Syllabus
| engl_324_syllabus_spring_2025.doc |
Readings for January 23 (Please read and respond before our first class)
| linguistics_glossary.docx |
| chapter_one--language--mooney_and_evans.pdf |
Why Language Is Humanity’s Greatest Invention David Peterson https://www.ted.com/talks/david_peterson_why_language_is_humanity_s_greatest_invention
Due January 28 (Today is the last day to drop a class)
PLEASE NOTE--this is a change from the syllabus
How Language Shapes the Way We Think: Lera Boroditsy https://www.ted.com/talks/lera_boroditsky_how_language_shapes_the_way_we_think?language=en
How Language Shapes the Way We Think: Lera Boroditsy https://www.ted.com/talks/lera_boroditsky_how_language_shapes_the_way_we_think?language=en
| discourse_small-d_big_d.pdf |
What is a Speech Community ?
Due January 30
| linguistic_landscapes_chapter.pdf |
| methods_and_techniques_for_linguistic_landscape_research.pdf |
Due February 4
| language_evolution_acquisition_adaptation_and.pdf |
| language_identity_social_equity_educational_responses_to_dialect_hegemony.pdf |
Due February 6--SNOW DAY
Due February 11
“When a Sociolinguist Eavesdrops on a Bus” Vera Regan https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jAGgKE82034
| arguments_about_literally.pdf |
The article below is optional:
| academic_english_standard_ideology.pdf |
Due February 13
Bring draft of your Sociolinguistic Profile to share
| rachel_jeantels_language_is_english_.docx |
| anzaldua-wild-tongue.pdf |
| oh_i_like_your_accent.pdf |
Video on accents: www.youtube.com/watch?v=H1KP4ztKK0A . There is also a Part 2 that you can find to the right.
Optional reading
| embarrassed_and_scared_to_speak_different_language.pdf |
Due February 18
| southern_english.pdf |
| talking_american_in_the_midwest.pdf |
Watch Do You Speak American? Ep 1: www.youtube.com/watch?v=kcx7khaN180
Ep 2 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sYN_CIDocBI
Ep 3 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6PR34EJOZFs
Ep 2 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sYN_CIDocBI
Ep 3 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6PR34EJOZFs
Due February 20
Bring a draft of your Sociolinguistic Profile
Bring a draft of your Sociolinguistic Profile
| negative_affective_language_in_politics.pdf |
| politics_and_language_chapter__mooney_and_evans_.pdf |
How to Talk Like a Politician https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2014/10/how-to-talk-like-a-politician-111841/
How to Have Better Political Conversations Ted Talk
Due February 25
Embracing Translanguaging www.youtube.com/watch?v=QVgjuDwoqes
Embracing Translanguaging www.youtube.com/watch?v=QVgjuDwoqes
| revisitingpromiserighttoownlanguage_ccc_sepr2005.pdf |
| english_only_policies_in_us.pdf |
Due February 27
| 26._youth_slang_as_a_reflection_of_social_identity_in_teenage_communities__1_.pdf |
| british_and_american_english_and_the_positon_of_slang.pdf |
Due March 4
| tannenmen_and_women_in_conversation_final.pdf |
| gender_differences_in_language_use.pdf |
| gender_and_language_on_facebook.pdf |
Melissa Lozada-Oliva - Like Totally Whatever www.youtube.com/watch?v=me4_QwmaNoQ
Due March 6
| zimman2017transgenderlanguagereformsome_challenges_and_strategies_for_promoting.pdf |
| language_and_sexuality_language_and_lgbt__1_.pdf |
| patev-et-al-2018-college-students-perceptions-of-gender-inclusive-language-use-predict-attitudes-toward-transgender-and.pdf |
March 11 an13 --Spring Break
Due March 18
We will also check on the Scrapbooks--sharing observations in class
Bring a new draft of you Sociolinguistic Profile
Bring a new draft of you Sociolinguistic Profile
Watch “txing is Killing Language. JK.” John McWhorter https://www.ted.com/talks/john_mcwhorter_txtng_is_killing_language_jk/transcript .
Read: https://www.michigandaily.com/statement/when-texting-becomes-its-own-language-the-art-of-metalinguistic-messagingwww.michigandaily.com/statement/when-texting-becomes-its-own-language-the-art-of-metalinguistic-messaging//
Read: https://www.michigandaily.com/statement/when-texting-becomes-its-own-language-the-art-of-metalinguistic-messagingwww.michigandaily.com/statement/when-texting-becomes-its-own-language-the-art-of-metalinguistic-messaging//
Due March 20
Please try to visit the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women's Display in RSU lobby 1st floor (across from LGCIE)
Please try to visit the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women's Display in RSU lobby 1st floor (across from LGCIE)
| verbs_that_will_story_our_bodies_into_something_more_than_missing--_poetry_presencing_and_mmiwg2s.pdf |
Due March 25
| constructingrhetoricalborders.pdf |
| rewriting_trauma_gagnon.pdf |
| sciurba2021-article-humanizing-the-journey-across-them.pdf |
Due March 27
| erdrich.pdf |
| lakota_language_rescan.pdf |
Wampanoag Language Reclamation Project: https: www.wlrp.org/
Red Cloud Indian School: www.redcloudschool.org/dual-language-story-education
2019 Year of Indigenous Languages https://www.un.org/development/desa/dspd/2019/01/2019-international-year-of-indigenous-languages/
Red Cloud Indian School: www.redcloudschool.org/dual-language-story-education
2019 Year of Indigenous Languages https://www.un.org/development/desa/dspd/2019/01/2019-international-year-of-indigenous-languages/
Due April 1 Google Doc for In-class work docs.google.com/document/d/1R82vCit0IHvjL0EGETNEhw-cZM12ypRS51s-lo74BS0/edit?usp=sharing
Where Humor Lies in Language www.youtube.com/watch?v=KTwfY9QQK7kQQK7k
Where Humor Lies in Language www.youtube.com/watch?v=KTwfY9QQK7kQQK7k
| chatgpt_is_fun_but_it_is_not_funny_.pdf |
| internet_memes_and__their_socio-linguistic_features.pdf |
Also--something interesting to look at (no need to write about unless you want to) New Words www.oed.com/discover/new-words-from-around-the-world-oed-march-2025-update/?tl=true
And below is the list of slang from 19th C-Gen Z (just fyi--some of the 19thC ones are interesting)
And below is the list of slang from 19th C-Gen Z (just fyi--some of the 19thC ones are interesting)
| slang_from_19th_century-genz.pdf |
Due April 3-- No Class today. Work on your analysis
Due April 8
| the_power_of_swearing.pdf |
| how_different_genders_use_profanity_on_twitter.pdf |
Due April 10
For today, please find an article on sociolinguistics (language and society) to share. The article can be an extension on something we have discussed or take a different direction. Write a one page response and supply the article or a link to it.
