Syllabus for Anth-189L

Spring 2021

Cecile Evers

01 / 06

Course description

Anthropology-189L provides an intensive introduction to selected theories, methods, and themes in linguistic anthropology. The primary aim of the course is to familiarize students with (1) core approaches to language that take account of social context and (2) basic research methods in linguistic anthropology.

The course has two interwoven parts: a sequence of readings, which tack back and forth between foundational texts in linguistic anthropology and contemporary applications; and a field practicum in which students will observe language in an actual social setting and produce written analyses. These analyses will guide students to practice fieldnote-taking, recording, conversational transcription, and discourse and deictic analysis, among other linguistic anthropological methods. While basic familiarity with linguistics will be helpful when approaching certain texts, knowledge of linguistics is not a requirement for the course. All will learn the key terminology in the discipline and all are welcome. Anthropological expertise will likewise prove helpful, though it is by no means a requirement; we will proceed through the anthropological toolkit together. 

The chosen readings are generally concerned with elucidating the properties of language that enable human beings to interpret, inhabit, and remake the social world. We will assume a semiotic, culturally grounded approach to language in use, in other words. Hence, the readings cover such topics as: how linguistics and linguistic anthropology differ in approach and methods; the analytical advantages of considering the sociocultural context of people's language practices when trying to ascertain meaning; whether languages reflect people's environments and potentially shape their cognition; and many examples of the constitutive role of language in sociopolitical processes. Our case studies cover diverse communities within the United States, the Trobriand islands, Senegal, Kenya, the United Kingdom, Papua New Guinea, Aboriginal Australia, and Japan.

For the practicum part of the course, students will be asked to choose a group of people with whom to conduct fieldwork. The basic purpose of this fieldwork will be to engage students in the observation, recording, and analysis of language data using techniques and frameworks from linguistic anthropology; thus, each of the written assignments is designed with the goal of allowing students to practice implementing these methods and perspectives. An additional objective will be for each student to formulate and conduct a study deemed to be of social importance, whether by the community in question or by society at large.

Objectives for your learning

By the end of the semester, students will be able to: 

  • Conduct an ethnographic study with a particular group of people and analyze the way in which the observed dimensions of their interactions are meaningful along identity-related and political axes.
  • Identify and explain the foundational concepts, aims, and methods of linguistic anthropological research. 
  • Utilize linguistic anthropological concepts to examine and unpack contemporary political and sociocultural issues.
  • Articulate and document the sense in which language is less a descriptive tool than a tool people use to effect social changes in their lives. 

Work in this course

The total point value of assignments in this course adds up to 100 points. The assignments are as follows:

Participation (25 points): These points will be allotted in the following way:

▶︎ 15 points divided between:

◦ attendance at all class sessions

◦ consistent contributions to class discussion

◦ occasional Padlet responses

◦ the quality of your engagement in asynchronous activities and the presentations that follow

► 10 points:

◦ These pertain to a 35-minute discussion you and a peer will lead on the set of readings (film, podcast, etc.) assigned for a particular class session. (The sign-up sheet for reading discussion leadership is available  here . Also see the prompt on Sakai for detailed instructions and a rubric.) 

    • Three short written reflections (15 points total): These 800-word reflections ask you to reflect upon and synthesize your understanding of particular course topics. Prompts will be posted as the semester progresses.
    1. Deconstruct symbolism reflection (5 points): Here is where you demonstrate your understanding of how to criticize a Saussurean/Chomskyan, symbol-centric approach to language study, via various examples showcasing the indexical uses to which people put language. How do the meanings of linguistic symbols tend to vary in ways consistent with the lines of power in society?
    2. Language ideology reflection (5 points): Bringing together our various readings on language ideologies, in this paper you discuss their scope, effects, and concrete ways they can be addressed in a case of your choosing.
    3. Holophrasis reflection (5 points): This assignment asks you to pick a non-Indo-European language and research how it compares to English in specific areas of its lexicon and grammar. This assignment allows you to get a personal feel for dynamics of linguistic relativism across language communities.
  • Conversational analysis paper (25 points): This assignment requires you to record a conversation with people in your fieldsite, transcribe it per discourse analytic conventions, and analyze people's speech as instances of social action with myriad levels of relevance. 
  • Final paper (35 points [= 5 for peer review, 30 for final version]): In your final paper, you will have a three-fold focus: how is people's speech is molded by the language ideologies they hold? How do minute "deictic" forms in people's speech reveal certain stances with respect to others? And how and with what effect people deploy registers of particular languages? This will be a cumulative paper with the opportunity to revise and integrate the conversational analysis paper into the final submission. 

