Overview

Introduction to Linguistics is a one-semester tour of the science of language. Language is one of our most distinctive characteristics as humans, and it is often the cause of heated conflict. Our goal in this class will be to step back from the fray and take a look at the objective facts about language. For us as normal adults, use of language generally seems effortless and intuitive - does this mean that language really is simple and intuitive, or is it just the result of a system so sophisticated an automatic that it requires little or no conscious attention?

• What are the units of human language?
• What is it about humans that gives us this special ability to master language?
• How similar or different are the languages of the world?
• Are some languages or dialects better or worse than others? How systematic is standard and non-standard English?
• How do children learn language?

The study of linguistic knowledge is divided into several areas: the study of sounds and their patterns (Phonetics and Phonology), words (Morphology), sentences (Syntax) and meanings (Semantics). Linguistics also study how linguistic knowledge is applied in social situations in different cultures (Sociolinguistics), how people learn languages (Language Acquisition), and how language is processed in the human brain (Neurolinguistics).

The diversity of human languages and the prominent role language plays in culture makes language a critically important factor in studying human behavior. For this reason LING 101 satisfies the UD multicultural (Group C) requirement. The study of linguistics is concerned with every language, but you will notice that many of the examples come from non-Western languages, or from signed languages. Homework assignments and exam questions will include data from many unfamiliar languages.

Schedule

Times & Places

• Lectures: Tuesday and Thursday, 12:30-1:20, Smith 140
• Tutorials:
  • Section 15: Thursday 2:00-2:50, Sharp Lab 116 (Phillips)
  • Section 16: Friday 10:10-11:00, Sharp Lab 120 (Eastwick)
  • Section 17: Monday 9:05-9:55, Sharp Lab 118 (Eastwick)
  • Section 18: Monday 10:10-11:00, Sharp Lab 118 (Eastwick)

Topics

Although you can print out this schedule, it is likely to change over the course of the semester. Updates will be posted on the course web site and announced in class.

September
Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday
	1 Lecture 1: Introduction	2	3 Lecture 2 Descriptive & Prescriptive Grammar Read: Pinker chs. 1, 2, 12	4
7	8 Lecture 3 Languages of the World Homework 1 due	9	10 Video "Secret of a Wild Child" Read: Pinker ch. 8	11
14	15 Lecture 4: Phonetics Homework 2 due	16	17 Lecture 5: Phonetics Read: Pinker ch. 6 Fromkin/Rodman ch. 6	18
21	22 Lecture 6: Phonetics Homework 3 due	23	24 Lecture 7: Phonology Read: Fromkin/Rodman ch. 7 (pp.254-274)	25
28	29 Lecture 8: Phonology Homework 4 due	30

October
Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday
			1 Lecture 9: Phonology Read: Fromkin/Rodman ch. 7 (pp.279-303)	2
5 Homework 5 due	6 Lecture 10: Phonology	7	8 Test 1	9
12	13 Lecture 11: Morphology	14	15 Lecture 12: Morphology	16
19	20 Lecture 13: Syntax Homework 6 due	21	22 Lecture 14: Syntax	23
26	27 Lecture 15: Syntax Homework 7 due	28	29 Lecture 16: Syntax	30

November
Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday
2 Homework 8 due	3 Election Day - No Classes	4	5 Lecture 17: Semantics	6
9 Homework 9 due	10 Lecture 18: Semantics	11	12 Test 2	13
16	17 Lecture 19: Sociolinguistics	18	19 Lecture 20: Sociolinguistics	20
23	24 Lecture 21: Language Acquisition Homework 10 due	25	26 Thanksgiving	27 Thanksgiving
30

December
Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday
	1 Lecture 22: Language Acquisition	2 Homework 11 due	3 Lecture 23: Brain and Language	4
7	8 Lecture 24: Brain and Language	9	10	11
14	15	16	17	18
21	22	23	24	25
28	29	30	31

Requirements

If you would like to get a good grade in this course, here are some things you need to know and do...

Breakdown of credit:

Homework: 45%
Tests: 20% (2 x 10%)
Final exam: 25%
Participation: 10%

The scores below will guarantee you at least the letter grades indicated. We are not grading on a curve, so you are not competing against your classmates.

A	92-100%	C+	77-80%
A-	90-92%	C	73-77%
B+	87-90%	C-	70-73%
B	83-87%	D	60-70%
B-	80-83%	F	below 60%

Assignments (45%)

There are regular homework assignments for this course. They account for a substantial part of the course credit - in fact, as much as all of the tests and the final exam combined. Therefore, you should take the homework assignments as seriously as you take the exams. The homework assignments will be graded carefully. Clearly presented answers, and well-reasoned short essays will be greatly rewarded; unclear presentation and murky reasoning will be penalized.

Homework assignments will generally be due by class time on Tuesday and will be returned in discussion sections or during the Thursday class. Homework must be handed in on time, or you will receive no credit for it. You may submit homework either in hard copy or via email (send to your discussion section leader), but we cannot be held responsible for the foibles of the email systems. There will be no make-ups for exams. We have to be strict about this in order to be fair to all students in the class.

