Links to course PowerPoint presentation: (not yet active 3/27/06)
PDF versions: Introduction  -  Phonetics/Phonology Pt. 1 -  Phonetics/phonology Pt. 2 - Morphology/Words  -  Verbs  -  Syntax  -  Text  - Variation

Introduction 

Intro-1 be able to explain how language (a system of spoken or written symbols [noises or squiggles]) accomplishes or achieves communication of meaning (sharing of thoughts between human beings). How does the meaning a speaker or writer intends "get across" to the listener?

‡‡ Intro-2 know the five component systems of a language, the subject matter of each, and their linguistic names (e.g., syntax concerns the structure of phrases and sentences).

‡‡ Intro-3 explain what it means to say that language is as important to human social relationships as it is to communicating information.

1-1 be able to describe in a paragraph or two the general mechanism of speech production: how we use the organs of our vocal tract to create the different features that make sounds different from one another. (This calls for a general description of the vocal tract and how we push air through the vocal tract and manipulate it at various points along the way -- larynx, mouth, nose, teeth, lips -- to create a variety of sounds. Give several specific examples of how particular parts of the vocal tract participate in creating features of 2-3 particular speech sounds, e.g. [k] or [m].)

‡‡ 1-2 be able to transcribe (write using the phonetic alphabet) English words from your own pronunciation. Review phonetics and transcription handouts. Note: I will choose words to transcribe from your homework exercises.

‡‡ 1-3 be able to explain what is meant by contrast and how phonetic features and individual sounds achieve it; give specific examples of minimal pairs from English.

1-4 understand that every language/dialect has an inventory of individual speech sounds (segments), used for building words, called phonemes. Give examples of consonant and vowel phonemes of English, and how they create contrast (using minimal pairs again).

1-5 know the phoneme inventory of standard American English (that is, know the phonetic symbol for every English consonant and vowel phoneme), and be able give several ways that each sound is spelled in English spelling. You need to recognize, e.g., that the symbol /b/ represents, for example, the last sound in 'cab', or be able to produce words that contain the sound symbolized by the phonetic symbol /b/. An example illustrating different spellings of the phoneme /k/ would be the words ache, kick, and queen. Flash cards are an excellent tool for this.

1-6 know the basic components of a syllable in English (onset/rhyme; within the rhyme, nucleus and coda); be able to analyze the syllable structure of an English word.

1-7 be able to define and give a few examples of intonation and stress in English words/phrases. In particular, be able to give examples of how intonation can be used to change the communicative function (e.g., statement vs. question) of a sentence.

1-8 understand that phonological processes (coarticulation and other sound adjustments) can change the features of phonemes in a word to different sounds in actual speech. For a list of some American English processes, see this handout.

English spelling:

1-9 understand that the English spelling system is a different system from its phoneme inventory/phonological system; that the spelling system is not the language -- it is a technology for recording the language. In this sense, writing is no different from a tape recorder or an iPod -- all are ways of recording, that is, making a record of, language.

‡‡ 1-10 define what an alphabet is. For a list of sites about different kinds of writing systems, click here.

‡‡ 1-11 understand the relationship between the English spelling system and its phoneme inventory: individual graphemes (such as 'ph', 'a', 'm') stand for individual phonemes (such as /f/, /æ/, /m/) (this is the alphabetic principle). Note: The alphabetic principle is the general idea of one grapheme per phoneme; knowing only this principle means understanding how an alphabet works; it does not mean knowing particular spellings for particular sounds. That kind of knowledge is referred to as knowledge of 'sound-symbol correspondences'.

1-12 explain the difference between language skills and literacy skills, and why it is dangerous to confuse the two.

1-13 explain how phonological processes and the varied nature of English spelling produce spelling errors. See this handout.

1-14 be able to summarize my argument for teaching English learners to read and write in their native language before they are taught to read and write English.

