Courses
LING-109. First Year Experience:Language And Diversity In Chicago. 3 Hours.
Hands-on research, using Chicago's rich diversity of languages in contact as a laboratory, will enable you to understand the mechanisms, dynamics and manipulations of language and language use. Students will explore the following questions: What is language? What makes it universal? What makes it unique? How can it be used as a tool? How does it unite or divide? What is language contact and how does it affect you? What is the relationship between language and identity? What is language diversity and what brings it about? How does an awareness of language make you a stronger, more confident communicator?.
LING-110. Lexicology: The Study Of Words. 3 Hours.
Introduction to the study of words, with particular attention to English from an historical, structural and sociolinguistic perspective. This course meets one of the Humanities requirements of the General Education Program.
LING-120. Language And Human Behavior. 3 Hours.
Introduction to basic principles of psycholinguistics and sociolinguistics. Subjects covered may include dialect variation, language and the brain, child language acquisition, language and gender, conversational analysis, non-verbal behavioral, pidgins and creoles, and sign language. The course is designed for students having no background in linguistics. This course meets one of the Humanities requirements of the General Education Program as well as the Improving Human Relations requirement.
LING-201. Introduction To General Linguistics. 3 Hours.
Nature and structure of languages and American English in particular. An overview of the description of language systems in terms of phonology (sound systems), morphology (word formation) and syntax (sentence organization). May also include an introduction to the areas of semantics (word meaning), pragmatics (the rules of the use of language in social contexts and conversation), and dialectology (cultural and geographical varieties of language use), and a look at the history of English and its relationship to other languages.
LING-300. English Grammar In The Classroom. 3 Hours.
This course introduces the basics of sentence structure in English with the purpose of enabling future teachers to teach English grammar successfully in a multicultural classroom. To this end, students will learn forms and functions of spoken and written English and learn grammatical terminology. They will also investigate issues related to standard and non-standard varieties of English and to the relationship between grammar and language instruction.
Prerequisite: LING-120 with a minimum grade of C or LING-201 with a minimum grade of C.
LING-301. History Of The English Language. 3 Hours.
Historical descriptive linguistic survey of English from its origins to modern English.
Prerequisite: LING-201 with a minimum grade of C.
LING-302. Theory Of Grammar. 3 Hours.
LING-303. Grammars Of English. 3 Hours.
A descriptive and historical analysis of English grammar.
Prerequisite: LING-201 with a minimum grade of C.
LING-304. Introduction To Phonetics & Phonology. 3 Hours.
This class provides a foundation in the acoustic and articulatory properties of the sounds used in human languages and introduces theories about the systematic variation of sounds in ordinary speech. Through reading, problem solving and class discussion, students become familiar with basic phonetics, the analysis of sounds into features, both rule-based and constraint-based theories of sound variation, and the structure of sound at the segment, syllable and phrase levels. Prereq: or consent of instructor.
Prerequisite: LING-201 with a minimum grade of C.
LING-310. Historical/Comparative Linguistics. 3 Hours.
Prerequisite: LING-201 with a minimum grade of C.
LING-316. Languages And Cultures: Middle East And North Africa. 3 Hours.
This course introduces students to the languages, cultures, values, preconceptions, and misconceptions associated with the region known as the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). A variety of sources, including academic texts, articles, fiction, poetry, film, and the visual arts, may be presented to illustrate the complex of languages and cultures of the MENA region.
Prerequisite: LING-201 with a minimum grade of C or LING-322 with a minimum grade of C or ANTH-212 with a minimum grade of C or HIST-111F with a minimum grade of C or HIST-391 with a minimum grade of C.
LING-320G. Language And Culture: Aboriginal Australia. 3 Hours.
This course focuses on the languages and cultures of Aboriginal Australia. It will examine a number of different linguistic features (phonological, morphological, and syntactic) found in a variety of Australian languages. In Addition to structural features, the course will examine Aboriginal languages and their interaction within the social and cultural setting of traditional life as well as issues involving language and cultural contact with European powers.
Prerequisite: LING-201 with a minimum grade of C.
LING-320N. Language And Culture: Native American. 3 Hours.
