LING 392 - Nature of Language & Language Acquisition
Course Description: Nature of Language & Language Acquisition introduces the scientific study of language, which includes theoretical concepts (e.g. structural linguistics, sociolinguistics, language development in first and second language acquisition) and application of linguistics in reading and writing development. Students develop a knowledge base in linguistics, phonemic awareness, and syntax, and apply it in real-world educational settings.
Course Narrative: This was my first introductory course in the field of linguistics and it was a great class. Unfortunately, I did take this class during the pandemic, which meant that I was on Zoom. This was particularly challenging because, in linguistics, you sometimes need to draw symbols and word trees. In this modality, we had to get creative and use other forms of drawing for exams, like writing it on paper and uploading it to the exam on Canvas. I enjoyed this course because it taught me the foundations of Linguistics. I was able to explore multiple topics in this class given in English, which was different from what I was used to, taking classes in Spanish. As part of this class, I completed a language analysis project and wrote up a paper, as well as a voice-recorded slide presentation. I decided to focus on the singer Ariadna Thalía Sodi Miranda Mottola and found an interview on YouTube where she was speaking in English. Her first language is Spanish, so she showed some characteristics that an English learner would have. For example, she used filler words such as “like” and “uh” a couple of times in her interview. I learned how language learners of English tend to implement filler words, and I myself, use filler words very often. Some challenges that remain as I continue to develop my skills in linguistics are strengthening my phonetics skills. This course connects to other linguistics courses I have taken, like Span 323 and 313. In the future, I hope to explore how I will be using linguistics in my own classroom.
Major Learning Outcome Fulfillment:
MLO 2
Evidence:
Final Paper
Final Presentation
Course Narrative: This was my first introductory course in the field of linguistics and it was a great class. Unfortunately, I did take this class during the pandemic, which meant that I was on Zoom. This was particularly challenging because, in linguistics, you sometimes need to draw symbols and word trees. In this modality, we had to get creative and use other forms of drawing for exams, like writing it on paper and uploading it to the exam on Canvas. I enjoyed this course because it taught me the foundations of Linguistics. I was able to explore multiple topics in this class given in English, which was different from what I was used to, taking classes in Spanish. As part of this class, I completed a language analysis project and wrote up a paper, as well as a voice-recorded slide presentation. I decided to focus on the singer Ariadna Thalía Sodi Miranda Mottola and found an interview on YouTube where she was speaking in English. Her first language is Spanish, so she showed some characteristics that an English learner would have. For example, she used filler words such as “like” and “uh” a couple of times in her interview. I learned how language learners of English tend to implement filler words, and I myself, use filler words very often. Some challenges that remain as I continue to develop my skills in linguistics are strengthening my phonetics skills. This course connects to other linguistics courses I have taken, like Span 323 and 313. In the future, I hope to explore how I will be using linguistics in my own classroom.
Major Learning Outcome Fulfillment:
MLO 2
Evidence:
Final Paper
Final Presentation