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Courses
UNDERGRADUATE
COURSE DESCRIPTIONS
LNGN
210 Introduction to General Linguistics
The
nature and structure of language; the basic techniques for analyzing
linguistic structures; phonological, morphological, syntactic, and
semantic structure of languages; language and dialects; language
change; the comparative method in linguistics; human and animal
communication; differences between first and second language learning.
Required
of majors.
Meets the
General Education Requirement - Social Science, Survey course.
LNGN
220 Structure of American English
The
phonology, morphology, and syntax of American English; geographical and
social dialects; traditional, structural and transformational
approaches to grammar.
Required
of majors.
Meets the
General Educational Requirement - Foreign Language.
LNGN
230 Language in Society
Correlations
between language varieties, their functions in particular settings, and
the characteristics of their speakers. Black English. The role of
second languages within a society: Pidgin, Creole, Lingua Franca, Diglossia, etc.
Required
of majors.
Meets the
General Education Requirement - Social Science, Topic Course.
LNGN
240 Languages of the World
This
course provides a survey of the languages of the world from the dual
perspectives of their genealogical classification and their typological
(or structural) characteristics. It is intended for both majors and
non-majors, and presupposes no previous linguistic training.
To
download a PDF version of the Japanese Language Program brochure, click
here for page 1, click
here for page 2.
LNGN
245 Language and Culture
Language
in its cultural context. Relationship of linguistic to non-linguistic
variables: ethnosemantics, linguistic
relativity principle, componential analysis, glottochronology.
Required
of majors.
Meets the
General Education Requirements - Social Science, Topic Course.
LNGN
284 History of the English Language
The
course considers the evolution of English from its origins in
Indo-European. While the course is grounded in the linguistic changes
in pronunciation, word formation, syntax, and meaning that led to the
current language, there is a strong concentration on the historical
influences that encouraged change and on the role the language played
in the development of modern democracy.
LNGN
300 Syntax
The
study of sentence structure and the theories designed to describe it.
Emphasis on structural grammar, the development of Generative Grammar
and contemporary theoretical methods for describing sentence structure.
Data will be taken from a number of different languages.
PREREQUISITES:
LNGN 210 and instructor's permission.
LNGN
301 Semantics
The systematic and objective study of meaning in language. Topics
include referential meaning, semantic fields, componential analysis,
synonymy, polysemy, hyponymy, and
sequential meaning. Data will be taken from a number of different
languages.
PREREQUISITES:
LNGN 300 and instructor's permission.
LNGN
302 Pragmatics
The study of pragmatics, an area of linguistics that examines language
as situated speech and studies how context affects the interpretation
of meaning.
PREREQUISITE:
LNGN 300.
LNGN
310 Morphology
This course provides students with a detailed knowledge of the
principles and methods of morphology, the study of the structure of
words. The students will gain broad experience with the techniques of
analyzing morphological data; with the kinds of morphological systems
that are found in the languages of the world; and with the theoretical
significance of the study of morphology.
PREREQUISITE:
LNGN 210
LNGN
325 Principles of Second Language Acquisition
Theories of second language acquisition; error analysis; individual
learner differences; the role of input, interaction, and formal
instruction in language acquisition.
LNGN
330 Phonetics
This course provides a comprehensive introduction to phonetics, the
study of the production of speech sounds and their acoustic
characteristics. Students will learn to identify, classify, and
transcribe sounds from a variety of languages. They will also learn how
computerized instruments permit the detailed analysis of speech sounds,
as well as the production of artificial speech.
LNGN
331 Phonology
Phonology studies how languages make use of speech sounds in a
systematic way to produce meaningful units like words and sentences.
The two main objectives of this course will be (1) to give students
experience in analyzing phonological data from a wide variety of
languages, and (2) to survey current theories of phonology.
PREREQUISITE:
LNGN 330
LNGN
370 Comparative and Historical Linguistics
Similarities and differences among languages and language families at
one point of time and as these develop in time; reconstructing the
common ancestor of related languages and determining general laws of
linguistic change.
LNGN
410 Linguistics and Philosophy
LNGN
420 Language and the Mind
An
introduction to the major theoretical and methodological principles of
Noam Chomsky's theory of Universal Grammar and what they tell us about
the structure of the human mind.
PREREQUISITE:
LNGN 210
LNGN
430 Field Methods
Collecting linguistic data from an informant; human factors in field
work; qualifications of the informant; elicitation techniques.
LNGN
445 Natural Language Processing
Provides students with an introduction to the applications of computer
technology to linguistics. Topics include language generation,
syntactic parsing, and the analysis and synthesis of speech. Students
learn to write simple programs in PROLOG or another programming
language.
LNGN
450 & 451 Selected Topics in Linguistics
Study of special topics in linguistics. Topics announced each semester.
PREREQUISITES:
LNGN 210 or equivalent and instructor's permission.
LNGN
460 Topics in the Structure of a Selected Language
This variable-content course is designed to permit students to pursue
in considerable depth topics in the structure of a foreign language
which are related to material in other courses. The selection of a
topic and a language (or, perhaps, a group of related languages) will
depend on the interests of the students and the instructor, and on the
availability of relevant material. In general, the topics chosen will
be of general relevance to linguistics, and might relate to
phonological, morphological, syntactic, and/or semantic issues.
PREREQUISITES:
LNGN 210 and Permission of the Instructor
LNGN
478 & 479 Independent Study in Linguistics
These courses are designed (1) to allow students to explore areas of
linguistics that are not covered in the normal course offerings of the
department; (2) to permit an in-depth analysis of a given subject
beyond the scope of a regular semester course; or (3) to provide
advanced students with the possibility of research in areas of
linguistics that are of special interest to them.
PREREQUISITES:
LNGN 210 and instructor's permission.
PSYC
250 Psycholinguistics
Explores the study of language through linguistic, behavioral, and
cognitive methods. Basic linguistic ideas are used for the explication
of problems in grammar, cognitive, structure, meaning, and speech
production and comprehension.
PREREQUISITE:
PSYC 301 or instructor's permission.
PSYC
290/CMPT 290 Introduction to Cognitive Science
An introduction to the multidisciplinary field of cognitive science.
Topics include: the mind-body problem, thought as computation and the
computer model of the mind, the role of representation in mental
activity. Emphasis will be upon the methodological approaches found in
artificial intelligence, cognitive psychology, cognitive anthropology,
cognitive neurosciences, linguistics, and philosophy.
PREREQUISITE:
ANTH 100 or PSYC 101 or CMPT 183 or LNGN 210 or PHIL 100.
Linguistics
Minor
The
Lingistics Minor requires 18 credits
of course work: LNGN 210 Introduction to General Linguistics and any
other five courses that would count toward the Linguistics Major.
Note: LNGN 250 Language of
Propaganda and LNGN 290 Language of the Law do NOT count toward the
Linguistics Minor.
GRADUATE COURSE DESCRIPTIONS
APLN
500 Language and Linguistics
An
overview of the study of language and linguistics intended to provide
students with a clear understanding of human language and with the
conceptual foundations of linguistics. The course will expose students
to several major areas within linguistics: language acquisition,
phonetics, phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics and pragmatics. As
the course is a prerequisite for all other courses in the program, it
will introduce the major tenets and principles of courses in the
department.
APLN
502 Sociolinguistics
The study of language in its social context with a focus on language
variation. Topics include language and social class, language and
ethnicity, language and gender, and the study of standard vs.
non-standard varieties of language.
PREREQUISITE:
APLN 500
APLN
504 Syntax
An investigation of the principles and techniques of syntactic analysis
as well as current syntactic theory. Data from a wide variety of
languages will be discussed in the context of the study of universal
grammar and linguistic typology.
PREREQUISITE:
APLN 500
APLN
505 Semantics and Pragmatics
An exploration of the main tenets of contemporary semantics and
pragmatics, the areas of linguistics that examine various aspects of
meaning. The course investigates the boundaries between semantics and
pragmatics by studying utterance meaning as well as lexical and
sentence meaning. Students will learn about the applications of
semantics and pragmatics to a variety of areas of applied linguistics.
PREREQUISITE:
APLN 500.
APLN
506 Phonetics and Phonology
An overview and review of phonetics and an introduction to contemporary
phonological theory. The course will study "classical" generative
phonology and the evolution of nonlinear approaches to phonology,
including metrical and autosegmental
phonology and optimality theory.
PREREQUISITE:
APLN 500
APLN
508 Research Design in Applied Linguistics
A course to train students in research design, methodology, and data
collection procedures. Students learn skills which prepare them for
administrative and research positions in fields such as language
planning, ESL curriculum evaluation, and language learning measurement.
PREREQUISITE:
APLN 500
APLN
510 Discourse Analysis
An investigation of the techniques used in discourse analysis, the
branch of linguistics which studies how to analyze naturally occurring
connected speech. Discourse analysis is the study of the organization
of language above the sentence level, including the structure of
conversations. It considers language in a social context, in particular
the language used in verbal interactions.
PREREQUISITE:
APLN 500
APLN
512 Cross-cultural Discourse Analysis
A discourse analytic examination and comparison of the verbal practices
and communicative strategies of different linguistic, social, and
cultural groups. Students will broaden their understanding of discourse
analysis by investigating verbal interactions that take place in
different languages and within a variety of cultural contexts.
Prerequisites:
APLN 500 and APLN 510
APLN
518 Forensic Linguistics
The study of the role of the linguist in the field of law. The course
analyzes the difference between "truth" as defined by science and by
the law. It describes how linguists can serve as "expert witnesses" in
civil cases and in a wide range of criminal investigations. It also
explores how dialect study, discourse analysis, lexical analysis,
phonetics, pragmatics, etc. can provide linguistic evidence crucial to
litigation.
PREREQUISITE:
APLN 500
APLN
520 Current Theories of Second Language Acquisition
An in-depth study of current research on second language learning; its
similarities to and differences from first language learning; the role
of the classroom versus the cultural context for learning;
student-centered versus content-centered learning, etc. The course also
explores the application of linguistics, psycholinguistics, and
sociolinguistics to the teaching and learning of languages.
PREREQUISITE:
APLN 500
APLN
522 Sociocultural Theory and Second
Language Acquisition
A study of the nature of the social interaction and the type of meaning
negotiation that takes place between language learners from one culture
and more expert speakers of a target language from another culture. The
course will focus on the social and cultural aspects of diverse
language communities and how these affect second language acquisition
for particular groups of speakers.
PREREQUISITE:
APLN 500
APLN
524 Advanced Structure of American English
A detailed analysis of the phonological, morphological and grammatical
structures of American English as well as a study of the major social
and stylistic varieties of American English. Various theories of
English grammar are compared.
PREREQUISITE:
APLN 500
APLN
525 Methodology of Teaching ESL
The study of current issues in the teaching of English as a second
language. Issues may include, but are not limited to, innovative
teaching methodologies, the application of language learning theories
to classroom teaching, and the adaptation and development of
instructional materials.
PREREQUISITE:
APLN 500
APLN
526 Computer-assisted Language Instruction
Designed for prospective and experienced foreign language and ESL
teachers who are interested in exploring the following areas: the use
of network-based computer instruction; authentic interactive language
instruction via the World Wide Web; and use and evaluationn
of currently available software and CD Roms
for teaching second and foreign languages. This course is intended to
introduce studeents to the use of
computer-mediated language instruction and to the evaluation and
selection of software for language learning.
PREREQUISITE:
APLN 500
APLN
528 Language Testing and Assessment
An in-depth analysis of basic concepts of language testing such as
reliability, validity, correlations, etc. The course will explore a
variety of examination of techniques, including testing individual
skills (i.e. listening and reading comprehension, oral writing
proficiency), cultural awareness, language
dominance in bilinguals, etc.
PREREQUISITE:
APLN 500
APLN
530 Language Policy and Language Planning
The study of the problems facing multilingual societies. The course
explores the function of standard languages and the competition which
often exists among different populations and languages. Topics include
the role of language in ethnic loyalty, the dynamics of language loss
and maintenance, and the linguistic, economic, sociological, political,
and educational aspects of language planning.
PREREQUISITE:
APLN 500
APLN
532 Language and Culture
A study of the intimate connection between language, culture and
ethnicity. The course investigates the differences among communicative
styles of various cultures and sub-cultures, the communication
strategies of bilingual children, models available for teaching
children of different linguistic and cultural backgrounds, and the
interrelation between language and socioeconomic class.
PREREQUISITE:
APLN 500
APLN
534 Languages in Contact
A study of the effects of bilingualism and multilingualism on society
and on the languages involved. By examining a variety of examples,
students become familiar with the possible outcomes of language contact
and with the factors that play a role in language-policy decisions in
multilingual societies. Pidgins and creoles are also studied.
PREREQUISITE:
APLN 500
APLN
535 Language Policy in Nations in Transition
This course explores the language policy issues that arise in nations
in transition, the ways in which such countries have dealt with or are
dealing with these issues, and the outcomes of their actions. The
general approach will be to examine a vairety
of contemporary and historical case studies, i.e. cases of language
policy formation in countries around the world.
PREREQUISITE:
APLN 500
APLN
536 Languages of the U.S.A.
A survey of the indigenous, colonial, and
immigrant languages of the U.S.A. and how they are
used in education and general communication. Also studied are factors
affecting the maintenance or loss of languages and the shift from
native languages to English with a discussion of the mutual effects of
language contact.
PREREQUISITE:
APLN 500
APLN
538 Cross-cultural Perspectives on Language Socialization
A cross-cultural analysis of how children are socialized to use
language and how children are socialized through the use of language.
Investigates how children learn about their culture through learning
their language. Connects the phenomenon of language acquisition to the
belief-systems and family structure within a society.
PREREQUISITE:
APLN 500
APLN
540 Literacy
An exploration of the nature of written language and its role in
cognition and in social and intellectual life. The linguistics,
psychological, and functional differences between speaking, writing,
and reading are studied. Literate and non-literate societies are
examined.
PREREQUISITE:
APLN 500
APLN
542 Cross-cultural Perspectives on Literacy
An overview of how reading and writing are acquired among various
societies throughout the world and what educational implications this
knowledge has in applied contexts, such as in the teaching of English
as a Second Language.
PREREQUISITE:
APLN 500.
APLN
544 Linguistics and Reading
A study of the linguistic principles involved in learning to read. In
particular, an exploration of what insights into the reading process
are provided by the linguist=s description of what speakers know about
their language. Special attention is given to how speakers of one
dialect learn to read in another dialect of that same language and what
contribution linguistics makes to teaching reading to children who are
second language learners.
PREREQUISITE:
APLN 500
APLN
550 Computational Linguistics
A survey of the field of existing computer systems for analyzing
natural language. The following areas are covered: parsing, semantic
analysis and discourse analysis. Students will be required to analyze
human language using a specific programming language such as PROLOG,
LISP, OR PASCAL.
PREREQUISITE:
APLN 500
APLN
552 Current Issues in Natural Language Processing
An investigation of the two methodologies that dominate speech and
natural language processing: rule-based and probabilistic system
design. The two methodologies will be applied to syntactic and
morphological analysis, speech synthesis and recognition, and text
classification and information retrieval.
PREREQUISITE:
APLN 500
APLN
560 Translation Theory
An exploration of the principles involved in providing semantic
"equivalents" between two languages, emphasizing the problems of
translating a variety of different types of texts. Particular attention
is given to texts which involve major cross-cultural differences.
PREREQUISITE:
APLN 500
APLN
565 Lexicography
The study of the principles of compiling dictionaries. Topics include:
the collection and evaluation of citations, semantic fields, defining,
recording pronunciations, and determining usage. Attention will be paid
to the differences among different types of dictionaries, scholarly
dictionaries, bilingual dictionaries, etc. Sample dictionaries are
examined and students carry out their own lexicographic project.
PREREQUISITE:
APLN 500
APLN
570 The Structure of American Sign Language
The study of American Sign Language or ASL, the manual language of many
deaf Americans. This course approaches ASL from a linguistic
perspective, examining its semantics, grammar and "phonology," and
comparing ASL with English and other spoken languages. ASL is also
compared to other manual languages used in America,
including Signed English and "Total Communication." The educational
implications of ASL and other manual languages are discussed.
PREREQUISITE:
APLN 500
APLN
590 Selected Topics in Applied Linguistics
An intensive study in a particular area of applied linguistics to
address topics not covered in other courses. Topics reflect current
issues in applied linguistics.
PREREQUISITE:
APLN 500
APLN
594 Independent Study in Applied Linguistics
This course allows students to explore areas of Applied Linguistics
that are not covered in normal course offerings. May be repeatred for a maximum of six credits.
PREREQUISITE:
APLN 500 and permission of instructor.
APLN
596 Independent Study in Applied Linguistics
This course allows students to explore areas of Applied Linguistics
that are not covered in normal course offerings. May be repeated for a
maximum of six credits.
PREREQUISITE:
APLN 500 and permission of instructor.
APLN
605 Independent Research
Independent research on an approved topic in Applied Linguistics. For
this requirement, students investigate an original topic, prepare a
formal written paper of at least thirty pages, and make an oral
presentation at a Linguistics Department colloquium. The paper must be
read and approved by three faculty members. A grade of INC will be used
until research is completed. May be repeated three times.
PREREQUISITES:
all other required courses for the MA in Applied Linguistics.
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