I. ASCRC General Education Form
Group
Group III Symbolic Systems
Dept/Program
Linguistics Program
Course #
UG LING 470
Course Title
Prerequisite
3
Introduction to Linguistic Analysis
none
Credits
II. Endorsement/Approvals
Complete the form and obtain signatures before submitting to Faculty Senate Office
Please type / print name Signature
Instructor
Leora Bar-el
Phone / Email
243-2387
Leora.Bar-El@mso.umt.edu
Tully J. Thibeau
Program Director
Date
10
Sept.
2008
10
Sept.
2008
Dean
Gerald R. Fetz
III. Description and purpose of the course: General Education courses must be introductory
and foundational. They must emphasize breadth, context, and connectedness; and relate course
content to students’ future lives: See Preamble:
http://www.umt.edu/facultysenate/gened/GEPreamble_final.htm
Offered Autumn and Spring. The course introduces the field of modern linguistics and the
nature of human language to some students for the very first time. Course content emphasizes
methods of linguistic analysis, most notably phonetics/phonology, morphology, syntax and
customarily one other level of language (e.g., semantics, prosody, discourse, etc.). Phonetics
and phonology involve the level of sound formation, morphology the level of word formation,
and syntax, sentence formation. What humans perceive as sounds, words and sentences is
expressed in terms of structures to be represented arithmetically, hence abstractions. In a sense,
structures conform to rule systems, putatively one for each level, but each individual system's
operation is observed to interact such that various mathematical representations communicate
across levels of language, a kind of "mentalese" not the type of human language commonly
identified with "natural" communication systems (stated for Group III Modern and Classical
Languages qua the four skills as per its criteria 3).
IV. Criteria: Briefly explain how this course meets the criteria for the group. See:
http://www.umt.edu/facultysenate/ASCRCx/Adocuments/GE_Criteria5-1-08.htm
Criteria Courses:
1. rigorously present a mapping between a
real-world system and a human abstraction
of the system.
2. applies analysis, reasoning and creative
thinking in the understanding and
manipulation of symbolic codes.
3. utilizes alternative methods of
communication, perception, and expression in
order to encourage rigorous thinking.
Forms of sounds, words and sentences are
taken from diverse human languages and
comprise problem-sets exhibiting application
of a rule. Students solve problems (find rule)
by submitting forms to method of analysis
performed one or more levels of language.
Students sharpen their problem-solving skills
by practicing computations using a calculus
specific to linguistics, but the experience is
designed to enhance a readily available type
of reasoning which potentially contributes to
more general cognitive mechanisms involved
in authentic, real-world tasks.
V. Student Learning Goals: Briefly explain how this course will meet the applicable learning
goals. See: http://www.umt.edu/facultysenate/ASCRCx/Adocuments/GE_Criteria5-1-08.htm
Learning Goals Upon completion of this group, Students will be exposed to several models
students will be able to:
of mentally representing human languages,
1. demonstrate an understanding of the
a prime example being structuralism, sets of
symbols and the transformations of the
distinctive features with binary oppositions
system
defining differences in structural elements.
2. relay and interpret information in terms of
Differences reveal themselves to be abiding
the given symbolic system.
by rules that determine changes in form
3. apply creative thinking using the symbolic from one structure to another. Students
system in order to solve problems and
learn how to notate already-encountered
communicate ideas;
real-world objects (i.e., forms) and to use
such notations for disclosing the operation
of rules for the forms, or the data, expressed
by newly introduced real-word objects.
Means of analysis practiced in problem-sets
help to demonstrate whether students learn
to correctly interpret the data notationally,
and employing the symbols to abstract away
from data to system shows if students can
resolve how structures and the rules that
affect them are related. Naturally, students
are prompted to express ideas concerning
the content (rules, structure, interaction)
without relying exclusively on the system of
symbols.
VII. Syllabus: Paste syllabus below or attach and send digital copy with form. ⇓ The syllabus
should clearly describe how the above criteria are satisfied. For assistance on syllabus
preparation see: http://teaching.berkeley.edu/bgd/syllabus.html
*Please note: As an instructor of a general education course, you will be expected to provide
sample assessment items and corresponding responses to the Assessment Advisory Committee.