This course focuses on the languages and cultures of Native America. It will examine a number of different linguistic features (phonological, morphological, and syntactic) found in a variety of North American languages. In addition to structural features, the course will examine languages and their interaction with social and cultural domains as well as issues of language contact.
Prerequisite: LING-201 with a minimum grade of C.
LING-322. Introduction To Sociolinguistics. 3 Hours.
A look at language variation based on social contexts. Includes ethnic, regional and social dialects, language and gender, and pidgin and creole language systems.
LING-323. First & Second Language Acquisition. 3 Hours.
Survey of recent theories and research on children's acquisition of phonological, morphological, syntactic, semantic, and pragmatic systems of their first language. Survey of recent theories and research on second language acquisition.
Prerequisite: LING-201 with a minimum grade of C.
LING-325. Language And Disability: Comparative Language Development. 3 Hours.
This course introduces students to normative and non-normative modes of language development and use. We look at language through a critical disability lens to show how language differences create marginalization. We start by studying language development in the first years of life to understand how our environment influences our brain and language development. We then explore individual differences in language development, the pathology of language-related disorders, as well as non-normative ways of "doing" language to identify and challenge ableist beliefs about language. Topics covered include language acquisition, language modalities, sign language, language disorders, bilingualism, racialized language, language ideologies.
LING-326. Narratives Of The Jewish Experience. 3 Hours.
This course focuses on stories told in contemporary Jewish communities as illustrative of the Jewish experience. Narrative is both representative and constructive of life experience, memory, and identity. We will listen to and analyze stories collected by others and available to wide audiences, and to stories we collect through interactions and interviews. Analyses will be conducted within a narratological framework that blends discursive and psycho-analytic theory and practice. Students will gather oral narratives from family members, community members, political and religious leaders, and educators with the goal of analyzing how stories both reveal and construct personal and social identities.
LING-330. Language, Gender, And Sexuality. 3 Hours.
This course introduces students to gender and sexual identity as they connect to language, meaning, and interaction. We first consider how language mediates, and is mediated by, social constructions of sex, gender, and sexuality. We then explore how language is used to perform gender and sexual identity, and how gender and sexual identity are perceived through linguistic expression. Students will gain an understanding of how language creates, maintains, challenges, and reconfigures social hierarchies and structures. Areas investigated include language variation and gender stereotypes; expression and perception of sexual identity through language; power and women’s status; male vs. female communicative styles.
LING-335. Language And Discrimination. 3 Hours.
This course examines the ways our beliefs about language lead to social discrimination in various public and private contexts. Language use is a powerful tool of social identity construction, and often an unrecognized way in which speakers are categorized into social groupings. We will explore issues concerning language-based discrimination in public institutions and private contexts, how children are taught to discriminate, how language discrimination affects us as adults, regional and ethnically linked dialects, ideologies about language and language variation, hate speech and political correctness, linguistic diversity and language policy, and language endangerment.
LING-337. Ethnography Of Communication. 3 Hours.
This course adopts ethnographic methodology to explore the acquisition and performance of communicative competence in a variety of professional settings. The concept of communicative competence has its origins in the field of sociolinguistics - the branch of linguistics that studies the relationship between language and culture or, as sometimes defined, language in society. Key to one segment of sociolinguistic research and practice is the field of ethnography of communication, initiated by anthropological linguist Dell Hymes and John Gumperz. Ethnography of communication focuses on identifying and analyzing "the situations and uses, the patterns and functions of speaking as an activity in its own right" (Hymes 1974). In so doing, the theory and application of this field focuses on identifying the norms of appropriate language use in interaction in given social domains.
Prerequisite: LING-322 with a minimum grade of B.
LING-338. Introduction To Syntactic Theory. 3 Hours.
Following the ground work established over the past 15 years, this course will introduce students to modern syntactic theory as practiced within the Minimalist Program. An emphasis will be placed on the methodological and theoretical achievements of this area of research as developed in the past decade. Students will further examine the notions of functional and lexical projections, empty categories, feature checking operations, various kinds of movement and merge operations, and locality constraints.
Prerequisite: LING-201 with a minimum grade of B and LING-303 with a minimum grade of B.
LING-344. Linguistics And Reading. 3 Hours.