In class we will also discuss the final projects and have some time to work on them.
In class we will also discuss the final projects and have some time to work on them.
Due April 15
https://medium.com/skiller-whale/the-real-danger-of-llms-e38b72530e7a
https://writerethink.medium.com/maintaining-the-value-of-writing-and-thinking-in-the-age-of-llms-ecec35e6a65f
Due April 17
Please bring your scrapbooks/journals so I can collect them
Please read the following and apply your understanding of language and society to the documents. Write a respnse to what you see/understand.
If time we will also work on projects
Please bring your scrapbooks/journals so I can collect them
Please read the following and apply your understanding of language and society to the documents. Write a respnse to what you see/understand.
If time we will also work on projects
| us_to_harvard.pdf |
| harvard_responds.pdf |
| department_of_education_to_schools.pdf |
Due April 22
Bring in your rhetorical analysis to share and work on in class
Bring in your rhetorical analysis to share and work on in class
Due April 24
Below are three links about the recent discussion of autism. Please read these and write a response. Consider the language used as each presents the argument.
thehill.com/homenews/administration/5257511-rfk-jr-calls-autism-an-epidemic-it-dwarfs-covid/
www.pbs.org/newshour/show/good-science-takes-time-doctor-skeptical-autism-cause-will-be-found-by-september
variety.com/2025/tv/columns/rfk-autism-speech-my-son-not-epidemic-1236371224/
Below are three links about the recent discussion of autism. Please read these and write a response. Consider the language used as each presents the argument.
thehill.com/homenews/administration/5257511-rfk-jr-calls-autism-an-epidemic-it-dwarfs-covid/
www.pbs.org/newshour/show/good-science-takes-time-doctor-skeptical-autism-cause-will-be-found-by-september
variety.com/2025/tv/columns/rfk-autism-speech-my-son-not-epidemic-1236371224/
April 29 and 30--Our last week
LANGUAGE GAMES
For the 29th --look at the following (no response needed) and come to class with your favorite word games
Why You Can't Stop Playing Wordle: news.uchicago.edu/story/why-you-cant-stop-playing-wordle-according-computational-linguist
LANGUAGE GAMES
For the 29th --look at the following (no response needed) and come to class with your favorite word games
Why You Can't Stop Playing Wordle: news.uchicago.edu/story/why-you-cant-stop-playing-wordle-according-computational-linguist
| word_games_and_experimental_linguistics.pdf |
| word_games_and_language_components.pdf |
For the 30th--we will continue talking about language games
ADDITIONAL READINGS
| kramer2016_feministlinguistics-with-cover-page-v2.pdf |
| code_switching_and_code_mixing.pdf |
| i_dont_know_if_that_be_english.pdf |
| language_social_class_and_education_adolescents.pdf |
| code_switch_texting_wheelerejmay2009.pdf |
| talking_hiphop.pdf |
| korean_hip_hop.pdf |
| criticalhiphoplanguage.pdf |
| slursandoffense_11_02_09.pdf |
| r_u_texting_journal_of_literacy_research-2009-drouin-46-67.pdf |
Due November 21
November 23
Virtual Office hours available from 12: 10-1:35 https://bridgew.zoom.us/j/2471977664
Virtual Office hours available from 12: 10-1:35 https://bridgew.zoom.us/j/2471977664
Due November 28
Watch How Language Shapes Our Thoughts on Equity-- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Yq2WycjTNg
Due November 30
Due December 5
Due December 7 --ZOOM EVENT on Indigenous Languages
Nitana Hicks Greendeer (Wampanoag) and Matthew Rama (Lakota) will be presenting on reclaiming language and the efforts to teach children. This is a Zoom event, but I will be in our classroom so you can watch there as well. Below is the link to pre-register:
When: Dec 7, 2022 12:00 Eastern Time (US and Canada)
Register in advance for this meeting:
https://bridgew.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJYqd-Cqqz4qH9Kose3U7RxBXSdS06kxZD0q
When: Dec 7, 2022 12:00 Eastern Time (US and Canada)
Register in advance for this meeting:
https://bridgew.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJYqd-Cqqz4qH9Kose3U7RxBXSdS06kxZD0q
| gender_and_language_on_facebook.pdf |
| dangerous_words_derogatory_language.pdf |