ENGLISH WORDS: GRAMMAR, CULTURE, MIND
Words and rules of combination (grammar) are the two basic building blocks of language. Looks at English words from different linguistic perspectives: As objects of grammar, words follow certain rules of combination (you wouldn't say "these dog"), but they also have internal structure. For example, a word like "hopefulness is fine", while "hopenessful" does not exist. From a psycholinguistic perspective examine how children learn these formal properties as well as the meaning of words. Study how words are stored in the mind and what one can learn from situations in which one cannot access the mental dictionary properly (for example, when one feels a word is on "the tip of one's tongue"). From a sociolinguistic perspective, look at historical and current influences on English vocabulary, including the role of dictionaries and spelling as a source of standardization.
Prerequisites & course information
Requisites: Sophomore standing Course Designation: Core GenEd - Humanities & Arts Breadth - Humanities or Social Science Level - Intermediate L&S Credit - L&S Liberal Arts and Science Grad 50% - Counts toward 50% graduate coursework requirement Repeatable for Credit: No Last Taught: Fall 2024 Learning Outcomes: 1. Analyze English words from a structural, psycholinguistic, and sociolinguistic perspective. Audience: Both Grad & Undergrad 2. Analyze linguistic structures relevant to language acquisition, use, or variation. Audience: Both Grad & Undergrad 3. Analyze relationships among society, literature, and language that underlie the construction of beliefs. Audience: Both Grad & Undergrad 4. Assess the state of a body of scholarly literature related to course themes, identify gaps in that literature, and formulate and pursue an original research question in the context of those gaps. Audience: Graduate Learning Outcomes: 1. Analyze English words from a structural, psycholinguistic, and sociolinguistic perspective. Audience: Both Grad & Undergrad 2. Analyze linguistic structures relevant to language acquisition, use, or variation. Audience: Both Grad & Undergrad 3. Analyze relationships among society, literature, and language that underlie the construction of beliefs. Audience: Both Grad & Undergrad 4. Assess the state of a body of scholarly literature related to course themes, identify gaps in that literature, and formulate and pursue an original research question in the context of those gaps. Audience: Graduate
Sources
- Course catalogue ↗2026-2027