Relationship between language and structure and the reading process with emphasis on the practical problems such as the variety of dialectically different sound-symbol-correspondences in English, the perception of speech sounds, the reader's interpretation of syntactic and semantic structures, various alphabetic systems for teaching beginning reading, and an analysis of linguistic texts for teaching reading. Designed to be useful to the in-service classroom teacher as well as to undergraduates.
LING-347. The Origin Of Language. 3 Hours.
Organized as a seminar, this course discusses recent theories concerned with how, when and why language appeared in the human lineage. Students are introduced to scholarship from a range of fields including linguistics, cognitive science, philosophy, anthropology, primatology and evolutionary biology to address questions including: What is language? What cognitive and social preconditions underlie it? What are the similarities and differences between human language and other animals’ communication systems? What language-specific biological wiring may exist at the core of the human language faculty? How was language adaptive for those humans? Did language emerge relatively recently and suddenly, or gradually over millions of years? Permission of instructor required.
Prerequisite: LING-201 with a minimum grade of C or BIO-201 with a minimum grade of C or ANTH-212 with a minimum grade of C or ANTH-215 with a minimum grade of C.
LING-352. Introduction To Psycholinguistics. 3 Hours.
This course introduces and explores the links between the physiological, cognitive, structural and sociolinguistic aspects of language. Students receive a comprehensive overview of the mechanisms involved in the production and comprehension of language and the development of language, memory and learning, from childhood and throughout adulthood. Various models of language production and comprehension are considered as we look at the interface between current linguistic principles and the brain.
Prerequisite: LING 201 with a minimum grade of D.
LING-361. Introduction To World Englishes. 3 Hours.
Examination of issues involved in the development, spread, and maintenance of varieties of English throughout the world, now commonly referred to as Global or World Englishes. This course emphasizes the historical, political, and ideological issues of globalization, nativization, post-colonialism, standardization, and pedagogy of native and non-native varieties of English.
Prerequisite: LING-201 with a minimum grade of C.
LING-362. Linguistics And Literature. 3 Hours.
This course presents an introduction to linguistic and discourse-analytic approaches to style in literary works. The study of literary language, most typically the domain of courses in literature, is also undertaken by linguists for the obvious reason that literature, as language, is composed of the structures and used for the functions that are the focus of formal and applied linguistic analysis. Linguistics and Literature focuses on the stylistic use of phonological, morphological, syntactic and semantic features; paralinguistic features of intonation, pitch, rhythm, stress, loudness, and speed; and speech acts and pragmatic conventions of indirectness; entailment, presupposition, implication, and persuasion. By permission of instructor.
Prerequisite: LING-201 with a minimum grade of C.
LING-363. Graphic Narratives: Linguistic And Visual Semiotic Approaches. 3 Hours.
This course situates the graphic narrative as a complex, cultural form that deserves academic attention. Together, we will analyze how images and words interact in graphic narratives to create new identity formations, new cultural meanings, new knowledge webs, new histories, and new narratives.
Prerequisite: LING-120 with a minimum grade of C or LING-201 with a minimum grade of C.
LING-366. Language And The Beatles. 3 Hours.
This course introduces the music of the Beatles by focusing on the language they used, particularly in their song lyrics. Students will learn how the tools and theories of sociolinguistics, phonetics, phonology, and music can be applied in order to further appreciate and analyze the words of this culturally significant band. Music recordings, lyrics books, and academic writings in both linguistics and related fields will be used by the students to form their own conclusions and present them.
Prerequisite: LING-201 with a minimum grade of C.
LING-380. Introduction To Corpus Linguistics. 3 Hours.
This course aims to introduce students to theories and methods of corpus-based linguistic research. We will work with available tools and machine-readable corpora (large collections of texts) as a basis for linguistic description and language learning. Topics covered include language description and comparison, language change and current trends, genre and discourse analysis, first and second language acquisition, corpora in classroom instruction, etc. Students will learn how to analyze, visualize, and present data extracted from a corpus, as well as formulate and test hypotheses against evidence provided by a corpus. A basic understanding of language and grammatical categories is required.
LING-391F. Advanced Grammatical Analysis: Mandan. 3 Hours.