Unit 2: English Words  

‡‡ 2-1 Be able to use suffix- and sentence-slot tests to determine whether a given word is a noun, verb, or adjective (adverb not required). Memorize the tests for these categories. When you practice them, apply all tests and write up all work (as you would for a math problem).If you are asked to do this on a test, I expect to see all the tests for noun, verb, etc. Be able to show at least two tests for N, V, or Adj. One of them must be a sentece-slot test, e.g., a verb can follow 'should', 'can', or any other modal auxiliary. If you check your answers in a dictionary, keep in  mind that linguistic definitions sometimes disagree with dictionary definitions. The linguistic definition is what counts for this class.

2-2 Describe the general nature of the English morphological system: what kinds of morphemes are common in English? What exceptional types do we find? How are words formed using derivational affixes or by other means? What are the inflectional categories of English? How are they are marked on English words? What kinds of irregularity exist? Give 1-3 examples of each of these phenomena. Refer to class notes, readings, and  "An Overview of the English Morphological System" for help.

 2-3 What function do morphemes carry out in language? Be prepared to give examples.

‡‡ 2-4 Give a brief definition and examples from English of the following terms: morpheme, free morpheme, bound morpheme, root, base/stem, affix, prefix, suffix. Come up with your own examples; do not repeat by rote examples given in class or in the readings.

2-5 Define and exemplify simple, complex, or compound words.  Come up with your own examples; do not repeat by rote examples given in class or in the readings.

‡‡ 2-6 Be able to prove that a part of a word is a morpheme by (a) giving the definition or the function of a morpheme and (b) showing that that meaning is consistent by giving other words in which the word part occurs with the same meaning, or noting that the morpheme can stand alone as a word with the same meaning it has in the complex word. Refer to this exercise for review.

‡‡ 2-7  By what age have children mastered most of English inflectional morphology? How long does it take them to learn derivational morphology? Why is it recommended that derivational morphology be taught throughout the school years?

2-8 Be able to explain the difference between count and mass nouns; the typical differences in meaning when a word can be both count and mass (e.g. beer vs. a beer vs. imported beers, and such like), and be able to use grammatical tests to prove a noun's status as count or mass.

2-9 Be able to explain and illustrate the differences among event, action, and state verbs (Rubba Ch. 4). How do these relate to tense/aspect and transitive/intransitive verbs?

2-10 Be able to explain the difference between transitive and intransitive verbs, and to demonstrate whether or not a verb is transitive using grammatical tests (Rubba Ch. 4).

2-11  Know the difference between a lexical and an auxiliary verb. Within the auxiliary category, know which are modal and which are not (learn the list of auxiliary verbs of English; there are 12). Be able to list the kinds of meanings that modal auxiliaries express.

2-12 Know the definition of a linking or copular verb, and be able to give example sentences showing several different copular verbs.

‡‡ 2-13 Know the six principal parts of English verbs and their basic use:. e.g., the "-ing" form of a verb is the present participle, for example "finding". It is used to create progressive/continuous verb phrases, such as "was eating."

‡‡ 2-14 Be able to explain the difference between tense and aspect in English, and explain the meanings of progressive (continuous) vs. perfect aspect.

2-15 Learn the names of the 12 tense/aspect constructions of English, and be able to recognize or give examples of each. Know also the primary meaning(s) each signals. Organize these by grouping them: the simple tense/aspects (present, past, future), the progressive ones (present, past, future), and the perfect ones (present, past, future).

2-16 Be able to explain and illustrate the two main ways our mental lexicon is organized: categorization and association. How and why do I recommend using these principles to organize vocabulary lists in teaching?

‡‡ 2-17 How many words do children learn per year on their own vs. how many are taught in the average school year? What does this imply about how they learn so many? How can a teacher take advantage of this natural learning strategy in vocabulary teaching? (Class lectures)

‡‡ 2-18 According to class lectures, what is the value of generous amounts of reading in expanding vocabulary? How does this relate to item 2-17?

‡‡ 2-18 Use, and be able to explain the correct use of, apostrophes. Visit this web page:

          http://cla.calpoly.edu/~jrubba/Editing_tips.html#apostrophes

3-2 Be able to identify and correct the faulty punctuation that creates fragments and comma splices. (This includes being able to recognize and correct these errors in a writing sample.) Use semicolons correctly (be able to correct faulty use of them in a sample, or insert them as appropriate when instructed to do so).