Overview of deadlines

  • Padlet questions: For certain classes, you will find a Padlet discussion board linked from a day on our syllabus. These are informal responses that should help you read in a guided way and prepare for discussion the next day. Hence, they should be completed the evening prior to class.
  • Lectures: Recorded lectures are intended to be viewed during the weekend before a class week begins. The majority of these lectures fall in the first half of the semester.
  • Reflections: Deconstruct symbolism reflection (Dropbox: 2/12); Language ideology reflection (Dropbox: any day between 3/7 and 3/19); Holophrasis reflection (StoryMap: 4/27)
  • Conversational analysis paper: Due as a PDF on Dropbox on 4/2 (Last name_CA paper.pdf)
  • Peer review of final paper: Due via e-mail to peer and professor on 5/10
  • Final paper: Due on Dropbox on 5/12 (Last name_Final.pdf)

Logistics of where to find what

  • Padlets: Padlet links will appear on the syllabus, adjacent to the relevant readings.
  • Readings, films, and podcasts: Each type of class material is linked from the syllabus and can be found on the day it is due. (These materials can also be found in weekly Sakai folders.)
  • Hypothes.is: Readings marked as needing to be read in Hypothes.is can be found by going to Sakai, looking for the left-hand tool called "Hypothes.is readings," and locating the reading in question.  Here  are instructions of how to add annotations viewable by course members.
  • Lectures: Lecture recordings are linked from the syllabus.
  • Prompts: All assignment instructions can be found within the Sakai Resources folder entitled "Prompts."
  • Dropbox: All Dropbox submissions take place via Sakai.
  • Grades: I keep Gradebook updated with your grades on each assignment and also send you feedback via e-mail.
  • Course ArcGIS group:  This group  allows us all to view one another's StoryMaps via the Library's ArcGIS portal. Within the group, you will be able to find the syllabus and my lecture StoryMaps, and you will also be able to create your own StoryMaps and share them with the class. Students will create StoryMaps for certain assignments, including the visuals for discussion leadership and the holophrasis reflection.

Course expectations

  • Attendance: Take care to arrive in our Zoom sessions on time and to have both your audio and video on. Missing classes will result in points being deducted from your course grade. Since attendance greatly affects your comprehension in this class, it is also closely linked to your success on written assignments. 
  • Deadlines: Submit all work on time. You are, however, allowed a single extension of 24 hours, usable on any assignment. Simply advise me ahead of time that you will be using your extension.
  • Sakai announcements: Check your e-mail frequently so as to receive course-related announcements from me.
  • Names and pronouns: I will honor your preferred name and pronouns and expect all members of the class to do the same. Let us know.
  • Student integrity: Students are required to uphold the highest standards of integrity and ethical conduct in this course. This means abiding by  Pomona College's policy on academic honesty , but also showing respect and open-mindedness towards your classmates and professor.

My contact information:

Name: Dr. Cécile Evers (aka, Traoré)

Office hours: Fridays 10-12 p.m. PST (sign up via the Calendly link in Sakai's Resources folder, which will generate a personalized Zoom link). You can also send an e-mail if you need to arrange an alternate appointment.

