Teaching

Spring 2020

ALIN/AANT 421: Advanced Syntax
ALIN/AANT 423: Linguistic Structures

Tuesday and Friday 12:00-1:00
Arts and Sciences 239

Taught every fall semester
Prerequisite: Introduction to Linguistics
The human ability to produce and understand an infinite number of different sentences is one of the most remarkable. The study of the structure of sentences is called syntax, and this course is an introduction to syntactic theory in a generative framework, which aims to formulate a set of logical rules capable of generating any possible sentence in language.

Taught most spring semesters;
Prerequisite: Introduction to Syntax
Advanced Syntax brings students closer to the state-of-the-art of syntactic analysis in areas such as ellipsis, raising and control, case theory. In this course we dedicate more time to looking at data from diverse languages in order to further develop skills analyzing data from unfamiliar languages and to prepare students to succeed in courses like Field Methods and Linguistic Structures.

Taught every fall semester (faculty rotate); language changes year to year
Prerequisite: Introduction to Syntax or Introduction to Phonology (preferably both)
The main objective of this course is for students to collect primary language data through direct work with a native speaker of a language they do not speak and probably have never even encountered. In addition to learning elicitation and transcription techniques, students gain experience forming generalizations about the language data they collect, using that data to test linguistic hypotheses, and developing original linguistic analyses.

Prerequisite: Introduction to Syntax or Introduction to Phonology (preferably both)
This course offers students the opportunity to investigate the structure of a language family (or linguistic area) in great depth. Students are provided with a reference grammar (or set of papers), which will serve as the primary source for information about the phonological, morphological, and syntactic structure for the language they are assigned.

Taught periodically; often online
This course provides an introduction to the study of linguistics through the specific lens of African American English (AAE). As is the case for all human languages, AAE is rule-governed and complex; however, it continues to be plagued by social stigma in many arenas. This course focuses on AAE's distinctive features in the areas of sound and sentence structure, as well as topics in linguistic anthropology, e.g. the impact of language ideology on AAE speaking communities. This course provides students with a basic understanding of the field of linguistics, specific structural knowledge about one variety of English, and an opportunity for reflection on mainstream attitudes towards a low prestige dialect, in light of linguistic evidence.

Taught periodically; often online
By the time children are about six years old, they speak at least one language in much the same way as the adults around them. Anyone who has tried to learn a language later in life knows that this is a striking achievement, especially when considering how poorly children execute many other basic activities. This course focuses on the patterns and generalizations found in the behavior of children acquiring English, but we consider data from children acquiring other languages as well. This course provides students with a basic understanding of the field of linguistics through the specific lens of child language acquisition.