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100-Level Introductory Linguistics (Writing- Intensive)
DISCOVERING LINGUISTIC KNOWLEDGE
My goal is to show that they already
know quite a lot and just don't realize it, because they don't have
the technical terms. Once you have a word for something and realize
this is a thing you know, it pulls it together. — Professor Iovanna
Condax
I liked the semantics research paper
because it gave me a chance to study the subject matter more in depth.
I got to use my brain to really analyze data that I collected and had
to formulate graphs to go along with it. I got a chance to really read
up on semantics. — Student
COURSE GOALS
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Students will gain an
understanding of linguistics and be able to write about it. They
will see that what they know is embedded in and relevant to
their own experience; they will be unable to forget what they
have learned. Students will also realize their own ability to
write. They can break down the writing process and take it one
step at a time. |
I liked that all this writing
might have improved my writing ability.--Student |
WRITING ACTIVITY
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TOPICAL REVIEWS AND A LINGUISTIC ANALYSIS
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Students may opt to write ten
short essays or seven short essays and one research paper. Each
short essay addresses a particular aspect of linguistics, such
as animal communication, the relationship of language to women,
or psycholinguistics. For each short essay, students are first
given in-class prewriting exercises, or Timed Focused
Freewriting (see "Related Writing Activities" below),
which help students focus on specific topics and discover essay
ideas. |
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In-class exercises are taken
home, where students use them to write a first draft. Students
bring drafts to the next class; the instructor organizes
students into work groups in which they share their drafts and
receive peer feedback. Groups of students with drafts critique
each other on format: they tell each other whether they have a
complete essay (introduction, examples, conclusion, etc.),
explain what they feel is clear and unclear in the drafts, and
see if they can see the "big picture" in each essay.
The instructor may also have students write one-sentence
summaries of each essay. After a group has finished the critique
of each essay, student authors write notes on how they will
change their own essays. |
The most significant activity
comes when we go into groups and discuss our paper, because it
helps me by giving me more ideas on how to write my paper and
also what not to write in my paper.--Student
The
assignments were fun and kept my interest. But we had too many.
I would have enjoyed three or four longer assignments. I
concentrated so much on writing that the course topics did not
stay in my mind. But I began rewriting more often; I never did
that before.--Student
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After
peer feedback, students take their drafts home and revise them
to produce second drafts, which the instructor collects, reads,
and marks with suggestions for improvement (e.g.: "Think
about the order in which you want to present these ideas";
"Your paper needs an introduction and conclusion").
When the instructor returns the papers with comments to the
students, students are again to revise, then hand in a final
draft along with their original notes, freewrites, first draft,
student comments, second draft, and instructor comments. The
instructor reviews and grades the third drafts, sometimes
pointing out discarded material that can still be used in future
essays or revisions. Students who are not satisfied with their
grades may request more comments, revise accordingly, and again
turn in the essays, which will receive higher grades if they
show significant improvement.
To students who decide to write
the research paper, the instructor first gives the format
required for formal linguistics papers, from title and author
through references and appendices. The instructor then assigns
the "Cups" project on semantics. For this project,
students are given pictures of containers of various shapes,
which they are to show to 25 subjects. They ask each subject to
name each container ("cup," "bowl,"
"measuring cup," "mug," etc.), and record
the subject's answers. Students summarize data on graphs, and
compare and analyze the data as they apply to semantics.