Agenda

Week One ⫣ Langue & Parole ⫦

Monday, January 25th

﹆﹅ Prior to class:

  • Sign up for a discussion leadership date in  this Google Doc .
  • If you haven't already, join our course group on the library website's ArcGIS portal by clicking  here . (Instructions on how to sign up for a new account can be found in a recent Sakai announcement.)

﹆﹅ In class:

  • Introductions
  • Go over the syllabus and all logistics
  • Explanation of student discussion groups

Wednesday, January 27th

﹆﹅ Prior to class:

  • Prior to doing the Saussure reading, watch all of  Lecture 1 . (There, you'll encounter the same reading questions as the ones you'll find--as my annotations--in the margins of Saussure's text. You'll also be introduced to a lay of the land: in terms of concepts; disciplinary differences between linguistic anthropology and linguistics; and how we can apply the tools of semiotics to contemporary political examples, though you'll have to wait until minutes 55-1:10 to get to, and fully grasp, that part!).
  • Here is  the StoryMap  that accompanies Lecture 1.
  • Within Sakai's Hypothes.is tool, read Saussure, F. de. (1983[1916]). Course in General Linguistics. R. Harris (Trans.). Peru, IL: Open Court. (Read pp. 1-top p. 3, p. 8-top p. 10; skim 11-15; read 18-23, 65-70, bottom 81-bottom 82, p. 88, and bottom 96-98. While reading, pay special attention to the notes and four questions from me, which we'll discuss in class on Wednesday. Feel free to make your own annotations and ask any questions in the margin.)
  • After watching lecture and doing the reading, consider the following two questions as well: (5) which symbols, icons, and indexes do you discern in the Vox clip from lecture? And (6) how does the use of "protest" and "riot" during recent BLM events challenge Saussure's view that each word in a language has exactly one signified, deployed in the same way by all members of a language community?

﹆﹅ In class:

  • Carolann Duro and Natalie Raver-Goldsby join us to discuss their previous ethnographic research in this class
  • Class discussion of the 6 questions posed in relation to the Saussure reading and the lecture.

Week Two ⫣ Taking Language Out of the Brain ⫦

Monday, February 1st

﹆﹅ Prior to class:

  • Read "France mandates masks to control the coronavirus. Burqas remain banned," (Washington Post, 5-10-20),  here .
  • Watch  Lecture 2 . (Note that minutes 33-47 provide supporting examples for Chomsky's argument that language is innate or in the brain, and may be skimmed). Also leave minutes 1:23-the end to watch before Wednesday's readings (as they pertain to Austin and Perley et al.).
  • Here is  the StoryMap  that accompanies Lecture 2.
  • Read pp. 3-13 and middle p. 29-33 from  Chomsky , N. (1975). “On Cognitive Capacity.” In N. Chomsky, Reflections on Language. New York, NY: Pantheon Books.
  • Read  Malinowski , B. (1965[1935]). “An Ethnographic Theory of Language and Some Practical Corollaries” (pp. 4-11). In Coral Gardens and Their Magic: The Language of Magic and Gardening (Vol. 2, Part 4). Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press.
  • Watch "How to immigration policy" clip by comedian Sarah Cooper,  here .
  • Respond to 3 of these 6  Padlet questions  in preparation for class discussion.

﹆﹅ In class:

  • Breakout rooms work through a central question in preparation for the "deconstructing symbolism reflection." What overarching revision to Saussure's idea (that each signifier is linked to just one signified across an entire language community) would we make on the basis of the Vox case, the BLM example (protest vs. riot), and the French mask vs. veil controversy?
  • Class discussion of Padlet questions

Wednesday, February 3rd

﹆﹅ Prior to class:

  • Watch the remaining minutes of Lecture 2 (1:23:30-end; link above).
  • Skim pp. 1-38 (focusing on his "Lecture 1" portion mostly). In  Austin , J.L. (1975). How to Do Things with Words. Second Edition. Cambridge, MA: Cambridge University Press.
  • Read  Perley, P., Baldwin, D., & Noodin, M.  (2018). “Surviving the Sixth Extinction: American Indian Strategies for Life in the New World.” In After Extinction. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.  
  • Respond to one Padlet question regarding Perley et al.  here .

