Anthropology 208 (Fall 2015 Term)
Linguistic Anthropology Syllabus
Instructor: Joseph Hill <[email protected]> Class time: T & Th 12:30-1:50 PM
Office: 13-29 Tory Class meeting place: Tory B-38
Telephone: 780-492-5889 Fax: 780-492-5273 Office Hours: W 10-11:50 AM or by appointment
Personal Website: https://sites.google.com/a/ualberta.ca/joseph-hill/
TAs: Kateryna Pashkovska <[email protected]>, Faun Rice <[email protected]>
TA Office Hours: Th 11-12 AM (TA office in Tory 13-11) Course Website: https://eclass.srv.ualberta.ca/
Course Prerequisites None
Course Description and Objectives
Linguistic Anthropology is the subfield of anthropology that studies the use of language in human societ - ies. In this course, we will explore several questions: What do we mean when we say “language” or “a lan - guage”? To what uses do people put language? How do people use different ways of speaking in different contexts or for different effects? How can language serve to marginalize, empower, differentiate, inspire, advocate, and so on? Students will learn theoretical concepts and practical methods to analyze concrete instances of language use from an anthropological perspective.
This course will combine in-class discussions of readings from linguistic anthropologists, sociolinguistics, and theorists of language with assignments requiring students to transcribe and analyze conversations and other kinds of speech. Our readings and assignments will examine numerous aspects of language, includ - ing code-switching (mixing more than one language in the same conversation or text), registers (different ways of speaking the same language for different purposes, for example academic vs. street talk), lexical borrowing (using a word from a foreign language), language ideologies (speakers’ awareness of the social and political connotations of ways of speaking), rhetoric (the art or technique of speaking effectively to one’s audience, including word choice, argumentation, tone of voice, body language, code- and register- switching).
We will see that language is not merely a system of sounds for communicating but is inseparable from so - cial context, politics, and the purposes to which people use it.
The course begins with an overview of linguistic anthropology as a field and its relation to other fields, such as (formerly) anthropological linguistics, (closely related) sociolinguistics, and the rest of the larger field of anthropology. We then discuss language as action and performance, looking at communicative events, speech acts, and speech genres. In the next section we will look at the relationships between mul - tiple languages in multilingualism, code- and register-switching, and hybrid languages. Then we will ex - amine how language relates to gender, class, and other social distinctions. This includes looking at “lan - guage ideologies,” or ideas and attitudes people have about language, especially how different forms of language are understood to represent class, nation, religion, moral qualities, and so on.
Texts
All readings will be available on line through eclass or the library web site, except for the main text, called
“Bonvillain” in the assignment schedule:
Bonvillain, Nancy. 2013. Language, Culture, and Communication. 7Th or 6th ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ:
Pearson Education.
This course also requires an i>Clicker (available in the bookstore). You may use version 1, 2, or Go (smart phone or other portable device). I will use it to take attendance, to administer quizzes, and to poll stu - dents to stimulate discussion and reflection. The new i>Clickers can be expensive, but a used version 1 or Go is much cheaper. To get credit, you must register your i>Clicker this semester on the University of Al- berta’s website (https://iclick.ctl.ualberta.ca/).
Hint on Downloading Scholarly Articles: For scholarly articles available in databases to which the uni - versity subscribes, the university encourages professors not to provide direct links, instead encouraging students to learn to find these articles on their own. I am therefore adopting this policy. Usually, it is very easy to find scholarly articles simply by going to Google Scholar ( http://scholar.google.ca) or the library web site (http://library.ualberta.ca/) and entering the author’s name and the title of the article (or a few key words from it). Make sure you find the article with the exact title, author, and publication name and date, not something sort of like it. In most cases, if you are off campus, you have to use a proxy server to download the actual PDF. One way of doing this is to start your Google search through EZProxy by adding “.login.ezproxy.library.ualberta.ca” to the end of the server address (http://scholar.google.ca.lo- gin.ezproxy.library.ualberta.ca/), after which anything linked to from Google will also be through the proxy server. Or you may add the same suffix to the server name (before any slashes) of the database host- ing the PDF. For example, if you search for “Casasanto Who’s Afraid of the Big Bad Whorf” on Google Scholar and get this URL— http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1467-9922.2008.00462.x/ab- stract—paste the bolded EZProxy address after the server name (to make http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com.- login.ezproxy.library.ualberta.ca/doi/10.1111/j.1467-9922.2008.00462.x/abstract). You’ll have to enter your university ID and password, after which you can download the PDF. Personally, I installed an EZ - Proxy plugin on Chrome (also available on Firefox and other browsers), which makes a button on my browser that automatically changes the address (after I set it up correctly by specifying the prozy domain as “login.ezproxy.library.ualberta.ca”). This way I never have to remember what to copy and paste into the address to go through the proxy server.
