First-Year Courses in Linguistics (Division 423)

Fall Term, 1999 (September 8 - December 22, 1999)

Section 002 – Exploring Diversity in Language.

Instructor(s): Sarah Thomason (thomason@umich.edu)

First-Year Seminar,

Credits: (3).

Course Homepage: No Homepage Submitted.

This is a hands-on linguistics course: the students will learn about language by discovery, not primarily from instruction in books or lectures. One goal is to show that language isn’t necessarily what grammar teachers (of English or any other language) say it is: a sentence like ‘He ain’t got no money’, for instance, is not illogical. But the major aim of the course is to give a glimpse of the differences in language structure and language use that characterize all language communities. Diversity is rampant within a single language – almost everyone speaks more than one dialect, no two people have exactly the same vocabulary, and even the most hallowed grammatical rules don’t always work – as well as between two languages. Diversity can be found at all levels of linguistic structure, in word meanings, sentence structures, word structures, and the structures of sound systems. Students will learn about all of these through mini-experiments, analyses of language data, and class discussions of readings and results.

Section 003 – Deciphering Ancient Languages.

Instructor(s): William Baxter (wbaxter@umich.edu)

First-Year Seminar,

Credits: (3).

Course Homepage: http://www-personal.umich.edu/~wbaxter/Ling102/

The written remains of ancient cultures – if we can read them – can tell us a great deal about how the human world got the way it is. This course examines how linguistics can help in deciphering ancient languages. We will study a number of ancient scripts, including some already deciphered (Mesopotamian cuneiform, Egyptian hieroglyphics, the Linear B script of Mycenean Greece), some now being deciphered (Mayan hieroglyphs), and some which still await decipherment (e.g., Linear A of Crete, the Mohenjo-Daro script of ancient India). Assignments will include background readings, exercises with actual texts, short papers and reports to the class, a midterm, and a final exam.

Section 001.

Instructor(s): David Beck

Credits: (3).

Course Homepage: No Homepage Submitted.

Language, according to one prominent view, is what makes us human. Certainly it pervades virtually every aspect of human existence. But few people realize how rich the linguistic universe is until they consider the variety of linguistic devices and practices employed by speakers of the 5000-6000 known languages of the world. The goal of this course is to provide an understanding of, and appreciation for, the diversity of human languages – and in this way to enhance students’ sophistication about their own language(s) and culture(s). We will concentrate on two main questions: first, how do languages resemble, and differ from, each other in sounds, word structure, and sentence structure? And second, what are some linguistic and sociopolitical results of situations in which two or more languages come into contact? The context for these investigations will be a study of selected language families, both in class and in individual student projects.

Section 001.

Instructor(s): Paula Berwanger (pberwang@umich.edu)

Credits: (3).

Course Homepage: No Homepage Submitted.

This course introduces students to Deaf culture within the United States, and focuses on the link between culture and language (in this case, American Sign Language). An analysis of medical and cultural models of perceiving deafness is investigated to familiarize students with the range of perceptions held by members of the cultural majority and the effect it has on the Deaf community. The influencing factors of educational systems on deaf children are reviewed to understand the link between language systems used in the classroom and the development of a Deaf identity. The historical roots of American Sign Language and the value of language preservation provide for additional overview of attitudes in American society. Social adaptations to deafness and individual factors of communicative and linguistic development are analyzed for understanding the implications of family and social systems on deaf children and adults.

Instructor will use a coursepack. There will be weekly written assignments (1-2 paragraph reaction statements to readings from the coursepack); or weekly quizzes. There will be a written midterm and final.

Section 001.

Instructor(s): Paula Berwanger (pberwang@umich.edu)

Credits: (4).

Course Homepage: No Homepage Submitted.

A beginning course in American Sign Language (ASL) that introduces students to basic grammatical structures and sign vocabulary through intensive classroom conversational interactions. Emphasis is on practical communicative functions as students learn how to communicate in a visual-gestural channel. Classroom work is supplemented by video-taped workbook exercises to facilitate development of receptive language skills. Linguistics 140 (Introduction to Deaf Culture) is a pre- or co-requisite for this course. Class will meet two days, two hours per day. Three hours of lecture and one hour of conversation per week.

This class will be conducted exclusively in American Sign Language. Required course materials include a workbook and videotape. Handouts will also be provided. An optional Dictionary of ASL is suggested. Students will complete weekly assignments from the workbook. There will be both a midterm and final consisting of both written exams and videotaped Sign Language interactions. A 3-5 page term paper is also required (a report on a Deaf social event, on an interaction with Deaf persons, or on an approved article or subject).

Section 001.

Instructor(s): Thomas Toon (ttoon@umich.edu)

Credits: (4).

Course Homepage: No Homepage Submitted.

Nothing is more distinctly human than our ability to use language. Because of that, we expect that the study of language can provide insight into human nature. This course is an analytic introduction to the methods linguists use for describing languages (although general training in analytic thought is our ultimate goal). Drawing on examples from a large number of the world’s languages, we will look at the sounds of language, how they are produced and how they pattern into words; we will study the diverse ways in which individual languages approach processes of word and sentence formation, while we ask whether there are processes universal to all languages. By focusing simultaneously on language data and on the techniques used by linguists to make sense of these data, we will see that our understanding of the object of inquiry (language) is influenced by our methods of inquiry. Requirements include problem-solving assignments, quiz(zes), midterm and final exams; no prerequisite except an interest in language and thinking.

Section 001.

Instructor(s): Christina Tortora (ctortora@umich.edu)

Credits: (3).

Course Homepage: http://www-personal.umich.edu/~ctortora/211f99/

From time immemorial human beings have been curious about language – about its structure, its diversity, its use, and its effects on others. In this course, we will explore the human capacity for language, beginning with the ways language differs from animal communication and with how children acquire language. We will then review major aspects of language structure (sounds, words, sentences) and apply them to discussions of current dialects of English such as Black English. After a brief investigation of the relationship between language and thought, we will consider social attitudes toward language. Here we will debate questions such as: Is sign language a real language or just pantomime? What is “Standard English” and is it better than “dialects” of English? Course work includes eight short homework assignments, one midterm, and a final exam.

Section 001.

Instructor(s): Diana Cresti (dcresti@umich.edu)

Credits: (4; 2 in the half-term).

Course Homepage: No Homepage Submitted.

This course is an introduction to some basic mathematical concepts and techniques used in the representation of linguistic meaning. Set theory, first-order logic, and (elementary) model theory. The main focus of this course will be learning how to construct rudimentary models of natural language with these mathematical tools. We will investigate the extent to which these models succeed in approximating natural language, and analyze some of their better known failures (e.g., why do people often believe that ‘Every cat sneezed’ and ‘No cat sneezed’ are contraries of each other? Why can't our models account for this?). We will also attempt to systematize our understanding of these problems, and discuss possible ways of overcoming (some of) them. There will be weekly exercises, a midterm, and a final exam.