﹆﹅ In class:

  • Student-led discussion #1: Erika and Gillian

Week Three ⫣ Performing in Conversation ⫦

Monday, February 8th

﹆﹅ Prior to class:

  • Listen to the chapter “Learning the Grammar of Animacy.” In Kimmerer, R. W. (2020). Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teachings of Plants. Audiobook available through the library,  here  (15 minutes). Make sure to listen to this particular chapter and not the first 15 mins. of her book.
  • Read Chapter 4 (start bottom p. 102, then read until 127). In  Davis , J. (2018). Talking Indian: Identity and Language Revitalization in the Chickasaw Renaissance. Tucson: Arizona University Press.

﹆﹅ In class:

  • Student-led discussion #2: Maisie and Mackenzie
  • StoryMap for  this class 

Wednesday, February 10th

﹆﹅ Prior to class:

  • Watch  Lecture 3  (Only minutes 4 to 16, then optionally minutes 22-31:45, since the information in those minutes can also be gleaned by just clicking through the part of  this StoryMap  in which you can listen to what Schegloff's conventions sound like [section entitled "Transcribing Discourse"]).
  • Look over  these four Padlet questions  (there's no need to write on this Padlet; we'll be discussing these questions in class)
  • Read pp. 1-27 of  Schegloff , E. (2007). Sequence Organization in Interaction: A Primer in Conversation Analysis. Volume 1. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press. (Read mainly for key terms and to understand the examples.)
  • Examine  this Transcript Convention list .
  • Read "Multimodality" blog entry  here .
  • Read "#MeToo, Believing Survivors, and Cooperative Digital Communication,"  here .

﹆﹅ In class:

*"Deconstructing Symbolism" reflection due Friday, 2/12*

Week Four ⫣ Methods for Analyzing Conversations ⫦

Monday, February 15th:

﹆﹅ Prior to class:

  • Watch  Lecture 3  (Only watch minutes 34:30-45:20).
  • Read  Yaguello , M. (1998[1981]. “What Language Is For.” In Language Through the Looking Glass: Exploring Language and Linguistics (pp. 6-21). Read this reading with the goal of understanding each of the linguistic functions she describes (skim).
  • Read Chapter 4 (pp. 64-81). In  Smitherman , G. (2006). Word from the Mother: Language and African Americans. New York, London: Routledge.
  • Prepare 1-2 ideas of the kind of linguistic ethnography you could conduct for this class. Who would you like to work with? Which social dynamic might you like to examine through the lens of language use?

﹆﹅ In class:

  • Student-led discussion #3: Kristine, Calla, and Brendan

Wednesday, February 17th

﹆﹅ Prior to class:

  • Watch optional minutes of  Lecture 4 . (Watching mins. 7:00-19:30 will allow you to give Hymes a light skim; then watch 22:30-40 if you want more context for Goffman. The question [#2] that I pose at 39 minutes is one we'll discuss in class, so consider that one while reading Goffman.)
  • Skim  Hymes , D. (1972). “Models of the Interaction of Language and Social Life.” In J.J. Gumperz & D. Hymes (Eds.), Directions in Sociolinguistics: The Ethnography of Communication (From bottom of p. 53-p. 65). New York, NY: Holt, Rhinehart & Winston. Skim to understand the way he breaks a speech event down in terms of its S-P-E-A-K-I-N-G components.
  • Read  Goffman , E. (1979). Footing. Semiotica, 25(1-2): 1-30. Read with an eye to the question posed at 39 mins. of the lecture linked above. We'll discuss it in class.