Another tip on sources: For citations/bibliographies/note-taking I strongly recommend—even require for my advanced students and graduate students—the use of a bibliographic citation manager. I personally use the free program Zotero (http://www.zotero.org/), which has transformed the way I keep track of aca- demic references, web links, PDFs, and notes by allowing me to do all that in one place, plus automatic - ally generating citations and bibliographies in all my papers (and in the reading schedule below—all those references are automatically generated by Zotero). While using Zotero, whenever you come across an article or web page on line that you want to save, you just click the little Zotero icon and it automatic - ally saves the reference and the PDF (if using EZProxy). As you read the article, you can take notes in Zotero, then when you’re writing a paper, you can instantly add the reference as a citation and biblio - graphy entry.
Grade Distribution
Class participation/attendance 10%
Reading journal (turned in weekly) 20%
Midterm exam, multiple choice 20%
Final exam, multiple choice 25%
Assignments
The semester’s grade will come from a midterm and final exam, two transcription/analysis assignments, a weekly reading journal, and class participation/attendance.
Reading journals. The reading journal is comprised of short responses to each of the readings and is due through eClass before Thursday’s class session each week. Each week’s entry should be around 500-600 words (or more if you wish). The main purpose is to demonstrate that you actually read and thought about the assigned readings. For full credit, each week’s entry must adequately discuss each reading as - signed for that week. The score is out of 10 points each week (5 per class period).
Transcription and analysis. Two transcription assignments will give you practical experience transcrib - ing and analyzing actual speech. The first transcription assignment will emphasize accurate transcription, while the second will emphasize applying some of the analytical concepts we’re learning in order to com - ment on the social consequences of speech. The second transcription should reference several readings and linguistic anthropological concepts to show you know how to apply these ideas. More specific in - structions will be posted to eClass. A grading rubric will explain the components that make up the percent - age grade.
The midterm and final exam will both consist primarily of multiple choice. There may be a few fill-in- the-blank and/or short answer.
Participation and attendance count for 10% of the grade. They will be primarily recorded through par - ticipation in i>Clicker roll-call and polls. But a perfect participation mark requires regular oral participa - tion in class discussion, contributions to the eClass discussion forum, and/or discussing with the pro - fessor and/or TAs outside class.
Academic Integrity
The University of Alberta is committed to the highest standards of academic integrity and honesty. Students are expected to be familiar with these standards regarding academic honesty and to uphold the policies of the Univer - sity in this respect. Students are particularly urged to familiarize themselves with the provisions of the Code of Stu- dent Behaviour (online at http://www.governance.ualberta.ca/en/CodesofConductandResidenceCommunityS- tandards/CodeofStudentBehaviour.aspx) and avoid any behaviour that could potentially result in suspicions of cheating, plagiarism, misrepresentation of facts and/or participation in an offence. Academic dishonesty is a serious offence and can result in suspension or expulsion from the University.
Learning and working environment
The Faculty of Arts is committed to ensuring that all students, faculty and staff are able to work and study in an environment that is safe and free from discrimination and harassment. It does not tolerate behaviour that under - mines that environment. The department urges anyone who feels that this policy is being violated to:
• Discuss the matter with the person whose behaviour is causing concern; or
• If that discussion is unsatisfactory, or there is concern that direct discussion is inappropriate or threatening, dis - cuss it with the Chair of the Department.
For additional advice or assistance regarding this policy you may contact the student ombudservice:
(http://www.ombudservice.ualberta.ca/ ). Information about the University of Alberta Discrimination and Harass - ment Policy and Procedures can be found in the GFC Policy Manual, section 44 available at http://gfcpoli- cymanual.ualberta.ca/.
