LING 2800 - Language in America

• Students will be able to use the dialect atlas of America.
• Students will be able to describe the ways that cultures in the United States and their languages and dialects are both accurately and inaccurately portrayed.
• Students will be able to identify and apply the basic concepts and terms used in analyzing language and social variation.
• Students will be able to describe differences between descriptive and prescriptive approaches and attitudes toward language.
• Students will be able to collect aspects of linguistic phenomena for description and analysis.
• Students will be able to explain language policies and their relevance to mono- and multi-lingual communities.
• Students will be able to recognize features of the Linguistic Landscape.
• Students will be able to identify, describe, and respond respectfully to linguistic and cultural features associated with geographic regions of the United States.
• Students will be able to recognize and describe language variations associated with gender groups, ethnicities, age-ranges, cultural groups and markers of status such as SES, education, and profession/avocation.
• Students will be able to describe and critically evaluate research into language diversity in the United States, including the effect of reearchers’ social identies on their work.
• Students will be able to articulate insights and ask complext questions about their own speech variety and those of others with regard to cultural rules and biases.
• Students will be able to demonstrate an understanding of the complexity of elements that contribute to a particular speech variety with regard to its history, values, politics, communication styles, economy, or beliefs and practices.
• Students will be able to initiate and develop interactions with others who use different speech varieties while suspending judgment in valuing his / her interactions with linguistically and culturally different others.
• Students will be able to effectively engage in teamwork by actively contributing, fostering constructive interaction, and managing conflict.