‡‡ 3-3 Be able to use the tag question test andyes/no question test to find the subject and predicate of a sentence. 

‡‡ 3-4 Be able to explain the basics of phrase structure (a head word with or without modifiers; the modifiers may be words or other phrases). Be able to recognize or give examples of noun, adjective, and prepositional phrases.

‡‡ 3-5  Be able to find and label words or phrases that fulfill the following predicate roles: direct object, indirect object and adverbial.   

3-6 Be able to define "complete sentence" as I define it in our text.You should also be able to give examples of (or recognize) complete or incomplete sentences and explain why they are complete or incomplete.

3-7 Be able to recognize and/or give examples of the following types of sentences; be able also to explain what communicative purpose each accomplishes:

• declarative
• yes-no question
• wh-question (information question)
• passive

‡‡ 3-8 By what age have children mastered most of the phrase- and sentence-grammar of their native language? What kind of development takes place during the school years? What does this imply for K-12 grammar instruction? Be able to give, explain, and defend at least three of the recommendations for teaching grammar in grades K-12 that are found on the last slide of the SYNTAX lectures.

‡‡ 4-1 Be able to summarize the critique of traditional grammar instruction given at the beginning of Rubba Ch. 7: What are the main faults I ascribe to traditional grammar instruction? What recommendations do I make for a better mindset?

‡‡ 4-2 What does it mean to say that texts are interactive? (Use class lectures as well as textbook.)

4-3 Be able to briefly define and describe the differences between experiential/ideational meaning vs. interpersonal/social meaning vs. textual meaning.

‡‡ 4-4 (According to Rubba Ch. 7, what is the main criterion for measuring syntactic maturity/sophistication in writing?) REVISED 6/1/06: Be able to explain what is meant by "syntactic maturity" in writing: how does a student move from "and chaining" and short, simple sentences to college-level writing? The syntax slides and the discussion of amount of information per sentence in Ch. 7 are the sources of information for this.

‡‡ 4-5 Be able to explain how subjects of sentences are often used to maintain topic continuity, while predicates introduce new information. If given a text,  you should be able to explain how this works within that text.The textbook has material to supplement class lectures.

‡‡ 4-6 Be able to define and describe the differences between old/given and new information. How is sentence syntax typically used to signal new information? The textbook has material to supplement class lectures.

4-7 What are the major differences in processing conditions between writing and speech? (Not the differences in structure of spoken vs. written language, but differences in the conditions of communication that cause the structural differences.

 

6-1 Be aware that usages considered incorrect or "bad English" arise from different sources, and trigger different degrees of disapproval. For an example, visit this web page; the section "Responses to various categories of 'error'" is especially informative. Be able to name and discuss three different error sources, with examples (e.g., standard vs. nonstandard dialect, speech vs. writing, changes underway in the standard dialect).

‡‡ 6-2 Describe in a general way how dialect and language variation arise.

‡‡ 6-3 Be able to explain in general terms how the judgments of 'good' and 'bad' forms of a language arise: What social forces bring these attitudes into being?  When and where did such attitudes first become institutionalized for English? See Ch. 8 of TG.

6-4 What evidence do linguists give in order to demonstrate that no dialect of English is more logical or superior to any other? Be able to repeat several specific arguments (regarding specific grammatical structures such as negative sentences, for instance).

6-5 Be able to describe the difference between the deficit/replacive and resource/additive models for dealing with children who speak nonstandard English or languages other than English.

6-6 Be able to describe the method called the contrastive approach in general terms, and state its benefits over traditional instruction.

‡‡ 6-7   Be prepared to critique a grammar lesson or test from current pedagogical materials with regard to its treatment of dialect differences and relative (dis)advantage to students from different dialect backgrounds (as done in class).This was discussed in the morphology and syntax units, too. Recall the discussion of the examples of worksheets (on slide 17 of PDF of morphology slides) and how they demanded very different tasks from children who speak standard vs. nonstandard English. The discussion is recapped on pp.135-137 of the textbook.