Linguistics 101: Introduction to the Study of Language

Course information

Instructor information

Course Description

This course is an introduction to the scientific study of language. The bulk of this course will involve covering the core areas of linguistic theory—phonetics, phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics and pragmatics. The rest of the course will cover cross-cutting ways to study phenomena in these core areas, including the study of language in society (sociolinguistics), language change (historical linguistics), language and the mind & brain (psycholinguistics & neurolinguistics), language acquisition, computational linguistics, and practical applications of linguistics.

Intended Audience

Upper-division students and highly-motivated lower-division students interested in language. No previous exposure to linguistics is required.

Reading material

The textbook we're using is the Language Files. It is required that you purchase this textbook — it is available at the bookstore. There may occasionally be other readings assigned, as well. Please do the reading for each day before the lecture! You will not understand the material covered in lecture as well otherwise.

Clickers

For some lectures we will be using Interwrite's PRS RF clicker. There are plenty of these clickers available for purchase at the bookstore. Please be sure that you have one by the start of the second week of class.

WebCT

We will be using WebCT for administering homework assignments and various surveys, and as a discussion forum for all participants in the class. Most of you should be familiar with WebCT from another class; if you aren't, take a look at http://iwdc.ucsd.edu/docs/step1_webct_fa07.pdf.

Discussion boards

There will be discussion boards on the course WebCT site for the major topics covered in this class. If you have a question about course content that may be relevant to other students in the course, we strongly encourage you to post it to the WebCT discussion board for this class. We encourage you to read the discussion boards regularly, and if you know the answer to a question, to post the answer! Active, positive contributions to the discussion boards will be given favorable consideration in determining final grades.

Syllabus (subject to modification)

Instructor contact policy

Coming to talk to the instructor or TA during their office hours is highly encouraged. Electronic communications about course content should be made through the WebCT discussion board (see above). We ask that you use email contact only for communications that are not relevant to other students (e.g., specific learning circumstances or medical/personal emergency).

Academic Integrity

Please take some time to read the UCSD Policy on Integrity of Scholarship. We will be conducting this course in full accordance with this policy. In particular, any suspected cheating or plagiarism in the course will be taken very seriously and investigated. If we determine that cheating or plagiarism has taken place, it will be reported to UCSD's Office of the Academic Integrity Coordinator, in accordance with UCSD policy. Please note that it is not at our discretion whether or not to report instances of academic dishonesty: we are obligated by UCSD policy to report such instances.

Requirements & grading

Your grade will be based on five criteria:

1. Seven homework assignments to be assigned throughout the quarter. We will drop your lowest score and keep the remaining six. These six assignments will be worth 45% of your grade (i.e., 7.5% for each assignment).

2. A midterm on Friday 15 February (21% of your grade).

3. A final exam on Friday 21 March, 8am (30% of your grade).

4. One of the two following options (4% of your grade; no extra credit for doing both!):

a. Participation in three hours of the Human Subject Pool (http://experimetrix2.com/ucsd/): each hour of participation counts as 1% of your grade, plus a 1% bonus for participation in all three hours. You are encouraged to participate in language-related experiments, and to participate in these experiments early—the last day for participation is March 12, and there is no guarantee that there will be experiment slots open for participation in the latest part of the quarter.

b. Writing a research paper (1000-1500 words) on some topic covered in the class. The due date for such a paper is March 3, and no late papers will be accepted. If you choose this option, you must discuss it with Professor Levy or his teaching assistant, Rebecca Colavin, before writing the paper and turning it in.

5. The following will be taken into consideration favorably when assessing borderline grade cases:

a. Regular attendance in class, having done the assigned readings beforehand, and active participation in class discussions;

b. Active participation in the optional section meetings;

c. Active participation in WebCT discussion lists, including (thoughtfully!) answering questions posed by other students.

Homework grading policy

Homework assignments may be turned in up to six days late, but they will be downgraded 10% per day. We will be posting homework solutions one week from the due date of each assignment.

Exceptions to the late-homework policy will only be granted for medical or personal emergencies, and the instructor or his TA must be notified as soon as possible (not several days after the emergency is over).

At the end of the quarter, we will drop your lowest-scoring homework assignment; the 45% of your grade from homework will be derived from the rest of your homeworks.