Introduction to Language and Linguistics
Explores the foundations of language and linguistics. Discusses theories of the origins of language and compares reading and writing systems of English and other languages. Offers students an opportunity to learn phonology (how sounds are produced), how English works in patterns (linguistics and phonetics), how meaning is conveyed (semantics), and how languages are used (pragmatics). Seeks to provide a foundation for courses related to teaching English as a second language.
Reflection
This course drastically increased my meta-linguistic awareness. Throughout this course we examined the nuances that are unique to the different languages throughout the world, such as whether there is a future tense in a language and whether a language refers to numerical quantities. This course also examined the profound that culture has on language and vise versa: languages do as much in determining the way we think as the way we think does in determining languages. I also learned about how humans evolved the ability to speak and the many factors to are necessary to allow speech.
Signature Assignment