Valentina Pagliai

ANTH 204 - INTRODUCTION TO LINGUISTIC ANTHROPOLOGY

Professor: Valentina Pagliai

Oberlin College

MWF 1:30pm-2:20pm

Office: King 320a

Phone: (440) 775-8372 office

(440) 774-6270 home

Office Hours: MWF 2:30-3:30pm

(Or by appointment)

E-mail: valentina.pagliai@oberlin.edu

Tutor: Erin Grady

Office hours: T-Th 1:30-2:30pm

Office: King 320a

Course Description: This course furnishes an introduction to core concepts and methodology pertaining to the analysis of language. Students will explore key areas of current research, including sociolinguistics, language socialization, language and gender, non-verbal communication, and literacy. Through practical exercises, the students will learn foundations in phonology, morphology, and syntax, as well as basic discourse analysis transcription skills. The course is intended as a basis for more advanced courses in linguistic anthropology and in related areas, and no prior training is required.

Course Goals: My main goal in this course is to give an overview, albeit necessarily partial, of studies on language. At the same time, I would like to raise the studentsπ interest in communication, by showing how such an apparently esoteric discipline may actually have quite practical applications. The course is divided into two parts. In a ≥Monday series≤ of lessons, we will learn the basics of structural linguistics analysis of language: from phonology to morphology, from syntax to semantics. Priority will be given to learning by doing, through series of exercises to be done both in class and at home. A tutor will be available to help the students finish the exercises successfully. The remainder of the course will focus on some of the most classic topics studied by sociolinguists and linguistic anthropologists. Priority will be given to the discussion of the reading material; the lessons will also include videos and students presentations, as well as traditional lectures. The goal is to keep a dialogue alive around each topic, aiming at showing their connection to the present day lives and experiences of the students, and to the phenomena that are affecting our society today.

Texts:

1) Bonvillain, Nancy 1993. Language, Culture and Communication: The Meaning of Messages. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice-Hall.

2) Lippi-Green, Rosina 1997. English with an Accent: Language Ideology and Discrimination in the United States. New York: Routledge.

3) Additional Readings: Copies of the course's additional readings are in E-res.

Note: All Readings and Exercises are to be done by the date they are listed on the syllabus. All videos listed will be shown in class.

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WEEK 0

F 9/3 -- Introduction. Preview of the course: goals, readings, requirements, grading. Linguistic Anthropology as a subfield of Anthropology.

Discussion Assignment (#1) Given: Prepare questions for class discussion.

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WEEK 1

W 9/8 -- Language in Society, Communication and Performance.

Readings: - Finnegan, Ruth 2001 ≥Not the Message: Media, Meanings and Magicality.≤ In H. Knoblauch & H. Kotthoff (Eds.) Verbal Art across Cultures: The Aesthetics and Proto-Aesthetics of Communication. Tubingen: Gunter Narr Verlag. Pp. 33-58. (E-res)

F 9/10 -- Sociolinguistics.

Readings: - Bonvillain, Ch. 1, ≥Introduction≤ pp. 1-5.

- Bonvillain, Ch. 6. ≥Social Stratification≤ ≥Caste≤ and ≥Class≤ pp. 140-159.

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WEEK 2

W 9/15 -- Dialects and Varieties in the United States:

Video: ≥American Tongues.≤

F 9/17 – Discussion: What is a language? What is a standard language?

Readings: - Lippi-Green, ≥Introduction,≤ "The Myth of Non-Accent," ≥The standard Language Myth≤ & ≥Language Ideology and the language subordination model,≤ pp. 3-6 & pp. 41-73.

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WEEK 3

W 9/22 – Linguistic Variation. Dialects and Varieties, Communicative Style and Speech Communities.

F 9/24 – Linguistic and its ideologies.

Readings: - Lippi-Green ≥Hillbillies, rednecks, and southern belles≤ pp. 202-216.

- Lippi-Green, ≥Language ideologies in the workplace and the judicial system≤ pp. 152-170.

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WEEK 4

W 9/29 – Language and discrimination. (1^st group presentation)

1^st exam distributed (take home)

Readings: - Lippi-Green ≥The stranger within the gates≤ pp. 217-239.

F 10/1 – African American Vernacular English: Characteristics and History.

1^st exam due.

Readings: - Bonvillain Ch. 6, ≥race≤ pp. 159-178.

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WEEK 5

W 10/6 -- Language, Ideologies, and the Ebonics controversy. (2^nd group presentation)

Readings: - Lippi-Green, pp. 176-201.