Plagiarism and Cheating
All students should consult the “Truth-In-Education” handbook or Website (
http://www.uofaweb.ualberta.ca/TIE/) regarding the definitions of plagiarism and its consequences when detected.
Students involved in language courses and translation courses should be aware that on-line “translation engines”
produce very dubious and unreliable “translations.” Students in language courses should be aware that, while seek - ing the advice of native or expert speakers is often helpful, excessive editorial and creative help in assignments is considered a form of “cheating” that violates the code of student conduct with dire consequences. An instructor or coordinator who is convinced that a student has handed in work that he or she could not possibly reproduce without outside assistance is obliged, out of consideration of fairness to other students, to report the case to the Associate Dean of the Faculty. Before unpleasantness occurs consult http://www.uofaweb.ualberta.ca/TIE/; also discuss this matter with any tutor(s) and with your instructor.
It has become so easy to copy and paste information freely that plagiarism for many feels as natural as eating and breathing. Make sure you are familiar with the rules of properly citing sources, and clearly identify all words and ideas that you take from others. If you have any doubt that what you have written might count as plagiarism, have someone look at it and advise you before you turn it in.
All instances of plagiarism will be referred to the Associate Dean for disciplinary action.
Recording of Lectures
Audio or video recording of lectures, labs, seminars or any other teaching environment by students is allowed only with the prior written consent of the instructor or as a part of an approved accommodation plan. Recorded mater - ial is to be used solely for personal study, and is not to be used or distributed for any other purpose without prior written consent from the instructor.
Attendance, Absences, and Missed Grade Components:
Regular attendance is essential for optimal performance in any course. In cases of potentially excusable absences due to illness or domestic affliction, notify your instructor by e-mail within two days. Regarding absences that may be excusable and procedures for addressing course components missed as a result, consult sections 23.3(1) and 23.5.6 of the University Calendar. Be aware that unexcused absences will result in partial or total loss of the grade for the “attendance and participation” component(s) of a course, as well as for any assignments that are not handed-in or completed as a result.
In this course, I will take attendance during most class sessions, and each unexcused absence after the first two absences will result in losing 2.5% of the final grade. Thus, six unexcused absences result in losing 10% in the overall course grade. More than six unexcused absences may result in failure in the course.
Policy for Late Assignments
Late assignments will lose 10% of their grade per late day. If you have extenuating circumstances such as an illness that prevent you from completing an assignment on time, you must inform me in writing (preferably by email) as soon as possible (before the due date) to seek authorization to turn in an assign - ment late. I will use my discretion to determine whether the excuse is substantiated.
Grading
Marks for assignments, tests, and exams are given in percentages, to which letter grades are assigned ac - cording to the table below. The final letter grade is calculated using the same scale following the grade distribution above.
Percentage Letter Grade Grade Point Value
Excellent 95-100 A+ 4.0
85-89 A- 3.7
Good 80-84 B+ 3.3
74-79 B 3.0
70-73 B- 2.7
Satisfactory 66-69 C+ 2.3
62-65 C 2.0
58-61 C- 1.7
Poor 54-57 D+ 1.3
Minimal pass 50-53 D 1.0
Failure 0-49 F 0.0
Reading and Assignment Schedule
All readings listed for a particular date must be completed before the class period on that day. While and immediately after you read, you should also note down your observations and thoughts to use in your reading journal (see above), which you should write before each class in order to be prepared for the lec - ture and discussion.
The assignment schedule may be subject to minor changes that will not increase course workload. EClass will always reflect the most recent version of the schedule.
What is Language? What Is Linguistic Anthropology?
Tues, 9/1 Introduction Thurs, 9/3 What is Language?
Bonvillain, Chapter 1, “Introduction,” 1-6.
Burling, Robbins. 2005. “Smiles, Winks, and Words.” In The Talking Ape: How Language Evolved, 23–47. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press.
Tues, 9/8 Bonvillain, Chapter 2, “The Form of the Message,” 7-37.
Language, Thought, and Culture: Sapir/Whorf and Alternatives Thurs, 9/10 Bonvillain, Chapter 3, “Language and Cultural Meaning,” 38-69.
