Language in Culture
Anthropology 410
Schedule #20096
Spring, 2012
Tu - Th: 12:30 -1:45 p.m.
SH-341
Dr. Frederick J. Conway
Office: AL-484
Office Hours: Tues. 2-3, Wed. 10-12, Thurs. 11-12
and by appointment
Office Telephone: (619) 594-5643
Anthropology Department: (619) 594-5527
E-mail: conway1@mail.sdsu.edu
Syllabus
Learning Outcomes
This course examines the many complex ways in which language is related to other
aspects of culture. Among the areas we will look at are how meanings are created in
language, how women and men use language in social interactions, how languages
change. We will study the politics of language, including how languages are used in
multilingual societies.
By succeeding in this course, you will be able to:
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Understand elements of language structure, such as phonology and
morphology
Analyze linguistic systems of meaning in diverse contexts
Assess models for linguistic change
Integrate global perspectives on language use with our own ideologies of
language
Illustrate the relevance of concepts for understanding how language is used
across a wide range of contexts and cultures
Evaluate the effects of language policies
Appreciate the preciousness of language diversity
Class sessions will include lectures, exercises, group discussions and films. Attendance at
all class meetings is expected. If for some valid reason you are unable to attend a class,
you must assume responsibility for getting notes from a classmate.
Explorations
Courses that fulfill the 9-unit requirement for Explorations in General Education take the
goals and skills of GE Foundations courses to a more advanced level. Your three upper
division courses in Explorations will provide greater interdisciplinary, more complex and
in-depth theory, deeper investigation of local problems, and wider awareness of global
challenges. More extensive reading, written analysis involving complex comparisons,
well-developed arguments, considerable bibliography, and use of technology are
appropriate in many Explorations courses.
This is an Explorations course in Social and Behavioral Sciences. Completing this
course will help you learn to do the following with greater depth: 1) explore and
recognize basic terms, concepts, and domains of the social and behavioral sciences; 2)
comprehend diverse theories and methods of the social and behavioral sciences; 3)
Identify human behavioral patterns across space and time and discuss their
interrelatedness and distinctiveness; 4) enhance your understanding of the social world
through the application of conceptual frameworks from the social and behavioral sciences
to first-hand engagement with contemporary issues.
Texts
There are two required texts for the course:
Nancy Bonvillain:
Susan D. Blum:
Language, Culture, and Communication, SIXTH Edition
Making Sense of Language
In addition, some readings will be posted on Blackboard.
Course Requirements
Tests and Final Exam
The two mid-term tests will be on Thursday, March 1 and Thursday, April 12. The final
exam is on Thursday, May 10 at 10:30 a.m. The tests will be based on the readings and
classroom material. Test formats may include short-answer, essay, and multiple-choice
questions. There may be take-home components to the tests and final. The final will
include comparative questions about the material covered in previous tests. The tests and
final are each worth 100 points.
It is not possible to schedule make-up tests in a way that is fair to all students. Therefore
there will be no make-up tests except in cases of true medical emergencies with
documentation from a physician. University policy is that students shall not be given the
final exam before the regular time. If students are unable to take the final exam at the
scheduled time, they must take an Incomplete in the course.
Journal
Students will maintain a journal for the class, with entries made on a weekly basis. The
journal will be handed in for review near the beginning of each month of the semester, on
2/14, 3/13, 4/10, and 5/3. The journal will contain three sections:
(1) Analytical commentary on an element of the reading for the week
(2) Observation and analysis of observed use of language during the week
(3) Particular assignments for each month.
The journal is worth 150 points. Further information about the journal will be given in
class and on Blackboard.
Participation
Participation in the course entails not only regular class attendance, but also active
involvement in classroom activities, including written exercises and discussions. Class
participation will be worth up to 50 points of your course grade. Participation will be
measured both by how often you take part in class activities and by the quality of your
contributions to class discussions.
Course Grade
The grade for the course will be calculated as follows:
Test #1
100 points
Test #2
100 points
Journal
150 points
Final exam
100 points
Participation
50 points
Total
500 points
460-500
450-459
440-449
410-439
400-409
390-399
360-389
350-359
A
AB+
B
BC+
C
C-
340-349
315-339
300-314
<300
D+
D
DF
Students with Disabilities
Students who need accommodation for their disabilities should contact me privately to
discuss specific accommodations for which they have received authorization. If you have
a disability, but have not contacted Student Disability Services at 619-594-6473 (Calpulli
Center, Suite 3101), please do so before making an appointment to see me.
