California Polytechnic State University ~ English Department ~ Dr. J. Rubba, Instructor

English 503: Graduate Introduction to Linguistics
 Winter 2008

This page was updated on Jan. 3, 2008.

  • Time/Room: TR 4:10-6 pm  Room 10-200
  • Instructor: Dr. Johanna Rubba
  • Contact Info: Ofc. 47-35B  ~  Phone: 756-2184  ~  E-mail: jrubba@calpoly.edu
  • Website: http://www.cla.calpoly.edu/~jrubba
  • Office Hours: TBA
  • English Dept.: Phone: 756-2596    Fax: 756-6374

The best way to contact me outside of class or office hours is by e-mail. Response time may be up to 24 hours during the week, on rare occasions up to 48. Responses on weekends likely but not guaranteed. I usually return phone calls only in very urgent situations.

Course description:

This course will open your eyes to the richness and complexity of the human capacity to communicate via language. The approach is scientific and exacting, but yields many rewards. Most of you are serious students of literature, and literature is made of language. In addition to learning general facts about language structure, meaning, and function, course units will, as appropriate, include a sample of application of linguistics to literary analysis. Linguistics also has many applications in the "real world", from understanding how to approach teaching language arts in school to policing political doublespeak to coping with a relative suffering loss of language due to a brain injury.

The course will combine lecture with student participation via response to questions, group or individual work on in-class exercises, and discussion. Students should feel free to ask for clarification about any assigned reading, or to respond to an instructor's question with a question if that portion of the reading was not sufficiently clear or instructive.

Texts:

  • Edward Finegan, Language: Its Structure and Use, FIFTH EDITION, Thomson/Wadsworth 2008. El Corral Bookstore.

Course requirements:

  • Attendance is required. See my Attendance Policy at http://www.cla.calpoly.edu/~jrubba/policies/att.pol.html.
  • Participation: This includes asking questions, contributing to discussion, and engaging in group work and in-class exercises.
  • Homework: Written homework will be frequent and will be checked for progress and understanding, though not graded. If you do less than 75% of the written homework, your course grade will be lowered by one plus/minus point (e.g., a B+ will become a B).
  • Mid-term exam - may be in class or take-home
  • Final exam - may be in class or take-home
  • MA exam-style tests - Two; one analysis problem and one essay question. These will be given in class at mid term and during the final exam period, Thurs., Mar. 20th, 7 pm.

Grade distribution:

Participation 60 pts. 20%
Mid-term exam 60 pts. 20%
Final exam 90 pts. 30%
MA-style test I 45 pts. 15%
MA-style test II 45 pts. 15%
TOTAL 300 100%

COURSE PLAN
Any changes in this plan will be announced in a timely fashion.
For detailed reading and other assignments, please use the Syllabus & Assignments page.
Week
 Topic
 Week
Topic
Week 1 ~ 1/8-1/10
  • The nature of language
  • Finegan Ch. 1
Week 6 ~ 2/12-2/14
  • Syntax
  • Finegan Ch. 5
Week 2 ~ 1/15-1/17
  • Words
  • Finegan Ch. 2; web handout on morphology
Week 7 ~ 2/19-2/21
  • Semantics
  • Finegan Ch. 6
Week 3 ~ 1/22-1/24
  • Phonetics
  • Finegan Ch. 3
Week 8 ~ 2/26-2/28
  • Language Acquisition
  • Finegan Ch. 15
Week 4 ~ 1/29-1/31
  • Phonology
  • Finegan Ch. 4
Week 9 ~ 3/4-3/6
  • Speech Acts and Conversation Structure
  • Finegan Ch. 9
Week 5 ~ 2/5-2/7
  • Midterm
  • Begin Syntax
  • Finegan Ch. 5

Week 10 ~ 3/11-3/13
  • Language variation: Dialects
  • Finegan Ch. 11
Final exam Thurs. 3/20  7-10 pm