Tues, 9/15 Whorf, Benjamin Lee. 1941. “The Relation of Habitual Thought and Behavior to Language.” In Language, Culture, and Personality: Essays in Memory of Edward Sapir, 197–215. Sapir Memorial Publication Fund: Menasha, WI.
Thurs, 9/17 Casasanto, Daniel. 2008. Who’s Afraid of the Big Bad Whorf? Crosslinguistic Differences in Temporal Language and Thought. Language Learning 58: 63–79.
Lakoff, George, and Mark Johnson. 1980. Chapter 1 & 2 of Metaphors We Live By.
Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Tues, 9/22 Everett, Daniel L. 2005. Cultural Constraints on Grammar and Cognition in Piraha.
Current Anthropology 46, no. 4: 621-646.
Speech as Social Action: Performance and Face-to-Face Encounters
Thurs, 9/24 Bonvillain, Chapter 4, “Contextual Components: Outline of an Ethnography of Communication,” 70-101.
Tues, 9/29 Austin, John L. 1962. How to do Things with Words, Chapters 1-2 (1-24). Cambridge:
Harvard University Press.
Thurs, 10/1 Goffman, Erving. 1969. On Face-Work. In Where the Action is: Three Essays, 1-36.
London: Allen Lane.
Tues, 10/6 Bonvillain, Chapter 5, “Communicative Interactions,” 102-126.
Thurs, 10/8 Irvine, Judith T. 1993. Insult and Responsibility: Verbal Abuse in a Wolof Village. In Responsibility and Evidence in Oral Discourse, ed by. Jane H. Hill and Judith T. Irvine, 105–134. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Social Distinction: Class, Race, and Gender Tues, 10/13 Class and Race
Bonvillain, Chapter 9, “Societal Segmentation and Linguistic Variation: Class and Race,”
205-239.
Thurs, 10/15 Labov, William. 1973. “The Linguistic Consequences of Being a Lame.” Language in Society 2 (1) (April): 81–115.
Transcription #1 due by midnight
Tues, 10/20 Alim, H. Samy. 2006. “‘Bring It to the Cypher’: Hip Hop Nation Language.” In Roc the Mic Right: The Language of Hip Hop Culture, 69–108. New York and London:
Routledge.
Thurs, 10/22 Midterm exam in class.
Tues, 10/27 Gender
Bonvillain, Chapter 10, “Language and Gender,” 240-281.
Thurs, 10/29 Hall, Kira. 2002. “‘Unnatural’ Gender in Hindi.” In Gender Across Languages: The Linguistic Representation of Women and Men, edited by Marlis Hellinger and Hadumod Bußmann, 2:133–162. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.
“Heteroglossia”: Social Languages, Dialects, Registers, and Code-switching Tues, 11/3 Bonvillain, Chapter 11, “Multilingual Nations,” 282-315.
Thurs, 11/5 Bakhtin, Mikhail. 1981. “Discourse in the Novel.” In The Dialogic Imagination: Four Essays, edited by Michael Holquist, 259–422. Austin: University of Texas Press. [See note on which pages.]
Tues, 11/10,
Thurs, 11/12 Reading week – no class
Tues, 11/17 Goffman, Erving. 1981. Footing. In Forms of Talk, 124-159. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press.
Thurs, 11/19 Bonvillain, Chapter 12, “Bilingual Communities,” 316-353.
Tues, 11/24 Hybrid Languages
Spitulnik, Debra. 1998. The Language of the City: Town Bemba as Urban Hybridity.
Language Ideologies, Nation, and the Politics of Language
Thurs, 11/26 Bonvillain, Chapter 13, “Language and Institutional Encounters,” 354-390. (Especially 354–363.)
Kiesling, Scott F. 2004. “Dude.” American Speech 79 (3) (September 21): 281–305.
Tues, 12/1 D’Arcy, Alexandra. 2007. “Like and Language Ideology: Disentangling Fact from Fiction.” American Speech 82 (4) (December 21): 386–419.
Transcription #2 due by midnight
Thurs, 12/3 Bonvillain Chapter 6, “Digital Communication and Signed Languages,” 127-151.
Gershon, Ilana. 2010. Breaking Up Is Hard To Do: Media Switching and Media Ideologies. Journal of Linguistic Anthropology 20, no. 2: 389-405.
TBD Exam Review
TBD Final exam, in classroom.
