SPAN 323 - Hispanic Sociolinguistics
Course Description: This course provides an introduction to basic concepts in sociolinguistics, focusing on the symbolic value of language as an expression of group identity based on region, gender, ethnicity, socioeconomic class, age, and other ways of defining group affiliation. The course also surveys topics such as linguistic variation, language contact, language attitudes, and language identity. Taught in Spanish.
Course Narrative: This was my first linguistics course in Spanish, and it was a refreshing feeling to learn linguistics in Spanish. I enjoyed learning about topics related to language in this course. For this class, we did a final project and a final paper. This final project was based on a dialect that was different from my partner's and mine. Since we both speak a variation of Mexican Spanish, we had to select someone who spoke Spanish from a different state or region. We decided to interview someone who the professor knew who had grown up in Puerto Rico. The findings of this paper illuminated my understanding of how sometimes the sounds in a word become weak and the sound of the letter contained in the word is not heard. We chose to analyze the weakening of syllable-final /s/ quantitatively because there were several examples of the variable throughout the interview, and it had been mentioned in the textbook. We then noted how the participant performed that trait in each instance and identified aspects of her linguistic context, for example, whether /s/ maintenance, aspiration, or elision occurred later or in the middle of a word. This project gave me the opportunity to discover different ways of speaking in Spanish, taking into account social and linguistic factors that may affect their language choices. I was also able to work in a group with my partner, and prepared an oral presentation for the class. I practiced my oral presentation skills as well as writing skills. Something that I wish to further strengthen is my ability to divide words into syllables. As a future bilingual teacher, I see myself using linguistics in my job every single day, and taking this class has propelled me into my career as a teacher. I am excited in the future to continue learning how sociolinguistics is a part of my everyday life.
Major Learning Outcome Fulfillment:
MLO 2
Evidence:
Final Paper
Final Presentation
Course Narrative: This was my first linguistics course in Spanish, and it was a refreshing feeling to learn linguistics in Spanish. I enjoyed learning about topics related to language in this course. For this class, we did a final project and a final paper. This final project was based on a dialect that was different from my partner's and mine. Since we both speak a variation of Mexican Spanish, we had to select someone who spoke Spanish from a different state or region. We decided to interview someone who the professor knew who had grown up in Puerto Rico. The findings of this paper illuminated my understanding of how sometimes the sounds in a word become weak and the sound of the letter contained in the word is not heard. We chose to analyze the weakening of syllable-final /s/ quantitatively because there were several examples of the variable throughout the interview, and it had been mentioned in the textbook. We then noted how the participant performed that trait in each instance and identified aspects of her linguistic context, for example, whether /s/ maintenance, aspiration, or elision occurred later or in the middle of a word. This project gave me the opportunity to discover different ways of speaking in Spanish, taking into account social and linguistic factors that may affect their language choices. I was also able to work in a group with my partner, and prepared an oral presentation for the class. I practiced my oral presentation skills as well as writing skills. Something that I wish to further strengthen is my ability to divide words into syllables. As a future bilingual teacher, I see myself using linguistics in my job every single day, and taking this class has propelled me into my career as a teacher. I am excited in the future to continue learning how sociolinguistics is a part of my everyday life.
Major Learning Outcome Fulfillment:
MLO 2
Evidence:
Final Paper
Final Presentation