This is a course in advanced linguistic analysis. It focuses on the extremely endangered Siouan language, Mandan. Students will learn how to do linguistic research through a critical analysis of existent Mandan texts and explore various aspects of Mandan grammar. Topics may include any aspect of morphology, syntax, or narrative discourse structure.
Prerequisite: LING-201 with a minimum grade of B and LING-303 with a minimum grade of B and LING-322 with a minimum grade of B.
LING-391N. Advanced Grammatical Analysis: Biloxi. 3 Hours.
This is a course in advanced linguistic analysis. It focuses on the extinct Siouan language, Biloxi. Students will learn how to do linguistic research through a critical analysis of existent Biloxi texts and explore various aspects of Biloxi grammar. Topics may include any aspect of morphology, syntax, or narrative discourse structure.
Prerequisite: LING-201 with a minimum grade of B and LING-303 with a minimum grade of B and LING-322 with a minimum grade of B.
LING-391O. Advanced Grammatical Analysis: Crow. 3 Hours.
This is a course in advanced linguistic analysis. It focuses on the endangered Siouan language, Crow. Students will learn how to do linguistic research through a critical analysis of existent Crow texts and explore various aspects of Crow grammar. Topics may include any aspect of morphology, syntax, or narrative discourse structure.
Prerequisite: LING-201 with a minimum grade of B and LING-303 with a minimum grade of B and LING-322 with a minimum grade of B.
LING-400. English Pedagogical Grammar. 3 Hours.
This course introduces the basics of sentence structure in English with the purpose of enabling future teachers to teach English grammar successfully in multicultural classrooms. To this end, students will learn the forms and functions of spoken and written English and learn grammatical terminology. They will also investigate issues related to different varieties and registers of spoken and written English and to the relationship between grammar and language arts instruction.
LING-401. Fundamentals Of Modern Linguistics. 3 Hours.
Overview of language as a rule-governed system, with particular emphasis on the following subfields of linguistics: phonetics (the sounds of a language), phonology (the functioning and patterning of sounds), morphology (the analysis of word structure), syntax (the analysis of sentence structure), and semantics (the analysis of meaning). This course will also give a historical overview of the field of linguistics. Other topics may include historical linguistics, language typology, pragmatics, sociolinguistics, the brain and language, and computational linguistics. By permission of instructor.
LING-405. Typology. 3 Hours.
Typology studies the similarities and differences among human languages. We observe which categories (such as noun, verb, past) and which structures (such as questions, passive, causative) are universal, common or rare among the world’s languages and how they are crosslinguistically similar and different. We then ask why languages seem to prefer some categories and constructions over others and what that might say about the human capacity for language. Through reading, problem solving and fieldwork, students learn about these language structures and discuss proposed explanations for why languages are the way they are.
LING-416. Languages & Cultures Of The Middle East And North Africa. 3 Hours.
This course provides an overview of languages and cultures associated with the region known as the Middle East and North Africa. This course will examine the structure of one or more language(s) spoken in this region, focusing on the phonology, morphology, and syntax of the language(s). The focus of the class may be on the culture(s) of one specific country or territory or from a larger sub-area of the Middle East. No prior knowledge of a Semitic, Turkic, or Indo-European language (other than English) is necessary.
Prerequisite: LING-401 with a minimum grade of C.
LING-422. Phonetics & Phonology. 3 Hours.
This class provides a foundation in the acoustic and articulatory properties of the sounds used in human languages and introduces theories about the systematic variation of sounds in ordinary speech. Through reading, problem solving and class discussion, students become familiar with basic phonetics, the analysis of sounds into features, both rule-based and constraint-based theories of sound variation, and the structure of sound at the segment, syllable and phrase levels. By consent of instructor.
Prerequisite: LING-401 with a minimum grade of C.
LING-423. Advanced Phonetics And Phonology. 3 Hours.
A sequel to LING-422 Phonetics and Phonology, this course advances students’ understanding of principles and their ability to critically analyze problems concerning the acoustic and articulatory nature of sounds in human language. Topics include articulatory and acoustic phonetics, rule-based and constraint-based theories, segments and phonological features, syllables and moras, stress, tone and intonation and prosody. This course requires research in sound documentation using current recording technology. Students must evaluate various phonological theories and present findings orally and in written formats, to present data clearly and develop linguistics-oriented argumentation style, readying them for academic participation in scholarly journals, at conferences.
