Course Description - Content

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Usama Soltan - nobody@example.net — Tue, 10 Feb 2009 21:58:39 -0400

Welcome to the fascinating world of the study of human language (aka Linguistics)!

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Usama Soltan - nobody@example.net — Tue, 10 Feb 2009 21:58:39 -0400

Class meets twice a week, on Tuesdays and Thursdays, from 1:30pm to 2:45, in the Warner Hemicycle Room. Be there!

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Usama Soltan - nobody@example.net — Tue, 10 Feb 2009 21:58:39 -0400

This is an introductory course in linguistics. The main topics will include the nature of human language as distinct from other communication systems; the subsystems of linguistic knowledge, i.e., sound patterns (phonology), word-formation (morphology), sentence structure (syntax), and meaning (semantics); language and the brain; language acquisition; language use in context; geographical and social dialects; sign language and historical development of language and language change.

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Usama Soltan - nobody@example.net — Tue, 10 Feb 2009 21:58:40 -0400

REQUIRED TEXTBOOK

Contemporary Linguistics: An Introduction. By William O'Grady, John Archibald, Mark Aronoff, and Janie Rees-Miller. Fifth Edition. 2005.

I put the textbook on 2-hour reserve in the main library. I will also put David Crystal's "The Cambridge Encyclopedia of Language" on physical reserve. It's a good reference for some of the topics that we'll be covering in this class.

Readings will be assigned from the required textbook as well as from some supplementary materials. These will be mainly articles or chapters from books. Many of these will be made available through electronic reserve, and links to them will be listed here as well as on the syllabus page.

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Usama Soltan - nobody@example.net — Tue, 10 Feb 2009 21:58:40 -0400

COURSE REQUIREMENTS

Attendance and class preparation: Please make sure you come to every class. Missing class is only acceptable for one of the academically legitimate excuses. It’s impossible to do well on homework problems or write a good project report without attending classes regularly. And by “impossible” I really mean “impossible”.

Also, make sure you read the textbook as well as all materials on reserve or on the course website that are assigned in class every week BEFORE coming to class. It will help you (and help me too) a lot if you come to class prepared.

There will be EIGHT HOMEWORK ASSIGNMENTS to test your understanding of the material covered in class and to help you work on linguistic problems on your own, applying the same reasoning and analytical tools that we’ll be discussing in class. Each homework counts for 5% of your overall grade. So, take them seriously! While I do not mind you discussing assignment questions with your colleagues, bear in mind that the work you turn in has to be yours, and yours alone. Copying someone else’s work will be treated as cheating, will receive no credit, and will be subject to the consequences of violating academic integrity, as described in the College’s Academic Honesty Statement given at the bottom of this page.

In addition, students will be required to work in pairs on a ten-page-long RESEARCH PAPER on a topic of their choice that is relevant to the focus of the class. Details on the paper will be posted here in due time. A brief paper proposal is due on April 5.

Finally, students are required to take TWO TAKE-HOME EXAMS: a midterm and a final. The midterm exam will be assigned on March 15 and is due on March 22. The final exam, which will be comprehensive, will be assigned on May 14 and is due on May 21.

Here's how each course requirement contributes to your overall percentage in the course:

Class attendance and participation (including doing the readings)	5%
8 Assignments	40%
Research paper	15%
Take-home Midterm Exam	20%
Take-home Final Exam	20%

Here's how your letter grade will be assigned:

A	95% plus
A-	90% plus to 95%
B+	87% plus to 90%
B	83% plus to 87%
B-	80% plus to 83%
C+	75% plus to 80%
C	70% plus to 75%
C-	65% plus to 70%
D	50% plus to 65%
F	Less than 50%

Honor code

I will follow the Middlebury College’s Academic Honesty Statement as described here:

http://www.middlebury.edu/academics/acadinfo/honorcode/statement.htm

Please make sure to write the Honor Code Pledge "I have neither given nor received unauthorized aid on this assignment," on both exams as well as the research paper (use “We” in this latter case, since you’ll be working in pairs). There’s no need to write the pledge on the assignments since I do not mind your discussing homework problems together. Make sure, however, to turn in your own work. Copying someone else’s work on assignments will still count as cheating, will receive no credit, not to mention the consequences of violating academic integrity.

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Usama Soltan - nobody@example.net — Tue, 10 Feb 2009 21:58:40 -0400

The textbook website is here:
http://bcs.bedfordstmartins.com/linguistics/default.asp?s=&n=&i=&v=&o=&ns=0&uid=0&rau=0

Some useful Links
International Dialects of English Archive: http://web.ku.edu/idea/
Interactive saggital Section: http://www.chass.utoronto.ca/~danhall/phonetics/sammy.html

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Usama Soltan - nobody@example.net — Tue, 10 Feb 2009 21:58:40 -0400

Usama Soltan
International Studies and Arabic
Robert A. Jones '59 House, Room B03
Middlebury College
Middlebury, VT 05753

Email: usoltan@middlebury.edu
Office phone extension: x5869

Office Hours:
Monday and Wednesday 10:30am-noon, and by appointment (e-mail or call to make an appointment)