Student Rights and Responsibilities
Cheating is the most serious offense in academia and it will not be tolerated. If students
have any questions about cheating, they should consult SDSU’s official policy, which can
be found at: www.sa.sdsu.edu/srr.
Studying with other students is encouraged, but all written work, including tests and
papers, must be the work of the individual student. Examples of cheating include
unauthorized sharing of answers during an exam, use of unauthorized notes or study
materials during an exam, altering an exam and resubmitting it for regarding, having
another student take an exam for you or submit assignments in your name, and
participating in unauthorized collaboration on coursework to be graded.
Blackboard
This course uses Blackboard, a web-based course aid that can be accessed from any
terminal. Information and materials about the course will be posted on Blackboard, as
well as announcements. Blackboard uses the same password as WebPortal.
PLEASE FEEL FREE TO CONTACT ME WITH ANY CONCERNS OR
QUESTIONS ABOUT THE COURSE.
YOU CAN E-MAIL ME AT conway1@mail.sdsu.edu
OR CALL ME AT 619-594-5643.
I HAVE OFFICE HOURS IN AL-484 ON:
TUESDAYS: 2-3
WEDNESDAYS: 10-12
THURSDAYS: 11-12
AND BY APPOINTMENT
ANTH 410
2012
Spring
Journal
One of the course requirements is a “journal” that you will turn in each month. The
journal will contain three sections:
(1) Analytical commentary on an element of the reading for the week
(2) Observation and analysis of observed use of language during the week
(3) Particular assignments for each month.
You should complete sections (1) and (2) each week. You should complete section (3)
each month. The three sections are described in further detail below.
(1) Analytical commentary on an element of the reading for the week:
Take of one of the readings for each week. This can either be an article from our reader
by Blum or a chapter (or chapter section) in the text by Bonvillain. You should
summarize the reading briefly and then write a commentary on it. For example, you could
write whether you agree or disagree with the perspective of the article or section and
why. You could write about other situations in which the discussion in the reading does
or does not apply. This section of the journal should be two pages for each week’s
commentary.
(2) Observation and analysis of observed use of language during the week:
Each week you will note down a use of language that you observed. This may be the use
of a particular word or phrase, a style of interaction, evidence of a language ideology, a
linguistic change, a bilingual exchange, or other example of language in culture. The
observation should be made during the course of the week. Do not use examples you
have observed in the past. One of the purposes of this exercise is to sharpen your
awareness of how language is used in your daily life. Your observation does not have to
be related to the topics we are covering in class during a particular week.
You should describe your observation and then write a 1-2 page analysis of it in the light
of the material we are learning in class. Obviously, you will have a greater background
towards the end of the semester than at the beginning, but you can use your powers of
observation even during the first week.
(3) Particular assignments for each month:
Each month you will be given an assignment to complete. The assignment will be posted
on Blackboard. The type of assignment you are given will vary.
The journal should be typewritten, double-spaced 10- or 12-font. You do not need a title
page for your entries, just your name and the date. You can hand the journal in a manila
folder with your name on it. The journal is due on 2/14, 3/13, 4/10, and 5/3.
The journal is worth 150 points of the course grade.
Anthropology 410
Spring 2012
Language in Culture
F. Conway
Schedule
Readings and journal assignments are to be completed by the beginning of the class date
indicated. “Reader” indicates Making Sense of Language.
Tests/Exam on March 1, April 12 and May 10.
Journals due on February 14, March 13, April 17, May 3.