Students write up draft research reports and bring them to class
for peer feedback from others who are also writing research
papers. They turn in revised drafts to the instructor, who
provides further feedback. Students then write a final draft and
hand it in with all their notes and drafts. The instructor
grades the research reports and hands them back to the students,
who may rewrite them again for improved grades. |
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PURPOSE:
The essays ensure that students learn fundamental concepts of
linguistics in such areas as grammar, vocabulary, the relation
of language changes to social process, and the manner in which
linguists study them. The essays also require students to
demonstrate that they have read, understood, and retained the
information in their text and can quote and cite it
appropriately. The research report allows advanced or ambitious
students to analyze a specific linguistic concern more deeply
than is possible in a short essay. |
The essays which we wrote on
related linguistic topics were the most significant because they
helped us to learn the material and at the same time improve our
writing skills. The essays were directly related to our learning
of the course topics. They gave us a chance to read and
understand the material by relating to it through our
writing.--Student |
RELATED ACTIVITIES
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The instructor directs students
to write on a specific topic for from thirty seconds (early in
the semester) up to ten minutes (late in the semester). In the
section on "Language and Women," for example, students
write down what they remember and observe about conversations
with people of the same and opposite genders. The instructor
walks among the students, observing what they write. Students
then discuss, compare, and analyze what they've written in small
work groups, then as a whole class. |
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PURPOSE:
Freewriting is done before a reading assignment, allowing the
instructor to draw upon students' experience and prepare them
for the reading. This activity also gets students started on
drafts by requiring them to write down all their ideas in class
and to relate their own observations to information in the
assigned reading. |
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Students are required to keep a
Thought-Process Written Record in which they write out what they
are thinking as they solve linguistic problems provided in their
text book. For each problem, they observe some data, do some
operations on them, and observe the results. Ideally, students
are to log in things such as: "I compared the morphological
forms in column one and column two. I found [these differences]
and assumed [this hypothesis] about them. After I completed my
comparison, I found my hypothesis was valid." Though these
"records" are not graded, they must be completed and
turned in on time. Students who have not done the assignment
have points deducted. |
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PURPOSE:
The logs reinforce linguistic concepts and help students retain
the information, as well as get them to complete the problems.
The instructor is able to observe which students need help in
linguistic problem-solving, help them improve, and teach them
proper problem-solving techniques before exams. For students who
are solving problems correctly, the exercises reinforce
linguistic concepts as students discover them on their own. |
3. OBSERVATION NOTEBOOK
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On 20 separate occasions,
students are to record any observations they have made about
language — grammar, puns, dialect, etc. The notebook is in
first-draft form when students turn it in for a preliminary
grade. If it is not complete or contains linguistic mistakes,
they may revise it for a better grade. Notebooks are graded
according to the completeness of observations, quality of
linguistic interpretation, and the clarity with which the
different parts of the entry are differentiated. |
I liked the journal because it
gave me a clearer understanding of the topic and because it
related strictly to my experiences. I realized that I learned
something about that experience.--Student |
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PURPOSE:
The notebook gets students to think about linguistics on their
own, outside of class. It allows them to apply their linguistic
knowledge to interpret language in everyday life. |
4. EXAMS
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For the two midterms, the
instructor requires the students to review all the relevant
material. In class, each student writes an exam question. The
instructor edits the questions, compiles them, and distributes
the list as a study guide to the students. The instructor
selects four or five of the questions for the actual exam, which
requires answers in short-essay form.
For the final exam, students must
solve a linguistic problem and either answer four questions or
reproduce a two-page list of languages by families. |
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PURPOSE:
The students are required to review in order to formulate and
answer exam questions, thereby gaining a firmer grasp of the
material. |
Professor Condax
comments on her class (excerpts from an interview):
When I give students a grade, I
mine all the material that they have discarded and could still
use and point out to them how much they discard, so they don't
feel so bad about rewriting.
They can always rewrite for an
improved grade because that will get the most rewriting out of
them.
What I find is that with this
two-step thought-process for problem solving, if I get them
early, I can teach them to solve the problem; and they can't
cheat or copy from somebody else. I give them similar problems
on exams. My aim is to have everybody get it basically right,
and that's been true ever since I've been requiring the
Thought-Process Written Records, whereas maybe 50% got it
basically right previously. I'd say that it does more to help
the poorer students than to help the quicker ones.
Another change : I supervise
three different groups at once (the research paper group, groups
with drafts, groups without drafts). I couldn't have done that
when I started. I feel that they do much better if they have
clear directions on how to do their feedback at any given level.
If I leave them on their own too soon, they tend to "talk
story."
You draw on things that they
already know, and once they've got their own experience on
paper, you say "That's half of your paper, the other half
is in your text book. Relate what they say in your book to
compare it to how things seem to you from your own direct
observation." I want them to learn linguistics, and to see
that it's embedded in their own experience in a way that they
won't be able to forget. . . . They have more material at their
command if they rely on their own observations.
Many students say they learned a
lot afterwards, but they sure complained along the way about
having to do too much. . . . And talking about writing takes
time in class. I used to cover about two-thirds as many topics
as in a non-WI class, but it's gotten to be a little bit more as
I get more skilled at talking about writing. It still isn't as
many topics as I used to cover, but then they didn't learn them
as well, so what was the use? |
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