Course description
This course is an introduction to the non-structural aspects of language with an emphasis on cultural diversity. Students will develop an appreciation of cultural diversity by studying similarities and differences among languages of the world, 3 from the Indo-European and 3 from the non-Indo-European language families. Topics covered may include, but are not restricted to, language development and language attrition/language death, language classification, typology and universals, language change, meaning in language, writing, the modern world and communication.
Course content
Part I: Language
1. What is Language?
Defining language; language and speech; language and society; language and culture
2. Studying Language
The scientific approach to language; anthropological linguistics; linguistic analysis; language, mind and culture; language, discourse and variation
3. The Origin and Evolution of Language
Theories; reconstruction; core vocabularies; language change; primate language experiments
4. Language Levels
Describing language; the phonological level; the morphological level; the syntactic level; the semantic level
Part II: Language and Society
1. Language and Social Phenomena
Language and gender; markedness theory; language and style; naming people; artificial languages
2. Using Language
Conversational devices; speech acts; situational focussing; language functions; language and myth
3. Writing
Writing systems; literacy; abbreviated writing; online communication
4. Variations
Variant types; slang; jargon; borrowing
Part III: Language, Mind and Culture
1. Language and Classification
The Whorfian Hypothesis; specialized vocabularies; made-up languages
2. Language and Concepts
Sound symbolism; words and concepts; anthropomorphism; grammar and thought
3. Metaphor
What is a metaphor?; conceptual metaphors; metonymy and irony; metaphor and gesture; cultural reification
4. Pop Language
What is pop language?; hip talk; hip talk and gender
Learning activities
Lectures, in-class tutorials, group work, group discussion, problem solving, data analysis, short reports by students
Means of assessment
A typical assessment would include the following elements:
- Attendance/participation/preparation 15%
- Short oral reports as part of in class discussions 25%
- 4 Assignments at 5% each (data analysis) 20%
- 4 exams to a total of 20%
- Portfolio 5% (to accompany the poster, as a way of keeping track of the progress)
- Poster presentation 15% (final work)
(Note: no assignment will be more than 20%)
Learning outcomes
Students will develop an appreciation of cultural diversity by analyzing a variety of language samples drawn among different languages, Indo-European and non-Indo-European.
By the end of term, the successful student will:
- better understand the role the non-structural parts play in language
- acquire some strategies to analyse and compare language samples
- appreciate cultural diversity and be aware that different cultures may have different linguistic strategies to encode concepts
Textbook materials
A current edition of a textbook such as the following:
Danesi, Marcel. Language, society and culture: Introducing Anthropological Linguistics. Toronto: Canadian Scholars, Inc.