in the initial class session. The Review of Literature is due Wednesday, October 31 (including copies of or links to all articles cited in paper). See sample paper in “Handouts” section of VCampus. This paper may share sources with a research partner and will be submitted as evidence of student learning for the W portion of the grade.
(4) Field Research Project, Paper & Presentation (60 points): Students will propose and conduct a team or individual field research project in sociolinguistics (survey, observation, and/or experiment). The research could be an extension of primary research completed in Eng 330. Following approval by the instructor, students will then conduct the field research and write a paper detailing previous research in this area as well as their research method, their results, and the theoretical and practical issues in sociolinguistics connected to their research project. Research proposals are to be posted in the students’ on-line journals by Wednesday, October 3. Students will present their research findings during the final class meeting on Wednesday, December 5, and turn in a paper by December 12. Research teams may submit one PARTIALLY collaboratively-written paper (individual conclusions section). See sample paper in “Handouts” section of VCampus.
(5) On-line Journal (45 points): During the course, students will keep an online journal (blog) noting ideas, questions, problems, and other occurrences related to their field research project (minimum 10 substantive entries). In addition, students will respond to questions covering the text materials, as well as pose a question(s) for classmates to answer based on the seminar material they synthesize. All journal entries and responses to forums due by Friday, December 14. (See additional due dates for full points on specific Forum posts.)
(6) Figuring Course Grades:
| Participation/Attendance | 15 |
| Seminar Leader | 40 |
| Review of Literature | 40 |
| Field Research Project | 60 |
| Journal (Blog) | 45 |
Total Possible: 200 (180+ =A; 160-179=B; 140-159=C; 120-139=D; 119-0=F)