Tests & Final Exam (45%)

There will be two midterm tests, spaced roughly evenly through the semester, and a final exam. The tests and the exam will all be cumulative. These are worth a total of 45% of your grade. The tests and exam will be based on class lectures and notes, homework assignments, and readings. More specific guidelines will be posted on the web site closer to the test, but you should know that it is not enough to simply memorize facts from the textbook.

Collaboration

You can learn a lot from working through problems with others, and for this reason collaboration on homework assignments is encouraged in this class. But, collaboration can only work if you do so responsibly, and follow acceptable practices of academic honesty. If you work in a group, you should do the following:

• Write up your assignment yourself, even if you have worked on it as part of a group
• Don't hand in something that your group worked on that you don't fully understand - this is plagiarism
• If you work as part of a group, you must write this at the top of your assignment, and give the names of the people you worked with. If you fail to do this, it will look like plagiarism.
• If you are in any doubt, consult the University Policy on Academic Honesty. We will treat any cases of academic dishonesty seriously.

Participation (10%)

You will get far more out of this course, both in terms of learning and grades, if you participate actively in the course. By actively thinking and talking about the topics covered in the course your likelihood of remembering and understanding is greatly increased. The participation component of the course grade is an opportunity to receive credit for taking this initiative in your learning. It is not a stick to beat you with for not showing up at class, nor is it automatic credit.

Active participation involves:

• attending classes and the discussion section that you are registered for
• reading and thinking about assigned readings before the class in which they are discussed
• coming to discussion sections prepared to ask questions, contribute ideas, and listen to other students ideas

Absences

Only officially recognized absences will be accepted: according to university policy these include Religious Observances, death or serious illness in the student's family, or serious illness of the student. Excused absences must be recorded within one week, or they will affect your participation score.

Problems? Let us know!

OK, so that's enough regulations and admonitions. We now know where we stand. However, we genuinely want you to benefit from this course, and are committed to helping you with that. So if you are having problems in the course, or if you are having other problems which are interfering with your doing well in the class please contact us, and do so early - it is easiest to solve problems as and when they arise. You can contact either the instructor or the TA, by phone or email, by coming to office hours, or by arranging to meet the instructor or TA at some other time.

Readings etc.

This course uses a variety of resources as a supplement to the class lectures. Two books have been ordered, and should be available in the campus bookstore; some additional readings will be made available at various points in the semester; extensive electronic resources will be available from the course web site, including lecture notes, study guides, and feedback on assignments.

Books

	Steven Pinker's book The Language Instinct (1994) is one of the most enjoyable and informative introductions to the science of language in the last few years. It spent many weeks on the bestseller lists. We will use this book primarily for non-technical background reading to accompany the other material that we will be reading.
	Fromkin & Rodman's An Introduction to Language (6th edition) (1997) serves as the basic textbook for this course. You will read many of the chapters in the book, plus a number of the exercises. It is also useful as a reference.

Additional Readings

Additional readings will be assigned at some points during the semester. These will either be handed out in class, or will be available on reserve in the library. Wherever possible, we will try to make these readings available on electronic reserve, so that you will be able to access them remotely.

• "The Great Eskimo Vocabulary Hoax", by Geoffrey Pullum. In Pullum (1991), pp. 159-171.

Electronic Resources

In addition to the course readings, we will make extensive use of on-line materials. For example, homework assignments and study notes will be available on these web pages. Also, email is the best way of contacting the instructor and TA. Therefore, you should ensure that you are familiar with using email (get an account on the university system if you don't have one yet) and with using a Web browser (e.g. Netscape). Using these electronic resources is good for students and instructors alike, because it is much easier to distribute information effectively to a large group of people, and it's also good for the environment, because it saves paper. We are able to do this because of the University of Delaware's excellent electronic learning resources.

Some of the on-line materials (e.g. speech sound demos) may require you to install a free plug-in for your web browser. The relevant pages will contain information on how to obtain these.

Instructors

The best way to reach either Prof. Phillips or Mr Eastwick is by sending email. Both of us check and respond to email regularly. You should feel free to email us about any questions you have. If the answer to your question will be of general use to the class, then we will post an answer to the course web page (don't worry, we won't post your name).

• Prof. Colin Phillips
  Office: 46 East Delaware Ave., Room 301
  e-mail: colin@udel.edu
  Phone: 831&endash;6809
  Office hours: Monday 12:00-1:00; other times available too, but send email in advance to arrange a time.

Dr Phillips has a PhD in Linguistics from MIT and a BA in Modern Languages from Oxford University. He moved from the UK to the USA in 1990 and has been at UDel since spring 1997. His research focuses on syntax, psycholinguistics and neurolinguistics. He ran in the Boston Marathon in 1996 and would be very happy if he could get in shape to run a half marathon this fall.

• Teaching Assistant: Ted Eastwick
  Office: 42 East Delaware Ave., Room 101
  e-mail: tbear@udel.edu
  Office hours: Friday 11:30-12:30, and other times by appointment

Mr Eastwick is a native of Baltimore and has a BA in Linguistics and Psychology from Northwestern University. He has been at UDel since 1996, and is currently a PhD student in the Department of Linguistics. He has been involved in research projects on language acquisition and psycholinguistics, and is currently pursuing research on sentence processing and Arabic morphology and phonology. His recreational interests alternate between golf and mountain biking.