Prerequisite: LING-422 with a minimum grade of B.
LING-427. Morphology. 3 Hours.
The goal of morphology is to understand word structure and speakers’ implicit knowledge of the components of words and their properties. By looking at data from many languages, students will become familiar with morphological processes such as derivation, inflection, compounding, incorporation and cliticization and with various proposals to account for word structure in languages. By consent of instructor.
Prerequisite: LING-401 with a minimum grade of C.
LING-430C. Structure Of Language: Lakhota. 3 Hours.
Lakhota is a member of the Mississippi Valley branch of the Siouan Language family. The language is an agglutinating one with many synthetic characteristics. This course will examine the structure of the Lakhota language, focusing on the phonology, morphology, and syntax of the language. This will be accomplished by reading and comparing a number of grammars and sketches as well as examining original Lakhota texts.
Prerequisite: LING-401 with a minimum grade of C and LING-422 with a minimum grade of C and LING-437 with a minimum grade of C.
LING-433. Lexicography. 3 Hours.
Review of the problems and trends of word study in the past, especially the notions surrounding the concepts of authority and usage of language: scrutiny of the various types and sources of English vocabulary; recent linguistic insights considered in the light of their value for various kinds of handbooks.
Prerequisite: LING-401 with a minimum grade of C.
LING-435. Semantics. 3 Hours.
What is meaning? How does word meaning contribute to sentence meaning? How are sentences semantically related to each other? How do words and sentences connect to the world and our thoughts about it? This course introduces the basic principles of semantics and how they are applied to a scientific analysis of meaning in language. Topics covered include the components of word meaning, the composition of words into sentence meaning, logic and truth conditions, lexical semantics, formal semantics and the pragmatic effects of context on meaning.
Prerequisite: LING-401 with a minimum grade of C and LING-437 with a minimum grade of C.
LING-436. Advanced Semantics And Pragmatics. 3 Hours.
Building on the introductory LING-435 Semantics course, this course pursues more substantive analyses of fundamental issues in semantics and pragmatics. Through readings of primary sources and analysis of original data, students deepen their understanding of concepts and problems in the field. Among the semantics issues examined are lexical semantics, reference, definiteness and specificity, quantification, and various formal methods for relating expressions to meaning and relating semantics to syntax. The semantic-syntax-pragmatics interface is also explored, with a more detailed study of Gricean implicature as well as recent analyses in neo-Gricean theory and relevance theory.
Prerequisite: LING-435 with a minimum grade of B.
LING-437. Introduction To Generative Grammar. 3 Hours.
This course introduces the study of sentence structure in natural language, with a goal of characterizing the unconscious knowledge that speakers have for recognizing, producing and interpreting any sentence in their language. Working within a Chomskyan generative approach, students analyze data in English and other languages to become familiar with issues such as constituent structure, argument structure and theta roles, case, movement and empty categories. Emphasis is placed on theory building and generalizing particular solutions to what might be universals about sentence grammar.
Prerequisite: LING-401 with a minimum grade of C.
LING-438. Syntax. 3 Hours.
This advanced course builds on Ling 437, reviewing basic principles of syntax and investigating them in greater detail. Students are introduced to recent literature on syntax, mostly within a generative perspective, but the strategy of the class is also to have students explore issues, analyze data and come up with their own proposals to various problems under Minimalist assumptions. The class also emphasizes theory building and justifying many assumptions that underlie syntactic theory. Topics include clause structure, noun phrase structure and the interface between syntax and semantics.
Prerequisite: LING-401 with a minimum grade of C and LING-437 with a minimum grade of C.
LING-439. Research Methods And Statistics For Linguists. 3 Hours.
LING-439 introduces statistics and research design for linguists, focusing on statistical methods most often used in the fields of language variation and change, meaning and grammaticality judgments, language production and perception, acquisition, etc. Topics include probability, statistical inference, sampling, and common tests such as t-test, chi-square, sign, analysis of variance, linear correlation and regression, each directed toward linguistics research.
Prerequisite: LING-401 with a minimum grade of C and LING-446 with a minimum grade of C and (LING-405 with a minimum grade of C or LING-437 with a minimum grade of C) and (LING-435 with a minimum grade of C or LING-422 with a minimum grade of C).
