Courses

Nontechnical exploration of the ways that language is used in America. Emphasizes language as a social institution and how values and goals of both public institutions and private groups shape and are shaped by language and its use. Meets MAPS requirement for social science: general. Approved for arts and sciences core curriculum: United States context or contemporary societies.

Explores the issue of human diversity by examining how languages vary around the world. Outlines historical, geographic, and typological classifications of languages across human societies, and the criteria used by linguists for grouping them into language families. Theorizes the relationship between linguistic and cognitive diversity, and considers the impact of language death on humanity. No formal training in linguistics is required. Approved for arts and sciences core curriculum: human diversity.

Provides instruction and practice to improve classroom oral communication skills necessary for effective participation in the U.S. academic setting, either as an international TA or RA, graduate or undergraduate student. Evaluates individual problem areas and includes digital audio and video recording with extensive feedback from the native-speaker instructor. Improves oral competence and listening comprehension in English for international students. Recommended prereq., ESLG 1130.

Continued practice in academic writing, including incorporating the ideas of others and citing sources appropriately. Extensive instructor feedback provided. Preparation, writing, and revising of a full-length academic term/research paper or work on chapters for a master's thesis or doctoral dissertation. Does not fulfill humanities or major requirements. Prereq., ESLG 1210 or instructor consent.

Presents fundamentals of grammar in the Western tradition. Emphasizes making concepts and uses of grammar (as exemplified in English and closely related foreign languages) understandable to the nonspecialist.

Introduces the study of languages as structural systems. Principles of sound patterns, word formation, meaning, and sentence structure. Gives attention to language acquisition, psycholinguistics, language families, dialects, historical change in languages, and different language types. Meets MAPS requirement for social science: general.

Introduces cognitive science, drawing from psychology, philosophy, artificial intelligence, neuroscience, and linguistics. Studies the linguistic relativity hypothesis, consciousness, categorization, linguistic rules, the mind-body problem, nature versus nurture, conceptual structure and metaphor, logic/problem solving and judgment. Emphasizes the nature, implications, and limitations of the computational model of mind. Prereqs., two of the following: PSYC 2145, LING 2000, CSCI 1300, and PHIL 2440. Same as PSYC 3005, PHIL 3310, and CSCI 3702.

A sampling of the many languages and cultures found in America before Columbus. Emphasizes those living in what eventually became the United States, but also gives attention to the languages and higher civilizations of Latin America. Prereq., junior standing. Approved for arts and sciences core curriculum: human diversity.

Examines the economic and sociopolitical impact of choosing English vs. other languages in the U.S. Introduces the study of language policies, rights, and planning in other countries, including the worldwide use of English in social, business, and legal contexts.

Provides extended critical examination of a few selected issues, chosen each term for their general interest and relevance, e.g., the relation between language and thought, or human language vs. animal languages, and computer languages. May be repeated up to 6 total credit hours, provided topics vary. Prereqs., LING 2000 or equivalent. Prerequisites: Restricted to students with 57-180 credits (Juniors or Seniors).

Introduces principles of word formation and sentence structure. Covers major morphological and syntactic structures found in the world's languages, and methods for describing grammatical structures, and includes practice in analyzing data from a variety of languages. Prereq., LING 2000 or equivalent. Same as LING 5420.

Emphasizes acquisition of language by young children; development in later years and into adulthood is also treated. Particular attention given to roles of environment and of neurophysiological endowment in learning to communicate with words, sentences, and narratives. Prereqs., LING 2000 and PSYC 1001. Same as SLHS 4560 and PSYC 4560. Prerequisites: Restricted to Linguistics (LING) majors only.

Principles of language structure and how language and culture interrelate; how language and language use are affected by culture; and how culture may be affected by use of, or contact with, particular languages. Prereq., junior standing. Recommended prereqs., LING 1000 or LING 2400 or ANTH 2100. Same as ANTH 4800.