LING 8
“LANGUAGES AND
CULTURES OF THE UNITED STATES”
Spring 2000
This course will examine the linguistic and cultural
diversity of the United States from historical and cultural perspectives.
The course satisfies the Muir College cultural diversity
requirement and the Revelle College American Culture requirement.
Time:Tuesday
and Thursday, 9:35-10:55 am
Place: HSS
1330
Instructor: Professor
Maria Polinsky
polinsky@ling.ucsd.edu
Office: McGill
Hall 5332
Office
hours: Monday
2-3pm
Thursday
1-2 pm
And
by appointment—to schedule an appointment, please contact Laura Silva at
534-3601 or lsilva@ucsd.edu
TA: Heidi
Tonomura
htonomura@ucsd.edu
Office: McGill
Hall, 2318
Office hours: Tuesday
11-1
Goals
of the course:
·to
introduce the students to the variety of languages and cultures in the
United States
·to
address and dispel common stereotypes concerning language and speech (e.g.,
that certain languages are more sophisticated than others, that people
who don’t speak right don’t think right)
·to
discuss the interaction of linguistic, cultural, social, and political
issues
·to
introduce current trends in cultural and linguistic diversity
Course requirements
1)
Regular class attendance and participation
2)
Readings
and lecture note taking
3)
Homework
assignments (3 sets) (20%). Assignments given out in week
n
are due on Tue of week n+1. Late assignments are not accepted.
Assignments
will be returned after the Tuesday class of week n+2. In section
you will discuss homework assignments and prepare for the midterm and final
exam.
4)
Midterm
(30% of grade). Date: May 9, 2000, in class. Closed-book, multiple choice
and several short answer questions.
5) Final (50% of grade). Date: June 12, 2000,
8-11 am, HSS 1330.
Exams
·Exams
are multiple-choice and short-answer. The midterm and the final will be
graded on a modified curve.
·Exams
include questions based on lectures, videos, home assignments, and readings.
·A
study guide is handed out before each exam to direct students' study efforts
to the most important topics.
·The
professor holds review sessions before each exam.
Class format
·Classes
have a mixed lecture-discussion format.
NOTE: Not all the material covered in the lectures is included in
the assigned readings, so please take your lecture notes seriously.
·Videos
are used throughout the course. Five videos are shown outside of class
as part of the course (duration ranges from 20 to 50 minutes). Questions
based on the videos will be included in the midterm and the final. All
the videos are shown in FVL (first floor, SSH).
Home assignments and exercise sessions
·There
will be 3 homework assignments
·In
section we will go over these exercises and over the questions likely to
appear on the exams. Thus, attendance at exercise sessions will help prepare
you for the exams. Section time will be announced in Week 1. See the syllabus
for the weeks in which exercise sections meet.
Textbook (referred to as T below):
Charles Ferguson and Shirley Brice Heath, eds.
Language
in the USA. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1996 (paperback
available in bookstore; copies of the relevant chapters are also available
at Soft Reserves).
Packet of readings available at Soft Reserves
(referred to as P below).
The packet also includes the three homework assignments.
Syllabus
In the syllabus below, pay close attention to
the order of readings and videos. Unless indicated otherwise, the readings
follow the lecture to which they pertain and should be done after that
lecture (otherwise you will have difficulty following the subsequent lectures/readings).
The order of videos and readings is not accidental—if the vidoe is mentioned
first, that means that you will need to know the video material in order
to follow the readings.
If
you have difficulty understanding some terms in the readings, consult the
glossary in Language in the USA (pp. 527-533). If the glossary does not
help, consult linguistic encyclopedias and dictionaries under call number
P29 in the Reference Section of the Geisel Library. My favorite source
is the glossary in vol. 4 of the International Encyclopedia of Linguistics
(ed. by W. Bright) but feel free to consult other reference materials as
well. A good on-line glossary of linguistic terms can be found at:
http://www.sil.org/LINGUISTICS/glossary/
Week
1 (April 3-7)
1.1Overall
structure of the course. Study of language in the social context
Reading:
Fishman ‘The Sociology of Language’ (P)
1.2Language,
dialect, idiolect. Types of relationships between languages. Major components
identified in the representation of language.