﹆﹅ In class:

  • Class discussion

Week Five ⫣ Applying and practicing methods ⫦

Monday, February 22nd

﹆﹅ Prior to class:

  • Read  Carris , L. (2011). La Voz Gringa: Latino Stylization of Linguistic (In)authenticity as Social Critique. Discourse & Society, 22(4): 474–490. Focus on the ethnographic body of the article and the central transcript.
  • Watch/listen to the two excerpts included in the StoryMap  here  (listed in the asynchronous activity prompt, at the very bottom)

﹆﹅ In class:

Wednesday, February 24th

﹆﹅ Prior to class:

  • By Tuesday evening (2/23), have sent an e-mail professor with a one-paragraph summary of a potential group of people to work with for your linguistic ethnography. Who are they? Where will you meet? What is your relationship with them? Do you think they will be amenable to being audio recorded? What research question might you ask, and how do you envision the social utility of your project?
  • No new readings; prepare to present your findings from the asynchronous activity instead

﹆﹅ In class:

  • Group presentations based on Monday's asynchronous activity
  • Discussion of peers' research ideas

Week Six ⫣ Language Ideologies, Indexicality, and Emotion ⫦

Monday, March 1st

﹆﹅ Prior to class:

  • Glance around this week's  StoryMap  and listen to a 12-minute lecture on indexicality  here . This  image  is the semiotic diagram I reference in the first minutes. Note that Mock Spanish is a register in the sense discussed. We'll watch the remaining video clips in class together (both the Mike Mena one and the Trevor Noah one).
  • Read  McIntosh , J. (2014). Linguistic Atonement: Penitence and Privilege in White Kenyan Language Ideologies. Anthropological Quarterly, 87(4): 1165-1200. 
  • Read Hill, J. (1995) “Mock Spanish: A Site For The Indexical Reproduction of Racism in American English.” Read online in order to see slide images,  here . Skim the examples but pay particular attention to her theorization of direct and indirect indexicality.

﹆﹅ In class:

  • Discussion of language ideologies, as well as direct vs. indirect indexicality
  • Lecture-based discussion in  this StoryMap , with examples from the reading and external examples as well

Wednesday, March 3rd

﹆﹅ Prior to class:

  • Watch Trevor Noah and Ronny Chieng's clip, read Dr. Smalls' two e-mails to a Ling Anth Social Justice Listserv about that incident, and watch the Saturday Night Live clip, all within  Week 6's StoryMap .
  • Read guiding questions for the Kulick reading and Invisibilia podcast, at the very end of the same StoryMap.
  • Read  Kulick , D. (1998). “Anger, Gender, Language Shift, and the Politics of Revelation in a Papua New Guinean Village.” In B. Schieffelin, K. Woolard, P. Kroskrity (Eds.), Language Ideologies: Practice and Theory (pp. 87-102). New York, NY; Oxford, England: Oxford University Press.
  • Listen to Invisibilia podcast “A Man Finds an Explosive Emotion Locked in a Word,”  here  (7 mins).

﹆﹅ In class:

  • Discuss two film clips (Trevor Noah, Saturday Night Live) in relation to speaker-centric language ideologies and "linguistic motion," respectively
  • Student-led discussion #4: Sage and Aidan (Kulick and podcast)

*Language ideology reflection due any day between Sunday, 3/7-Friday, 3/19 (can be co-written)*

*Spring Break (Week 7): Reminder to begin fieldwork over break*

Week Eight ⫣ Language and emotion ⫦

Monday, March 15th

﹆﹅ Prior to class:

  • Read  Irvine , J. (1990). “Registering Affect: Heteroglossia in the Linguistic Expression of Emotion.” In Language and the Politics of Emotion (pp. 126-161). C. Lutz & L. Abu-Lughod (Eds.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Consider the following questions in regards to this reading: (1) During the last class the possibility was brought up that the Ilongot emotion of "liget" might have a more communal and environmental distribution than perhaps grief as conceived in a US, English-speaking context. This piece by Irvine challenges us to think of all emotions, even ones culturally conceptualized as individual (like American grief, perhaps), as socially structured instead. How does this idea of the social structuring of (all cultural communities') emotions apply in this piece? (2) This piece describes two rural Wolof-language (Senegalese) registers, that of the noble and that of the griot/bard. How would you define a register? What dimensions does a register have in any language? (3) How does this piece invert the idea that silence is associated with powerlessness? Can you think of any similar examples of silence as power, in other contexts?
  • *Reminder to commence fieldwork and record a conversation*

