1. Good language and bad language
The idea that there are correct ways to speak or write, and incorrect ways, runs deep, and it can have serious consequences for people. Where does this idea come from? What does it mean? What are its consequences? What is 'Standard English'? How else, if not by enforcing a language standard, do countries cope with dialectal variation?
2. Dialects
Dialects are a fact of life and always have been, as is linguistic variation and change. What are dialects and where do they come from? Dialects, linguistic variation, and patterns of speech, all have a lot to do with social class, ethnicity, gender, age, and in general, group affiliation. Why should this be?
3. Linguistic relativity, Newspeak, and political correctness
There is a popular idea that patterns of thought are determined in part by one's language. (For example, 'French is the language of reason'; 'Speakers of Hopi have no conception of time'; 'Eskimos have 100 words for snow'.) Is this true? In addition, many groups attempt to capitalize on this idea by controlling or manipulating the language they/we use, in order to control the way others think.
4. Bilingualism, multilingualism, Official English
Contrary to what many Americans imagine, bilingualism, or multilingualism, are the rule rather than the exception in much of the world. Is there any connection between bilingualism and cognitive development? How does bilingualism develop and get maintained? Why is bilingual education controversial? We will discuss the 'Official English' movement as well: the movement to make English the only permissible language to use in government-sponsored functions.
5. Signed languages and deaf culture
There have always been signed (gestural) languages. There are many of them across the world, and they differ from each other, just as spoken languages do. They have not been typically recognized as 'real' languages, though. Why not? What have the consequences been?
6. Language death, language revival
It appears that wholesale language extinction is taking place today at a rate never before seen in human history. Why is this happening? Can it be reversed? Why do few people know about it? Does it matter?
7. Language and gender
There are aspects of linguistic behavior that correlate roughly with gender. Why is this? In fact, language seems to play a role in defining how men versus women are perceived, and how they are expected to behave.
Prerequisites: none
General Education Code: T5 (Humanities and Arts or Social Sciences)
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Last modified December 23, 2008.