F 10/8 – Sociolinguistics: Language Change. Languages in Contact. What happens when languages meet? Pidginization, Creolization and Language Generation. Where did Tok Pisin came from?

Readings: - Bonvillain Ch. 12, pp. 336-339 only.

- Bickerton, D. 1983. ≥Creole Languages.≤ In Wang (ed.) The Emergence of Language. Papers from Scientific American. (E-res)

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WEEK 6

W 10/13 -- Sociolinguistics: Language change continued.

Video: ≥Next Yearπs Words≤ (from the series ≥Story of English≤).

F 10/15 – Sociolinguistics: Language change continued. (3^rd group presentation)

2^nd Exam distributed (take home)

Readings: - Alleyne, M. 1988. The Roots of Jamaican Culture. London: Pluto Press, Ch. 1 & 6. (E-res)

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WEEK 7 - FALL BREAK

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WEEK 8

W 10/27 -- Linguistic Anthropology in the panorama of the studies on language. The disciplines studying language. Structural approaches, Performance approaches.

2^nd Exam due

Assignment #2 Distributed

Readings: - Duranti, Alessandro 1997. "The Scope of Linguistic Anthropology" in Linguistic Anthropology. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Pp. 1-22. (E-res)

- Duranti, Alessandro 1997. "Transcription: From Writing to Digitized Images" in Linguistic Anthropology. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Pp. 134-144. (E-res)

F 10/29 – The study of everyday speech.

Video ≥In a Manner of Speaking.≤

Readings: - Bonvillain, ch. 5, ≥Structural Properties of conversation≤ p. 111-116.

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WEEK 9

W 11/2 -- Transcription as theory: Transcription & Translation.

Readings: - Duranti, Alessandro 1997. "Transcription: From Writing to Digitized Images" in Linguistic Anthropology. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Pp. 144-161. (E-res)

F 11/5 -- Transcription as theory: Transcription & Translation.

Assignment #2 Due

Readings:

- Tedlock, D. 1983 "On the Translation of Style in Oral Narrative." in Spoken Word and the Work of Interpretation. Philadelphia: UP Press, pp. 31-56. (E-res)

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WEEK 10

W 11/10 – First Language Acquisition and Language Socialization.

Readings: - Bonvillain, ch. 9 pp. 241-268, ch. 10 pp. 272-295.

F 11/12 -- First Language Acquisition and Language Socialization.

Readings: - Ochs, E. 1982. ≥Talking to Children in Western Samoa.≤ Language in Society. (E-res)

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WEEK 11

W 11/17 – First Language Acquisition and Language Socialization. (4^th Group Presentation)

Readings: - Lippi-Green, pp. 79-103.

F 11/19 -- Nonverbal Communication.

3^rd Exam distributed

Video: ≥Body Language≤

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WEEK 12

W 11/24 -- Nonverbal Communication: Gestures, Paralanguage, Prosody, Proxemics and use of space.

3^rd Exam Due

Readings: - Bonvillain, ch. 2, ≥non-verbal communication≤ p. 35-43.

- Miller, Laura 1991. ≥Verbal Listening Behavior in Conversations Between Japanese and Americans." In Blommaert & Verschueren (Eds.) The Pragmatics of Intercultural and International Communication. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. (Pp. 111-130). (E-res)

F 11/26 -- THANKSGIVING HOLIDAY

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WEEK 13

M 11/29 -- Intercultural Communication: Cross-Talk.

Video: ≥Cross-Talk≤

Readings: - Jupp, T. C., C. Roberts, and J. Cook-Gumperz 1982. ≥Language and Disadvantage: The Hidden Process." In J. Gumperz (ed.) Language and Social Identity. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. (Pp. 232-56). (E-res)

W 12/1 -- Intercultural Communication: Cross-Talk, continued: (5^th Group Presentation)

Readings: - Bunte, Pamela and R. Franklin 1992. ≥You can't get there from here: Taking Southern Paiute testimony as intercultural communication." Anthropological Linguistics 34: 19-44. (E-res)

F 12/3 -- Literacy

Readings: - Brice-Heath, Shirley 1982 ≥What No Bedtime Stories Means.≤ Language in Society 11/1:49-76. (E-res)

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WEEK 14

M 12/6 – Literacy.

Readings: - Duranti, A. & E. Ochs, "Literacy instruction in Western Samoa," in B. Schieffelin & P. Gilmore (Eds.) The Acquisition of Literacy: Ethnographic Perspectives, Ablex, Norwood, NJ, 1986, pp. 213-233. (E-res)

W 12/8 -- Literacy. (6^th Group Presentation)

Readings: - Lippi-Green ≥The Educational System≤ pp. 104-132.