LING-440. Linguistics And Literacy. 3 Hours.
Differences between spoken and written languages; the functions of writing in a literate society; writing systems with particular reference to English orthography; current psycholinguistic research on the acquisition of written language skill; pedagogical implications of linguistic views on literacy.
Prerequisite: LING-401 with a minimum grade of C.
LING-446. Sociolinguistics. 3 Hours.
Sociolinguistics examines ways in which language practices of individuals and communities vary in relation to social, cultural, and individual factors. This course explores topics such as language and identity, language contact, social and regional dialectology, interactional discourse, ethnography of communication, and language and gender.
LING-447. The Origin Of Language. 3 Hours.
The course introduces theorizing about how, when and why language appeared in humans, by considering evidence from linguistics, anthropology, cognitive science, philosophy, primatology and evolutionary biology. The course asks four broad questions: Did language appear gradually or suddenly? Did it appear recently or millions of years ago? How was language adaptive for the individuals who had it? What conditions were necessary for language to appear? Caution: this course is NOT about historical linguistics, the study of language change through time. This course looks at how language evolved in the species.
Prerequisite: LING-201 with a minimum grade of C or LING-401 with a minimum grade of C or BIO-201 with a minimum grade of C or ANTH-212 with a minimum grade of C or ANTH-215 with a minimum grade of C.
LING-448. Discourse Analysis. 3 Hours.
Discourse analysis examines the structuring and use of language to promote social action - i.e. language produced in recognition of and response to its role in society and effects on others. Theory and research focus on gathering and analyzing naturally-occurring texts to gain understanding of the patterns of social action they respond to and initiate. Research explores spoken, written, and visual texts and sociolinguistic aspects of the relationship between languages, cultures, and individuals. Students will come to understand that identiy - personal, social, national - as well as ideology - are constructed by and, in turn, serve to construct interactional discourse.
Prerequisite: LING-401 with a minimum grade of C and LING-437 with a minimum grade of C and LING-446 with a minimum grade of C.
LING-449. Anthropological Linguistics. 3 Hours.
Combining the theory and methodology of the ethnographic analysis of culture with the theory and methodology of the sociolinguistic analysis of contextualized talk and text, this course examines the social practice of language in use within and across cultures. Through collection and analysis of naturally-occurring culturally-grounded data, students will identify and come to appreciate how language structures and reveals the systems that both influence and expose cultural knowledge. Students can apply their awareness to culturally-bounded events in settings such as education, corporations, families, and the world at large.
Prerequisite: LING-401 with a minimum grade of C and LING-437 with a minimum grade of C and LING-446 with a minimum grade of C.
LING-450. First Language Acquisition. 3 Hours.
In this course we examine the stages through which a child passes towards native language mastery of the phonological, morphological, syntactic, and semantic systems. Various theories which attempt to account for the child's ability to acquire language will be considered in light of the context of monolingual and bilingual language acquisition.
Prerequisite: LING-401 with a minimum grade of C.
LING-452. Psycholinguistics. 3 Hours.
Theoretical studies in the area of linguistics and psychology; possible implications of the form of grammar for the language learning process; survey of relevant research.
Prerequisite: LING-401 with a minimum grade of C.
LING-453. Language Contact And Multilingualism. 3 Hours.
This course examines language contact as a sociolinguistic phenomenon and articulates its impact on individuals and society. It focuses on issues such as language choice, language maintenance and language death in multilingual communities, national and individual identity, the structure, function and impact of codeswitching, and controversial issues such as bilingual language acquisition and the relationship between bilingualism and cognitive, linguistic and social development.
Prerequisite: LING-401 with a minimum grade of C and LING-437 with a minimum grade of C and LING-446 with a minimum grade of C.
LING-454. Language and Identity. 3 Hours.
This course explores the role of language in the construction of identities and the significance of identity construction as a negotiated social action within language variation. The concept and construction of identity is investigated at the individual, community, and global levels. The focus of the course is on how these multi-leveled identities are developed and realized through the use of language. The course explores a wide range of theoretical and methodological perspectives on identity in mono- as well as multi-lingual contexts.
