Spring, 2003: MWF 9:00-9:50 in STV 347A

About the Course:

• Overview

• Course Objectives

• Exams/Assignments

• Textbooks

Important Links:

• Course Schedule

• linguist-l@listserv.ilstu.edu

Textbooks:
Oaks, D. (1998) Linguistics at Work: A Reader of Applications. Fort Worth: Harcourt Brace Publishers.

Pinker, S. (2000) Words and Rules: The Ingredients of Language. New York: HarperCollins, Publishers.

Course Overview
An educated adult cannot afford to take language for granted. Language plays such a central role in human affairs that the educated adult must be prepared to reflect critically and analytically on language in any context in which language may become a problem. "Unity and Diversity of Human Language" is designed specifically to help students develop a keen awareness of the role of language in human life.  Students in "Unity and Diversity of Human Language" will develop skills in observing their own linguistic behavior as well as that of others. In the process, students will begin to develop skills from the discipline of Linguistics needed to reflect critically and analytically on a range of linguistic behaviors.

"Unity and Diversity of Human Language" is an outer core course designed specifically to complement the language-related curriculum in the inner core and middle core. While those courses develop skills in language use in a particular range of contexts, "Unity and Diversity of Human Language" is designed to help undergraduate students develop skills in reflecting on language use in any context. In the outer core, the course fills a need in the discipline group of Social Sciences and in the course category of Knowing in the Disciplines.

Objectives
Students in "Unity and Diversity of Human Language" are expected to:

• develop skills in observing interesting and significant linguistic phenomena in English and at least one other language;

• develop an understanding of how language is related to cultural and social behavior, and to the cultural and social contexts in which it is used;

• develop an understanding of how language is related to thought;

• develop a basic understanding of the conceptual systems of human languages--systems of sounds, words, phrases, etc.--and the practical utility of these systems in the dynamic process of everyday human communication;

• develop a basic understanding of other dynamic aspects of human language, for example, language acquisition, language variation, and language change;

• develop an understanding of how scholars from a variety of disciplines, including anthropology, biology, communications, computer science, education, literature, philosophy, psychology, and rhetoric have a significant investment in understanding the nature of human language;

• develop a preliminary working familiarity with some of the fundamental tools of inquiry in the discipline of linguistics.

Exams and Assignments:
In this course, you will be responsible for homework assignments on readings, participation in class and e-mail discussions, the presentation of an article to the class, three response papers (3-5 pages), and a term project (8-10 pages). There will be two tests and several quizzes throughout the semester. The weighting of grades will be the following: