LIGN8 Syllabus W20-jdm-01 17 20 PDF

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LIGN8 – McIntosh

Winter 2020 - Section ID #990469

LIGN8: Languages and Cultures of America Instructor: Justin D. McIntosh, Ph.D. ([email protected]) Class time & location: TTH 09:30 am – 10:50 am – CENTR 119 Student hours: Location - AP&M 3202 - Monday and Thursday, 11 am – 12 pm or by appointment No textbook required, course material accessible via CANVAS (https://canvas.ucsd.edu/). Teaching assistants: Name Andrés Aguilar Shai Nielson

Email [email protected] [email protected]

Student Hours & office location AP&M 4432 – Tuesday, 11am - 12pm AP&M 3351D – Wednesday, 9am -10am

How to communicate with us: • All public inquiries regarding the course should be posted on the discussion board on CANVAS. Examples of public inquiries: questions about assignments or other course material. • All#private#inquiries#regarding#the#course#should#be#addressed#by#e-mail#to#Andrés#at#[email protected].# Examples of private inquiries: questions about your grade or other personal issues. ! Please put “Lign8” and a description of the message’s contents in the subject line of all email. ! All communications must be courteous and respectful if you expect a response. Course overview This course presents a history and an overview of languages spoken in the United States and explores the social and political issues that surround these languages and their users. As we are all users of at least one “American” language, our personal linguistic and cultural background(s) and language ideologies are fundamental to this course. The themes we will discuss revolve around us, our co-existence as language users, and how our beliefs shape language practices. The content and the perspectives of this course require an ongoing dialogue that should allow us to reflect critically and analytically about our existence as language users, social beings, and how these themes shape our linguistic practices. Participation in class is crucial, and attendance is required. The course is organized around a four-way categorization of languages: (i) indigenous (Native American) languages, (ii) colonial languages (those that arrived from Europe during the formation of the United States), (iii) immigrant languages (those that came later), and (iv) new languages (e.g., American Sign Language) which developed here. We will address what makes an individual “American” language distinct in terms of its history and social status, and also what it has in common beyond the classification of being “American”. We will also study the politics of language in the United States through the history of language policy and issues such as indigenous language reclamation, the Ebonics controversy, bilingual education, and whether English should have an official status. Course goals ! Understand and appreciate the intrinsic value of diversity in language varieties spoken in the US and beyond. ! Use linguistics as a tool to engage in informed, critical discussion about language, culture and society. ! Address stereotypes about languages, and learn how values about languages shape language attitudes, language practices and our own linguistic identities. ! Discuss how sociopolitical issues often masquerade as language/linguistic issues. Disclaimer: Discussions of language stigma, political correctness, and language policy may cover controversial material; such topics may make you (and the instructor) uncomfortable. That discomfort is known as cognitive dissonance and we experience it because our assumptions and beliefs about what we thought we knew are being challenged.

LIGN8 – McIntosh

Winter 2020 - Section ID #990469

Course requirements A) Participation/engagement, class attendance ! You are required to attend class. Lecture slides will be made available via CANVAS. Slides will only be available after class — please don’t ask for them in advance. ! Rules&for&engagement&for&in&class&discussions& - When#you#speak#please#address#your#peers#–#the#Class## - Please#raise#up#your#voice#so#that#you#can#be#heard#by#everybody!!!# B) Readings ! Readings are available on CANVAS, under ‘Readings’. ! Do the assigned reading prior to attending the lecture for which the reading was assigned. Lectures will generally build on the material in the readings, not recapitulate it, and will go beyond that material in certain respects. ! Readings will be covered in exams and assignments, unless otherwise noted. ! Though you will be required to learn details and facts for your assignments and exams, you are to read critically for the arguments, main points, and reasoning. That doesn’t mean that you skim, but that you should learn to read without getting bogged down trying to remember all of the details. C) CANVAS homework assignments (worth 25% of course grade) ! ! !

One due every two or three weeks (first assignment is an anonymous survey due Week 2 – Monday 01/13 Generally multiple-choice and true/false questions covering any course material. Due on Mondays at 11:59 pm. Check the schedule for the specific date for each assignment.

D) Two midterm exams (each worth 20% of course grade) ! ! !

Midterm 1: Th. 02/06 9:30 – 10:50am, CENTR 119 Midterm 2: TBA, CENTR 119 [finals’ week] Questions may cover ANY of the course material.

E) Field research project report (worth 25% of course grade) ! ! ! !

Project details to be discussed on Week 2. Three stages: (1) submission of field research project proposal, (2) field report outline, (3) final report. Due dates: (1) Friday 01/24 by 11:59pm; (2) Friday 02/21 by 11:59 pm; (3) Friday 03/13 by 11:59. (1) and (2) to be submitted via CANVAS; (3) to be submitted via TurnItIn.com on CANVAS.

F) Linguistic autobiography (worth 5% of course grade) !

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Summary of Assignment: You are being asked to write your own autobiography from a language perspective – looking at issues of languages learned or used by you or your ancestors, your language (learning/use) goals, and your current beliefs about issues of language policy (e.g., should English be the official language of the U.S.?), etc. A document with more details and instructions is available in CANVAS (main ‘Content’ folder) Length Guidelines: ~ 500-600 words Due date: Friday 01/31 by 11:59 pm To be submitted through TurnItIn link on CANVAS

F) Linguistics experiment participation (worth 5% of course grade) ! You may earn credit for this class by participating in an experiment. One credit is equal to up to 1 hour of experiment participation; you may earn up to 2 credits, amounting to 5% of your final grade (2.5% each). ! For participation details, visit the UCSD SONA website at http://ucsd.sona-systems.com/, and be sure to read the text on the main page. Please note that in order to guarantee your credit, you must (a) enter your full name as it appears on the class roster, and (b) make sure to visit the UCSD SONA website again, after you have participated in an experiment, to assign your participation credit to the right course. For detailed instructions, see: http://psychology.ucsd.edu/undergraduate-program/undergraduate-resources/Sona-folder/Index.html 2

LIGN8 – McIntosh

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Winter 2020 - Section ID #990469

You need to fulfill this requirement and assign credits to the class by 4pm on Wednesday March 11th. Do not wait until the last week to participate, there may not be experiments available! GET ON IT! We prefer that you sign up for a language-related experiment, but this may not be possible or desirable for some reason or another. Participation in any experiment will thus count. If you are opposed to experiment participation, please contact Andrés at ([email protected]) for an alternative.

Grading summary Linguistics Experiment Participation ….….. 5% Linguistic Autobiography essay ......….….... 5% 5 CANVAS homework assignments…...........25% 2 Midterm exams …………………..…...... 40% Field research project report .…… ……..... 25% Total (course grade) ……………….….. 100%

Percentage-to-letter grade system 100% – 97%

A+...