Prerequisite: LING-401 with a minimum grade of C or LING-446 with a minimum grade of C.
LING-461. Issues In Multiple Language Acquisition. 3 Hours.
This course examines how speakers of one dialect/language learn other dialects/languages. Going beyond the traditional research on second language acquisition, this course emphasizes the theoretical issues of the acquisition of phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics, and pragmatics in a third language. Also emphasized are the differences and similarities in learning a second dialect, which may be more difficult than second language acquisition for learners.
Prerequisite: LING-401 with a minimum grade of C and LING-422 with a minimum grade of C and LING-437 with a minimum grade of C.
LING-462. Lexical Acquisition. 3 Hours.
This course examines how language learners acquire/learn vocabulary. Going beyond the traditional research on second language acquisition, this course focuses solely on the theoretical issues of lexical acquisition. Though the primary emphasis is on the acquisition of vocabulary in a second or third language, first language vocabulary acquisition will also be discussed.
Prerequisite: LING-401 with a minimum grade of C and (LING-427 with a minimum grade of C or LING-435 with a minimum grade of C).
LING-471. World Englishes. 3 Hours.
Examination of issues involved in the development and maintenance of varieties of English throughout the world, now commonly referred to as World Englishes. Specifically, this course emphasizes the historical, political, and ideological issues of post-colonialism, globalization, nativization, standardization, hegemony, canon, and pedagogy of native and non-native varieties of English.
Prerequisite: LING-401 with a minimum grade of C and LING-446 with a minimum grade of C.
LING-472. American English - History And Growth. 3 Hours.
Phonology, morphology, syntax, lexicon of English in the United States as well as its cultural history with reference to the mother country and the New World, both in colonial and post-revolutionary times.
Prerequisite: LING-401 with a minimum grade of C.
LING-473. The English Language - History And Development. 3 Hours.
Survey of English phonology, morphology, syntax, lexicon and cultural history through Old English, Middle English, early Modern English and recent Modern English, using literary documents for the older periods, and literary as well as spoken records for the most recent times.
Prerequisite: LING-401 with a minimum grade of C.
LING-475. Historical & Comparative Linguistics. 3 Hours.
This course introduces students to the systematic comparison of languages to understand how languages change through time, and how they are thought to be related to one another and to their common ancestors. Students bring together the standard aspects of linguistics – the lexicon, morphology, phonology, syntax, and semantics – and see how these components of grammar changes over time. The course covers the history of the comparative method from the birth of modern linguistics and integrates modern theories about dialectology and sociolinguistics, and how language variation is related to language change. By consent of instructor.
Prerequisite: LING-401 with a minimum grade of C and LING-405 with a minimum grade of C and (LING-422 with a minimum grade of C or LING-427 with a minimum grade of C or LING-437 with a minimum grade of C).
LING-480. Corpus Linguistics. 3 Hours.
This course aims to introduce students to theories and methods of corpus-based linguistic research. We will work with available tools and machine-readable corpora (large collections of texts) as a basis for linguistic description and language learning. Topics covered include language description and comparison, language change and current trends, genre and discourse analysis, first and second language acquisition, corpora in classroom instruction, etc. Students will learn how to analyze, visualize, and present data extracted from a corpus, as well as formulate and test hypotheses against evidence provided by a corpus. A basic understanding of language and grammatical categories is required.
LING-481. Language & Tourism. 3 Hours.
Advanced work and individual projects in language and tourism, a growing area of applied linguistics. Topics will include the sociolinguistics of tourism, social/identity construction of not only tourists but also of touristic locations, language use in tousim, discursive, visual semiotic, and ethnomethodological analyses of tourism materials.
Prerequisite: LING-446 with a minimum grade of C and LING-401 with a minimum grade of C.
LING-482. Stylistics. 3 Hours.
Adopting theory and techniques of linguistic and discourse analysis, this course in stylistics focuses on the linguistic analysis of literary texts. Both in terms of their structure and their communicative functions, literary texts participate in the construction and presentation of nations, regional and social communities, and individuals. The language of literature -- including word choice, sentence structure, and paralinguistic cues -- functions to position characters and places by forging their identities. At the same, literary texts can be understood, in a social constructionist framework, to construct the identities of those who partake in their consumption. By consent of instructor.