I. Cultural Patterning in Sound and Meaning
Week 1
1/19 Reader #45, Basso: “‘To Give Up on Words’”
Week 2
1/24 Bonvillain: Ch. 1
Reader #1, Burling: “Smiles, Winks, and Words”
1/26 Bonvillain: Ch. 2, pp. 7-15
Reader #2, Hockett: “The Origin of Speech”
Week 3
1/31 Bonvillain: Ch. 2, pp. 16-22
Reader #6, Dunbar: “Why Gossip Is Good for You”
(1/31 Last day to drop classes)
2/2
Bonvillain: Ch. 2, pp. 25-27; 37-38
Reader: #3, de Saussure: “Nature of the Linguistic Sign”
(2/2 Last day to add classes)
Week 4
2/7
Bonvillain: Ch. 3, pp. 49-52; 56-63
2/9
Reader #37, Blum: “Naming Practices and the Power of Words in China”
Week 5
2/14 Journal #1 due (Weeks 1-4)
Bonvillain: Ch. 3, pp. 64-70
2/16 Reader #11, Lakoff and Johnson: “Metaphors We Live By”
II. The Ethnography of Communication
Week 6
2/21 Bonvillain: Ch. 4, pp. 73-85
2/23 Bonvillain: Ch. 4, pp. 85-93
Week 7
2/28 Reader #34, Keenan: “Norm-Makers, Norm-Breakers”
3/1
Test #1
Week 8
3/6
Bonvillain: Ch. 5, pp. 105-116
3/7
Reader #25, Tannen: “New York Jewish Conversational Style”
III. Linguistic Change
Week 9
3/13 Journal due (Weeks 5-8)
Salzmann: Ch. 7 “Language Through Time” (on Blackboard), pp. 135-154
Reader #8, Street and Besnier: “Aspects of Literacy” (pp. 52-54; 57-59)
3/15 Salzmann: Ch. 7 “Language Through Time” (on Blackboard), pp. 154-163
Bonvillain, Ch. 11, pp. 304-310
Week 10
3/20 Bonvillain, Ch. 12, pp. 314-316; 324-332
Reader #20, Whorter: “Most of the World’s Languages Went Extinct”
Reader #22, Hinton: “Language Loss and Revitalization in California”
IV. Language, Gender, and Stratification
3/22
Bonvillain, Ch. 10, pp. 241-266; Ch. 5, pp. 125-128
Reader #31, Holmes: “Women Talk Too Much”
3/26-30 Spring Recess
Week 11
4/3
Bonvillain, Ch. 10, pp. 266-275
Reader #41, Kulick: “:Anger, Gender…”
4/5
Bonvillain: Ch. 9, pp. 206-222
Reader #24, Labov: “Social Stratification of (r) in New York”
Week 12
4/10 Bonvillain: Ch. 13, pp. 346-354
Reader #23, Preston: “They Speak Really Bad English”
Reader #42, Lippi-Green: “Accent, Standard Language Ideology…”
4/12 Test #2
V. Multilingual Societies
Week 13
4/17 Journal due (Weeks 9-12)
Bonvillain: Ch. 9, pp. 222-239
4/19 Reader #26, Rickford: “Suite for Ebony and Phonics”
Reader #28, Bucholtz: “The Whiteness of Nerds”
Week 14
4/24 Bonvillain, Ch. 11, pp. 279-294
Reader #15, Battistella: “Bad Language-Bad Citizens”
4/26 Bonvillain, Ch. 11, pp. 294-311
Reader #13, McArthur: “Chinese, English, Spanish – and the Rest”
Week 15
5/1
Bonvillain, Ch. 12, pp. 313-332
Reader #17, Zentella: “Bilingualism en casa”
5/3
Journal due (Weeks 13-15)
Week 16
5/8
Reader #29, Barrett: “Language Ideology and Racial Inequality”
5/10
Final Exam, 10:30 a.m.
Anth 410
Spring 2012
Exercise due with journal submission on Feb. 14.
From the following sentences in Luiseño, an indigenous language of San Diego County,
determine as many morphemes as you can. (There are ten separate morphemes.)
1. nóo wukálaq
2. nóo páa?iq
3. nóo páa?in
4. temét čáami páa?ivičunin
5. nóo póy wukálavičuniq
6. nóo páa?ivičuq
7. temét póy wukálavičuniq
These will get you started:
nóo
‘I’
n
future tense
viču
‘want’
‘I am walking’
‘I am drinking’
‘I will drink’
‘The sun will make us want to drink’
‘I am making him want to walk’
‘I want to drink’
‘The sun is making him want to walk’
Anth 410
Spring 2012
Exercise due with journal submission on Mar. 13.
This exercise has three parts.
Part I. Here is a set of sentences:
a. Natural gas is a clean fuel.
b. The French Revolution marked a clean break with the past.
c. After being vacuumed, the rug was finally clean.
d. The embezzler cleaned out the account.
One of these sentences uses the word clean in a literal way. The other sentences extend
the meaning of the word clean in metaphorical ways.
