HS 309 – Introduction to the Study of Language
HS309 – Introduction to the Study of Language
Semester – Autum 2016
Professor – Vaijayanthi M. Sarma
Motivation – This course is not based on a single language. It encourages us to learn how languages are studied across the world. Languages in the Lord of the Rings Trilogy, Star Trek, Star Wars and Game of Thrones are also briefly discussed.
Course Content –
This course looks at ‘language’ itself as an object of study which
helps us answer several questions about ourselves and our communities,
including of course literary expression. Some of the questions we were
asked and addressed include:
(a) Is language a learned behaviour or an instinct? Is it special to us humans, or found in other animals?
(b) What are the special organizational features of language? And how can we describe them?
(c) Are human languages different from one another and in what ways? Are some languages more advanced than others? More complicated?
(d) How and why do speakers of a given language speak differently?
(e) Are human brains special with respect to language?
(f) What is the origin of language?
(g) What are the politics of language across nations, across sexes, across cultures?
(h) Why do computers have trouble understanding/producing human languages?
(i) How do we read literary and other texts?
(i) How is language crafted in literature? What makes poetry or prose?
(k)How do we describe the uses of language such as metaphor? What about humour?
(l) Why is second language learning so difficult? And what is an ‘accent’?
(m) How are mother and other tongues learned by children and adults?
(n) What is language death or revival?
and some others…
We looked at the history, psychology, sociology and structure of
language – all languages.
Marks Distribution –
5 assignments of 2 marks each
2 quizzes: 10 marks each
Midsem : 30 marks
Endsem : 40 marks
Optional project instead of 2 assignments: Make a language
Feedback on Lectures – The lectures were very interesting and interactive. The instructor was very well versed with the material and promoted discussions in the class. There was not a lot of need to take notes as the slides were uploaded and more important was to understand what was taught. Paying attention in the class helps the most with regard to both understanding and scoring well in the exams.
Feedback on Exams – The exams were very interesting and one would never get bored during the exam. The questions asked were directly based on concepts covered in the class and no rote learning was required. We also had excerpts of “Friends” and “Star Wars”, in the exams to name a few.
Feedback on Projects / Assignment – The assignments were generally very easy and to be submitted on moodle. It won’t take more than 10 minutes to solve an assignment. The idea of the assignments was to check the thought process of students and usually one would get full marks even for honest attempts.
The project was done only by one team as an external learning process. They presented the language they made in a lecture towards the end. Focus was on how they incorporated the the concepts taught in the class into the language.
Grading – You could check ASC. It was on the generous side.
Difficulty – The course is very easy if you are attentive in the class. It does not test how well you know english.
Reference –
- An Introduction to Language by Victoria Fromkin, Robert Rodman, Nina Hyams
Reviewed by – Karan Chadha(karanchadhaiitb@gmail.com)