F 12/10 -- Language and Gender.

Readings: - Bonvillain, ch. 7, pp. 181-213, ch. 8, pp. 216-239.

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WEEK 15

M 12/13 -- Language, Gender and Power: (7^th Group Presentation) Concluding Remarks & Final Review.

Readings: - Ochs, E. and Taylor, C. 1995. "The 'Father Knows Best' Dynamic in Dinnertime Narratives." In Hall and Bucholtz (eds.) Gender Articulated. New York: Routledge. (E-res)

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MONDAY CLASSES IN STRUCTURAL LINGUISTICS

Note: In-class exercises will be done, and other exercises will be assigned as homework every week.

Week 2 -- M 9/13 -- Phonetics.

Readings: - ≥Language Files≤ Department of Linguistics, Ohio State University. Pp. 45-47, 49-57. (E-res)

Week 3 -- M 9/20 -- Phonetics.

Readings: - "Language Files" Pp. 65-76. (E-res)

Week 4 -- M 9/27 -- Phonology.

Readings: - "Language Files" Pp. 89-93, 95-98, 101-106. (E-res)

Week 5 -- M 10/4 -- Phonology.

Readings: - "Language Files" Pp. 117-119. (E-res)

Week 6 -- M 10/11 -- Morphology.

Readings: - "Language Files" Pp. 127-130, 133-135, 137-141, 143-146. (E-res)

Week 8 -- M 10/25 -- Morphology.

Readings: - "Language Files" Pp. 157-161. (E-res)

Week 9 -- M 11/1 -- Syntax.

Readings: - Fromkin, Victoria & Robert Rodman 1993. "Syntax: The Sentence Patterns of Language" In An Introduction to Language" Holt, Rinehart & Winston. Pp. 72-97. (E-res)

Week 10 -- M 11/8 -- Syntax.

Readings: - Fromkin&Rodman ≥Syntax: The Sentence Patterns of Language≤ Pp. 97-113. (E-res)

Week 11 -- M 11/15 -- Semantics.

Readings: - Bonvillain Ch.2 pp. 28-30 ≥Semantics;≤ Ch. 3 pp. 51-57 ≥Lexical and cultural categories≤ (≥Ethnoscience≤ excluded).

- Spradley, James P. 1988 ≥Pick up your Bed and Walk.≤ In You Owe Yourself a Drunk: An Ethnography of Urban Nomads. Lanham: University Press of America. (E-res)

Week 12 -- M 11/22 – Pragmatics.

Readings: - Bonvillain CH. 4 ≥Speech Acts≤ pp. 92-94 & ≥Routines≤ pp. 102-108.

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FINALS' WEEK

Final Exam: Monday December 20, 9-11am

The final exam may include comprehensive questions on all previous material.

According to college policy, I cannot reschedule your final exam. In exceptional cases, the Dean of Studies, Dr. Katherine Stuart, can approve of such a rescheduling. If you think an exceptional case applies to you, please talk to her about it.

Course Policies:

Code of honor

The Oberlin College Students' Code of Honor applies to the course, please familiarize yourself with it: http://www.oberlin.edu/students/student_pages/honor_code.html

Readings should be completed by the day they are listed on the syllabus; this will help you follow lectures and prepare for lectures and section.

Exercises are due at the beginning of the class session. I will NOT accept exercises submitted by e-mail. More information about the Exercises will be distributed later on, during the course.

Late Exercises

Exercises must be turned in on time at the beginning of class. Exercises will be graded down 1 point for each day that they are late.

Participation to class Discussions is fundamental. These may be done in smaller or larger groups. Some discussions may involve the whole class together.

Presence in class is expected, and I will take the roll at the beginning of each class. Students present at the roll will receive 1 point. Students who are late may not be recorded.

Grades:

First exam (take home) 5 % of final grade

Second exam (take home) 5 %

Third exam (take home) 10 %

Final Exam 25 %

Homework Exercises 20 %

Class presentation (group project) 10 %

Participation (discussions & assignments) 20 %

Presence in class 5 %

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100 %

A+ = 96% of grade; A = 93%; A- = 90%, B+ = 86%; B = 82%; B- = 78%; C+ = 74%; C = 70%; C- = 60%; NE = Less than 60%; D = 55%; F = Less than 55%.

Final Note: Although the syllabus will be followed as much as possible, it is intended as a guideline and circumstances may require a change to the schedule. Students are responsible for any changes announced in class.