﹆﹅ In class:

  • Continue Aidan and Sage's breakout room discussion; full-group debriefing
  • Discuss remaining question about "linguistic motion" from Week 6, in relation to Jimmy Smits' SNL skit as Antonio Mendoza
  • Discussion of Irvine article in regards to language and emotion, and as an introduction to register

Wednesday, March 17th

﹆﹅ Prior to class:

﹆﹅ In class:

  • Discussion

*Reminder: 3/19-3/21 is the last date by which to submit your Language Ideology Reflection*

Week Nine ⫣ Linguistic Relativity: Does Language Limit Thought? ⫦

Monday, March 22nd

﹆﹅ Prior to class:

  • Listen to the  Lecture  9 voice-over (~30 mins.); it may be helpful to poke around  this week's StoryMap  as well (shown behind the voice-over)
  • Read  Whorf , B.L. (1941). “The Relation of Habitual Thought and Behavior to Language.” In R. McGee & R. Warms (eds.), Anthropological Theory: An Introductory History. Sixth Edition (pp. 176-194, skimming pp. 186-187.) Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield.
  • Consider supporting examples for Whorf and also ones you could use to dismantle his general theory about SAE speakers' objectified conceptualization of time. Read  this 1-page excerpt  on monastic medieval practices as a counter-example to his theory of Western notions of time.

﹆﹅ In class:

  • Discussion of the linguistic expression of time, as it bears on the linguistic relativity hypothesis
  • Students can e-mail the professor if interested in receiving feedback on their CA paper transcript during an in-class workshopping session. (You would share your transcript, along with tentative conclusions, and ask for peer feedback.)

Wednesday, March 24th

﹆﹅ Prior to class:

  • As part of our consideration of how speakers of different languages express spatial relations, and how this can become socially significant, read  this blog post .
  • Read  Harrison , K.D. (2008). “Counting to Twenty on your Toes.” In When Languages Die: The Extinction of the World's Languages and the Erosion of Human Knowledge (pp. 167-200). New York, NY: Oxford University Press. 
  • Read " Manners of Speaking: Science Looks at the Subtleties of Semiotics ." (The Economist, May 5th, 2018, p. 76).
  • Watch short clip on French numbers,  here .
  • Students can e-mail the professor if interested in receiving feedback on their CA paper transcript during an in-class workshopping session. (You would share your transcript, along with tentative conclusions, and ask for peer feedback.)

﹆﹅ In class:

  • Conclude discussion of linguistic relativity

(If interested in more listening on this theme at another time:  “How Language Shapes Thought”  [28 minutes)]. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Also, Lingthusiasm podcast #15  “Talking and thinking about time."  And lastly, Lingthusiasm podcast #41: “ This time it gets tense - The grammar of time. " This  clip  is a useful overview too.)

Week Ten ⫣ Linguistic Functionalism ⫦

Monday, March 29th

﹆﹅ Prior to class:

  • Work on your CA paper; prepare a transcript to workshop during the optional drop-by session on Monday

﹆﹅ In class:

  • Optional drop-by session to receive feedback on your transcript and CA paper (at our regular time)

Wednesday, March 31st (Linguistic Functionalism)

﹆﹅ Prior to class:

  • Read "Did the Language You Speak Evolve Because of the Heat?" (Angus Chen, Nov. 6, 2015, Npr.org),  her e. Listen to the audio clips.
  • Read Chapter Four "Whistled Speech and Language ecology." In  Meyer , J. (2015). Whistled Languages: A Worldwide Inquiry on Human Whistled Speech. Paris: Springer.
  • Watch film clip of Turkish town Kuşköy's whistled language,  here .
  • Listen to the audio clip "In Zora Neale Hurston's 'Barracoon,' Language Is The Key To Understanding" (Lynn Neary, May 8, 2015),  here .

