Field Methods II

3 Credits · Level: Graduate, Undergraduate

This course is a second class in Field Methods. It is a continuation of field methods I class from the fall Semester. It provides an opportunity for continuous fieldwork activity in investigating a language through one-on-one interviews with a native speaker. The class aims to train students on s-side data collection and management. As a follow-up we will work together as a class to develop a descriptive sketch of the language following from the previous semester, while simultaneously developing elicitation, transcription, and data analysis skills. Students will also be exposed to grant writing applications for the development of their own future projects in linguistics. Students will elicit, record, transcribe, and analyze data from a least documented language. The class as a whole will complete an online, searchable database of the language, and a (publicly available) description of various aspects of the language. Individually, students will be responsible for describing and analyzing one particular area of the language in depth, which can be related to any area of theoretical linguistics, including phonetics, phonology, morphology, syntax, or semantics as well as pragmatics and any aspect of surrogate language. This work will culminate in a final project that will be of publishable quality for onward presentation at a conference. Students who have already taken Field Methods in the Fall or previous years are welcome to enroll in this class.