For these sentences, indicate:
1. which sentence has a literal meaning of the word clean
2. the meaning of clean in that sentence
3. what the meaning of clean in each of the other sentences of the set:
i. shares with the literal meaning
ii. differs from the literal meaning.
Part II. Here is a set of sentences:
a. She broke her leg in the car accident.
b. The legs are made of fine mahogany.
c. He began to feel tired on the third leg of the trip.
d. She doesn’t have a leg to stand on.
For this set, indicate:
1. the meaning of the word leg in each sentence
2. what in the context of each sentence indicates the particular meaning of leg in it
Part III. Here is a set of terms on a semantic domain:
bed, cot, hammock, crib
For this set,
1. What makes them members of a semantic domain (that is, what features do they all
share)?
2. Do a componential analysis (show the semantic features that distinguish the terms from
one another).
Below is an example of what your format for the componential analysis should look like.
Term
rose
ivy
dandelion
Cultivated
+
+
-
Flower
+
+
Anth 410
Spring, 2012
Journal Exercise for April 10.
This exercise has three parts. They are all very straightforward: you just need to look up
words in a dictionary.
I. Indo-European roots
Use either the American Heritage Dictionary of Indo-European Roots (on Reserve at the
Circulation Desk) or a version of the American Heritage Dictionary that has a section on
Indo-European roots at the back. Pick five Indo-European roots and show how their
meaning was transformed into various distinct words in modern English. As an example,
Proto-Indo-European *sem1 (one, as one) led to same, simultaneous, seem, homeostatic,
homo-, hetero-, similar, simple, some and homily, among others.
II. English words of Latin origin
Use a Latin-English Dictionary or an English dictionary with good etymological entries
(e.g. Oxford English Dictionary). Find three Latin words that are ancestral to English
words, but not identical in meaning. Discuss how the meaning in each word has changed.
For example, the Latin word negotiatio means ‘business,” especially ‘banking business.’
In modern English the word has come to mean reaching an agreement through discussion
and compromise. Another example: the Latin word stadium means ‘a measure of length
of about 607 feet; a race course.’ This has come to mean a place for public sports events
in general.
III. English words of non-Indo-European origin
Find five modern English words whose origins are outside of the Indo-European family;
indicate the origins of the word. Examples: tomato, from Nahuatl tomatl (Mexico);
ketchup, from Chinese ke-chiap. The five words should be from different non-IndoEuropean languages.
Resources:
On Reserve at Circulation Desk:
- American Heritage Dictionary of Indo-European Roots
In Reference Section of Library:
- American Heritage Dictionary PE 1628 .A623 2006
- Latin-English Dictionary:
PA 2365 .E5 .O9 1982 or PA 2365 .L3 .C3 1960
P615 .A43 2000*
*If you are interested in this topic, this book has a chapter on what we know about IndoEuropean culture from the study of Proto-Indo-European and language/culture notes inset
throughout the dictionary.
Anth 410
Spring, 2012
Journal exercise for May 3.
Write a two-page summary of a language policy in a multi-lingual country.
(1) Pick a multilingual country. Several countries are discussed in our text. There are
many more to choose from.
(2) Pick a language policy in that country that involves the politics of language, for
example the imposition (or creation of) a standard form of a language, decisions about
how to write a language, protection or curtailment of language rights, education in
languages, establishment of language varieties as official languages.
To give you an idea of the kinds of policies you could discuss, here is a sample: the
resurgence of regional language rights in Spain; decisions about how to form a standard
written form of Mixteco in Mexico, with its many dialects; the maintenance of Gaelic as
a “taught language” in Ireland; decisions about which language varieties to make official
in African nations; restrictions on the use of Kurdish in Turkey; the status of Russian (the
former “colonial language”) in Lithuania; the use of English-only boarding schools in the
U.S. and Australia to eradicate indigenous languages; reform of the Chinese writing
system.
(3) In your summary, you should include:
(a) Statement of the policy
(b) Historical and political of policy
(c) Implications of the policy for the various speech communities affected by it
(d) Language ideology implied in the policy
(e) Issues of power reflected in the policy
(f) Your evaluation of the policy.
Your summary should be two pages in length, in 12-point Times New Roman font,
double-spaced. (Two pages ≠ one page plus three or four lines.)