﹆﹅ In class:

  • Student-led discussion #5: Brooke and Jeethu

*Conversational analysis paper due Friday, 4/2, on Dropbox (Last name_CA paper)*

Week Eleven ⫣ Deixis (Referential Indexicality) ⫦

Monday, April 5th

﹆﹅ Prior to class:

  • Listen to  Voice-Over #11 .  Here's  the handout that goes along with the voice-over. We'll cover pp. 6-13 in class together as practice with deictic mapping.
  • If you listen to the voice-over, you can just page through this reading in 3-5 minutes (especially pp. 54-55, 62-84), the goal being to be able to define personal deixis, time (temporal) deixis, and place (spatial) deixis.  Levinson , S. (1983). Pragmatics. Cambridge, England: University of Cambridge.
  • Read  Wortham , S. (1996). Mapping Participant Deictics: A Technique for Discovering Speakers’ Footing. Journal of Pragmatics, 25: 331-348.

﹆﹅ In class:

  • Practice with deictics

Wednesday, April 7th

﹆﹅ Prior to class:

  • Read  Conley , R. (2015). Chapter Five ("Linguistic Distance and the Dehumanization of Linguistic Defendants"). In Confronting the Death Penalty: How Language Influences Jurors in Capital Cases.
  • Read "Why Everyone’s Journey With Allyship Needs To Include a Self-Examination of Pronoun Use" (Mary Grace Garis, June 22, 2020),  here .

﹆﹅ In class:

Week Twelve ⫣ Registers (Non-Referential Indexicality) ⫦

Monday, April 12th

﹆﹅ Prior to class:

  • Read  Agha , A. (2003). “The Social Life of Cultural Value.” Language and Communication, 23: 231-273. You can read this piece along with  these guiding questions , some of which we'll discuss in class. Note that Agha's prose is very technical, so don't belabor every last detail in this reading; the reading questions should orient you in your focus.
  • Read  Bauman , R. (1970). Aspects of 17th-Century Quaker Rhetoric. Quarterly Journal Of Speech, 56(1), 67-74. The main question this reading will lead us to ask is "what ideology about language did Quakers hold vs. aristocratic Brits, and how did these contrasting ideologies result in our English pronoun system changing over time (= language change)?"

﹆﹅ In class:

  • Discussion of the four dimensions of register and how/why registers change

Wednesday, April 14th

﹆﹅ Prior to class:

  • Read Chapter 4 (pp. 83-115). In  Barrett , R. (2017). From Drag Queens to Leathermen: Language, Gender, and Gay Male Subcultures. New York: Oxford University Press.

﹆﹅ In class:

  • Student-led discussion #7: Anna and Derrick

Week Thirteen ⫣ Change in Registers, Change in Culture ⫦

Monday, April 19th: Linguistic Relativism

﹆﹅ Prior to class:

  • Peruse pp. 109-110 of  Language File 3.2  Phonemes and Allophones. In Language Files: Materials for an Introduction to Language and Linguistics (11th edition). Columbus: Ohio State University. (This will be explained in class.)               
  • Skim from p. 11 (from "Number of Sounds Unlimited") to middle of p. 14, and middle p. 20-middle p. 23. In  Boas , F. (1911). Introduction to the Handbook of American Indian Languages. P. Holder (Ed.). Lincoln, NB: University of Nebraska Press. Ask yourself: how is Boas showing linguistic relativism in languages' phonemic inventories? And in their grammatical categories?
  • Watch minutes 0-13:15 of McWhorter, J. "What is Black English?" Story of Language Episode 32, on Video 47. (*Often, this Sakai tool works best in Safari.)
  • Read  this blog post  on "habitual be" in AAVE by Gretchen McCulloch.              
  • Do exercise 1.2 (List A only) on Appalachian English in the excerpt from  Wolfram, W. & Schilling, N.  (2015). American English: Dialects and Variation. Hoboken: Wiley.
  • Refresh your memory of grammatical categories by looking over pp. 93-94 of “ Basic Grammatical Notions .” In D. Crystal (Ed.), The Cambridge Encyclopedia of Language. Second Edition. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press. 
  • Respond to two of  these Padlet questions , including your name at the top of your response and putting your responses below the question you picked.

