ENG308: Introduction to Linguistics (section 1, class number 76040, 3 credit hours, meeting time MW 2:30-3:45, classroom K-G9)

Description: Language is an essential part of who we are as human beings. It has been described as a biological imperative, as a communicative tool, and as an art. We all have extensive and subtle language skills and, indeed, we all have opinions about what is good or bad language. Few of us, however, have carefully questioned the very nature of language. This course is a broad survey of the theoretical, the historical, the psychological, the biological, and the sociocultural issues related to human language in general and to English in particular. Objectives for this course include the following: for students to become aware of how important the study of human language is to understanding human cognition, behavior, and society; for students to understand both that knowing the structure or "grammar" of a language requires much more than just knowing a set of rules and that the study of language is more than just the study of grammar; for students to recognize some general types of variation in different human languages; for students to recognize syntax, semantics, phonetics, language acquisition, sociolinguistics, and other subfields of linguistics and to understand central concepts and issues in these subfields; for students to gain some perpective both on how much has been learned about language and on how many more questions there still are to be answered; for students to be able to apply general linguistic concepts and vocabulary to particular examples and to related fields of research; and for students to have gained a novice ability to read additional linguistic sources and to apply the information in these sources to language as they find it in the real world.

Required Materials: Fromkin, Victoria, Robert Rodman, and Nina Hyams (2013). An Introduction to Language, Tenth Edition. Some additional readings will be made available on Blackboard, and some short readings may be distributed.

Work, Grading, and Attendance:
"Ungraded" Assignments (10%), Critical Summaries (10%), Midterm (29%), Project/Paper (22%), Final Exam (29%).
All work, other than exams, must be completed BEFORE class time on the day it is due and must submitted on time and in-class except in cases where permission for early or late submission or for an alternative submission method is given in advance. (In rare, well-justified circumstances that make it impossible to contact me beforehand, I may consider requests after a due date.) Similarly, exams must be taken as scheduled unless permission is granted for an alternative. All graded work most be completed to pass the course. Graded work (except a group project, if arranged with me in advance) must be done independently.
Assignments described as "ungraded" require an acceptable effort on all parts of the assignment for credit, but assignments with incorrect answers can still get full credit. In fact, you may sometimes be asked to consider questions about new material to see what you can figure out by looking at this material yourself before we discuss it. If you wish, you are free to work on ungraded assignments in discussion with other students, but each student should still do all parts. On occasion, there may be an unscheduled assignment in class. You may skip or miss one "ungraded" assignment without affecting your overall grade for assignments at all. After that, each missed ungraded assignment will reduce your overall grade for these assignments proportionally.
Details about the critical summaries and the research project are partially chosen by each student. General guidelines and options for these requirements will be discussed during the semester, and students are encouraged to come see me individually with their own more specific questions.
Attendance at regular classes is strongly recommended but not absolutely required, except for exam dates and, if applicable, student presentation dates (missing the latter could affect your grade on related work). Note, however, that assignments may be due on days you miss.


Of course, all your work for this course is subject to the JMU Honor Code. If you have any questions about what constitutes plagiarism or about other aspects of the honor code,see me for clarification.

Other Course Policies:
Please read the full course policies page for additional details about grading, attendance, and other issues.

Daily Schedule: (Note that this is a tentative schedule of what will be discussed in each class period. Changes are possible. Check for revisions.) You should have readings done before the first class date on which they will be discussed.

“The job of the linguist, like that of the biologist or the botanist, is not to tell us how nature should behave, or what its creations should look like, but to describe those creations in all their messy glory and try to figure out what they can teach us about life, the world, and, especially in the case of linguistics, the workings of the human mind.” Arika Okrent

"Language is the most massive and inclusive art we know, a mountainous and anonymous work of unconscious generations." Edward Sapir

"The English language is the sea which receives tributaries from every region under heaven." Ralph Waldo Emerson

Look here for assignments:

• Due 8/28/13 (ungraded)
• Due 9/2/13 (ungraded)
• Due 9/4/13 (ungraded)
• Due 9/9/13 (ungraded)
• Due 9/11/13 (ungraded)
• Due 9/16/13 (ungraded)
• Due 9/18/13 (ungraded)
• Due 9/23/13 (ungraded)
• Due 9/25/13 (ungraded)
• optional practice with presuppositions and entailments - will not be collected with assignment above, but answers will be provided on 9/30.
• Due 10/2/13 (ungraded)
• Due 10/7/13 (ungraded)
• Due 10/16/13 (ungraded)
• Due 10/21/13 (ungraded)
• Due 10/28/13 (ungraded)
• Due 11/4/13 (ungraded)
• Due 11/18/13 (ungraded - counts as two assignments)

**LOOK HERE FOR AN EXTRA CREDIT OPTION FOR THE FINAL EXAM**

**LOOK HERE FOR SOME IDEAS FOR RESEARCH TOPIC IDEAS, AS WELL AS FOR THE FINAL PAPER AND PRESENTATION GUIDELINES**

** The second critical summary is due in class on Wednesday, 10/30.**

** The first critical summary is due in class on Wednesday, 10/2. If you need a copy of the guidelines handout, it is available on Blackboard.**

ENG308, FALL 2013, © JMU