Reading: Comrie
(P) (required: section 1; section 2.5, section 3; the rest is recommended)
Video (out
of class): “American Tongues” (on reserve at FVL)
Week
2 (April 10-14)
2.1They
were here first: Native American languages in the pre-colonial times—geographical
distribution and genetic affiliation
2.2Main
language characteristics of American Indian languages. Native American
names on the US map. Native American words in English.
Readings: T,
ch. 6 (required); Chafe (P) (recommended).
Assignment1.
Week
3 (April 17-21)
3.1.Native
American languages of California. The extinction of Native American languages:
Ishi, the last of the Yana (case study).
Video
(out of class): “Ishi” (on reserve at FVL)
Reading:Kroeber,
pp. 10-31 (P)
Make
sure to watch the video before reading Kroeber
Assignment
1 Due
3.2Michif—a
unique mixed language
Reading:
Bakker & Muysken (P) (sections 4.1, 4.3, 4.7, 4.8 required; other sections
recommended)
Week
4 (April 24-28)
4.1Spanish
in the US. Early colonial Spanish
Reading:
T,
ch. 9
4.2Spanish
in modern day USA. Bilingualism and diglossia. Code-switching.
Readings: Bonvillain
(P), 320-326; Fishman ‘Societal bilingualism’ (P)
4.3.Discussion
Section 1: Discussion of Assignment 1, Time TBA
Assignment
2
Week 5 (May 1-5)
5.1.Spanish
in California. Chicano studies.
Reading:
Garcia (P)
Assignment 2 Due
5.2French
in North America. Lousiana French
Readings: T,
ch. 12 (concentrating on the French component) and parts of ch. 4 (pp.
69-73, and 77-81—skip Gullah);
5.3Discussion
Section 2:
Review of assignment 2. Review for the midterm.
Time
TBA
Week 6
(May 8-12)
6.1.Midterm.
In-class, closed-book exam. There will be several multiple-choice questions
and several short-answer questions.
6.2.German
in America: History and general overview. (Guest lecture by Professor Kluender)
Video
(out
of class): “Where Have all the Germans Gone” (on reserve at FVL)
Readings:
T, ch. 12 (concentrating on the German component) and parts of ch. 16 (pp.
339-341 and p. 350, starting with “The immigrant languages”, through 363,
stopping at “Slavic languages”).
Week 7
(May 15-19)
7.1.Brief
history of English and the development of English dialects.
Video (out
of class): “History of the English Language (Judgment of Solomon)” (on
reserve at FVL)—must be seen before the lecture on Thursday
No
separate reading on this; a detailed handout will be provided. Please take
detailed lecture notes and notes after the video.
7.2.Geographical
and socio-economic factors in language variation. English dialects in the
United States—an overview
7.3.Discussion
Section 4: Review of the midterm. Time TBA
Reading:
T, ch. 3 (required); Labov (P) (recommended)
Week
8 (May 22-26)
8.1Gender
differences in modern English
Reading: Bonvillain,
ch. 7 (P).
8.2Language,
race, ethnicity—differences in modern English
Readings:
T, ch. 5 (required); ch. 19 (recommended).
Video
(out of class): “Black on White” (on reserve at FVL)
Assignment
3.
Week
9 (May 29-June 2)
9.1Creoles
of the USA. Gullah
Reading:
T,
Ch. 4.
Assignment
3 Due
9.2Recent
immigrant languages in the US—geographical distribution, acculturation,
mixing, code-switching
Reading:
T,
Ch. 15.
Week
10
(June 5-9)
10.1Immigrant
languages in the US: A Case Study
Reading:
T, ch. 20
10.2Review
for the final.
Saturday,
June 10.9:30-11: Review session
with professor and TA
Final Exam: June 12, 2000, 8-11 am