﹆﹅ In class:

  • 15 minutes of discussion led by Anna and Derrick on Barrett's piece
  • Discussion of Quaker pronouns as an example of ideologically motivated language change
  • Discuss Padlet responses for today; discussion of linguistic relativism
  • Explain  holophrasis assignment prompt 

Wednesday, April 21st: Changing Registers

﹆﹅ Prior to class:

  • Read Ch. 6 (pp. 252-277). In  Inoue , M. (2006). Vicarious Language: Gender and Linguistic Modernity in Japan. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press. (Read Chapter 6: pp. 252-277).
  •  Pencil in  1 question each by Tuesday, 4/20, that Dr. Inoue can glance at prior to her visit on Wednesday
  • *Begin recording conversation for final paper*

﹆﹅ In class:

Week Fourteen ⫣ Workshopping ⫦

Monday, April 26th

﹆﹅ Prior to class:

  • Two readings on Sheng, by Dr. Bosire: Skim "Hybrid languages: The case of Sheng" but read "Sheng: Expressivity, creativity, and rebellion in Nairobi" 
  • Write one question  here  for Dr. Bosire by Sunday at noon

﹆﹅ In class:

*Holophrasis reflection due as a StoryMap in our ArcGIS course group, Tuesday (4/27)*

Wednesday, April 28th

﹆﹅ Prior to class:

  • Read pp. 35-47 (first case study) of  Irvine, J, & Gal, S.  (2000). “Language Ideology and Linguistic Differentiation.” In P.V. Kroskrity (Ed.), Regimes of Language. Santa Fe, NM: School of American Research Press. This  StoryMap  with some key terms may be useful.
  • Volunteer to present on your holophrasis assignment this Wednesday, if interested. (E-mail the professor prior.)
  • Begin drafting a conversational transcript for the final paper. You may optionally bring a copy to class to have workshopped. If you choose to do so, e-mail the professor the night prior with the transcript and a heads-up (so we're sure we get to it).

﹆﹅ In class:

  • Discuss erasure, fractal recursivity, and iconization (Irvine & Gal)
  • Workshop option: final paper transcripts

*By Sunday at 9pm, optionally send the professor (cecile.evers@pomona.edu) 1-2 pages of prose that will come to form part of your final paper. Feedback will be given! (Entitle the e-mail "189L draft.")*

Week Fifteen ⫣ Final Touches ⫦

Monday, May 3rd

﹆﹅ Prior to class:

  • Prepare questions for professor regarding your analysis, the prompt, your CA paper revisions, etc.
  • Sign up for an optional meeting on Monday  here 

﹆﹅ In class:

  • One-on-one meetings with professor about final paper, scheduled prior (no full-class meeting)

Wednesday, May 5th

﹆﹅ Prior to class:

  • Prepare a 1-page visual (e.g., Google Doc, StoryMap, Word doc) to share with your peers, including: your research question, 1-2 transcript excerpts drawn from CA transcript or final paper transcript, and how this example illustrates one of the interesting, important findings of your research for 189L.
  • Ideally, you would speak for 2-3 mins. max, and then we could have 2 mins. of discussion. This timing will allow everyone to share a slide of their research.

﹆﹅ In class:

  • Each student shares a bit of their research (see instructions above)
  • *A wrap-up class StoryMap with a voice-over will be sent around this week, for perusal at your whim*

*Please fill out a course evaluation before 5/9.* (The link should have come to your e-mail.)

*Peer review due to peer and professor on 5/10, via e-mail.*

*Final paper due Wednesday (5/12), as a PDF on Dropbox (Last name_Final)*