Prerequisite: LING-401 with a minimum grade of C and LING-448 with a minimum grade of C.
LING-483. Field Methods In Linguistics. 3 Hours.
This course will introduce students to the goals and methods of linguistics research, including both qualitative and quantitative methodologies. Topics include the scientific method, data collection and transcription, corpus research, psycholinguistic research, field methods, argumentation, structuring of abstracts and research papers, APA vs. MLA style, conferences, ethical issues, professionalization, and interpretation of research articles.
LING-484. Language Endangerment And Documentation. 3 Hours.
This course focuses on language endangerment and documentation. It will look at issues of language shift and discuss how languages become endangered and lost. It will also discuss how languages are best documented and discuss how the field's Best Practices Guide has evolved.
Prerequisite: LING-401 with a minimum grade of C and LING-405 with a minimum grade of C and LING-422 with a minimum grade of C and LING-437 with a minimum grade of C.
LING-488. Languages & Cultures Of Iran. 3 Hours.
The language and culture of modern Iran are explored through academic readings, essays, autobiographies, and films as we delve into the question, Who are the Iranians? The languages and identities of this multilingual nation are explored through language variation, gender, age, class, and other social variables. Special attention is given to social and linguistic contact phenomena as we trace the history and evolution of the languages spoken in Iran and the communities who speak them. The structure and use of modern Farsi, along with its historical and social development will also be investigated.
Prerequisite: LING-401 with a minimum grade of C and LING-405 with a minimum grade of C and LING-437 with a minimum grade of C and LING-446 with a minimum grade of C.
LING-489. Linguistics In The Professions. 3 Hours.
Linguistics, defined as the scientific study of language, has both formal aims in describing the structural components of language and functional aims in applying understanding of these formal systems to addressing matters pertinent to interactional discourse, the presentation of self, and the co-construction of social and personal identity. Linguistics offers its graduates many varied opportunities for careers across numerous disciplines. This course offers students new to the field an introduction to many of those disciplines; as they continue their studies in our program, they can do so with the necessary schema for how they can apply what they learn.
LING-491E. Translation And Linguistic Analysis: Aleut. 3 Hours.
This course focuses on the translation of texts for a linguistic analysis of various aspects of the structure of the language in question. Students learn how to do a linguistic analysis of the target language focusing on some aspect of linguistics. The end project is a 15-20 page paper that can be presented at a professional conference. Students can focus on any area of the field of linguistics (these areas can include phonology, morphology, syntax, or discourse analysis).
Prerequisite: LING-401 with a minimum grade of C and LING-405 with a minimum grade of C and LING-422 with a minimum grade of C and LING-437 with a minimum grade of C.
LING-491F. Translation: Mandan. 3 Hours.
This course is an exercise in linguistic analysis. The Mandan language is an extremely endangered language comprising its own branch of Siouan. Employing a critical linguistic analysis of the existent texts, students will analyze some aspect of Mandan grammar. Topics can include any aspect of phonology, morphology, syntax, or discourse structure.
Prerequisite: LING-401 with a minimum grade of C and LING-405 with a minimum grade of C and LING-422 with a minimum grade of C and LING-437 with a minimum grade of C.
LING-491N. Translation: Biloxi. 3 Hours.
This course is an exercise in linguistic analysis. The Biloxi language is an extinct member of the Ohio Valley branch of Siouan. Employing a critical linguistic analysis of the existent texts, students will analyze some aspect of Biloxi grammar. Topics can include any aspect of phonology, morphology, syntax, or discourse structure.
Prerequisite: LING-401 with a minimum grade of C and LING-405 with a minimum grade of C and LING-422 with a minimum grade of C and LING-437 with a minimum grade of C.
LING-5901. Thesis Hours. 1 Hour.
Guidance of students conducting research and writing a thesis to fulfill the requirements for the Master of Arts degree in Linguistics. This course requires approval of the instructor, Department Chair and the appropriate College Dean(s). Students will have completed the required courses with a B average or higher, and have obtained the approval of their graduate advisor before registering for the thesis hours.
LING-5902. Thesis Hours. 2 Hours.
See course description for LING-5901.
LING-5903. Thesis Hours. 3 Hours.
See course description for LING-5901.