FRS 001G —
Sec. 001 —
(1 unit) — CRN 45478 — M 12:10-1:00pm — 200 B Street
The Way We Talk Now
Instructor: Kathleen Ward, Department of Linguistics,
College of Letter
and Science
Description: "The Way We Talk Now" deals
with current
words and usages in American English. Oral American English has been
a very well
studied phenomenon, starting in the 1930s with the Linguistic Atlas projects.
This work has continued to the present day, with such projects as the
Dictionary
of American Regional English. In all of these projects, two groups of
people have
been understudied: Californians and educated young persons. In part, students
in this course will be repairing these omissions. We will be looking
at such things
as current terms and slang, new words for new concepts, and the use of socially
and regionally marked language in the media. Students will also learn some of
the basic problems and procedures in doing linguistic fieldwork. All
assignments
will be done as small group projects. An oral report will be due from
each group
each week. At the end of the quarter, students will turn in a short
paper explaining
what they have learned about contemporary usage.
Format: The seminar will meet for one hour each week for eight
weeks. The time will be divided between informal lecture
presentations, discussion,
and student presentations. Reading material will be provided. There is no text
for the course. Grading: All assignments will be done
as small group projects. An oral report will be due from each group each week.
At the end of the quarter, students will turn in a short paper explaining what
they have learned about contemporary usage.
About the Instructor: Kathleen M. Ward is a lecturer
in the Department
of Linguistics. She teaches courses in English grammar, Introduction
to Linguistics,
and American linguistic diversity. For three years, she was a member
of the staff
of the Dictionary of American Regional English.