To be taught Summer II 2008 and Fall 2008

Meetings: See course schedules at www.ccsu.edu

Office Hours: TBA, or by appt

Course Objectives:

To develop an understanding of the basic ideas and terminology of modern linguistics and to explore some specific areas of the field in reading and writing.

Textbooks:

Mark Abley, Spoken Here: Travels among Threatened Languages (2003, Mariner Books)

K. David Harrison, When Languages Die: The extinction of the world's languages and the erosion of human knowledge (2007, Oxford Univ Press)

Assessment: (weightings may be shifted)

30% Workshop exercises (6 of 7 @ 5% each)
20% Midterm Exam
30% Written Project Report
20% Final Exam

Exams: The exams cover material related to an introductory overview of linguistics at the beginning of the semester and to the content of the textbooks. All work on them must be individual without the help of materials such as notes or the book. I tend to write tests with at least a couple very difficult questions, but I also always grade them on a curve.
Project: TBA .

For further specifics about this course, contact the instructor.