Welcome to San Diego State University-Imperial Valley Campus
Syllabus [Draft: may be subject to change]
Linguistics 420 (Schedule # 60035)
Linguistics and English
Fall-2114
Instructor: Susana Enriquez, B.A. M.P.A.
Office Hours: By appointment. Please email me to make arrangements and meet at the Brawley
Campus.
Email: senriquez@mail.sdsu.edu
Important note: if you e-mail me, please include the class name and number in the
reference (see example below)
RE: Ling. 420.
Day
Time
Room
Units
Monday
04:10 p.m. – 06:50 p.m. (Please be considerate of others: do not enter or exit
once class is in session—wait till the break. Thank you!)
A003
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Please do not interrupt class proceedings: keep all necessary exchanges with other students
to a whisper. Please set your cell phones to “vibrate” during class. If you
need to text or receive/make calls, step outside of the classroom.
According to a study conducted by Carrie B. Fried from Winona State University:
“Students who use laptops in class spent considerable time multitasking and
laptop use posed a significant distraction to both users and fellow students”
(www.sciencedirect.com) Note*the use of laptops is not allowed in the
classroom during lecture or practicum.
Prerequisite: Completion of the General Education requirement in Foundations II.B. Social and
Behavioral Sciences required for non-majors.
Course Description (quoted from SDSU General Catalog, www.sdsu.edu)
Introduction to sound and the grammatical structure of language, with special attention to
English; language acquisition and variation; of special interest to prospective teachers. Not open
to students with credit in Linguistics 520.
Textbook
Paul W. Justice. 2004. Relevant Linguistics. 2nd Edition revised and expanded. CSLI
Publications: Stanford University.
Recommended additional reading:
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William O’Grady et al., editors. 2010. Contemporary Linguistics: An Introduction, 6th ed.
Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s
Goals for this course
As presented by Paul W. Justice in Relevant Linguistics:
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To encourage you to reevaluate your own beliefs and attitudes about language.
To make you aware of the complexity of language and be able to articulate this
awareness.
To make you aware of some of the similarities and differences among languages
To expose you to the “core” sub-fields of linguistics (phonetics, phonology, morphology
and syntax).
To introduce you to linguistic analysis and to encourage you to think scientifically about
language
To provide you with some tools that you can apply in a subsequent study of linguistics or
in professional settings.
Learning Outcomes
By the end of this course, you should be able to:
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Understand the structure and development of language
Understand the general characteristics of language structure, including its sound system
and word structure, as well as identifying the structure of phrases and sentences
Learn and utilize the terminology used to describe language
Apply what you learn in the “core” sub-fields of linguistics for the scientific study of
other languages
Analyze the structure and systems of language using the knowledge you acquired in this
course
Understand language variation related to linguistic diversity and apply this knowledge in
the classroom to develop effective teaching strategies
Method of Instruction and Assignments
In order to be successful in this class, you will be required to do the following:
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Follow the Calendar of Assignments posted in Blackboard. Come to class prepared to
discuss the topic scheduled for each week.
Do the required readings prior to class.
During the Lecture portion of the class, take notes as necessary. The instructor uses
PowerPoint and the white board to explain/expand chapter content.
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Form study groups and actively participate. In the second session of the semester, you will
be encouraged to join a study group for the completion of the exercises/practicum.
Complete chapter exercises. The instructor will assign practice exercises to each study group
after the lecture. Once completed, each group will present the answers to the class and the
solved exercises will be turned in to the instructor for grading.
Quick writes. There will be random quick-write prompts related to the required readings for
the week. This will usually happen at the beginning of class.
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Write a Reflective Essay: You will be asked to complete a 4 page reflective essay, 12-pt.
double-spaced with your name, course name, the date at the top left side of the first page. I
will expand on this as the semester progresses.
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Tests. There will be 5 tests based on the practice exercises.
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Final exam. The final exam will include all the chapters studied during the semester.
Note that the “Chapter exercises” are graded as a group. All other assignments for the
course will be completed and graded individually. Rubrics will be posted in Blackboard
for grading criteria.
Academic Honesty---Cheating will not be tolerated.
PLAGIARISM may result in expulsion from the university: make sure your written
assignments consist of your own original thoughts and statements, not a collage from
other sources. When citing from another source, it is best to summarize the
information rather than quote verbatim, unless the wording itself is the issue.
Attendance and participation: Students are expected to come to class having read the assigned
material. Attendance and participation are highly recommended in order to be successful in this
class. This class does not have extra credit or make-up assignments, therefore it’s important
to be present to participate with your group in completing the practice exercises in order to
receive credit.
What to do if you miss class: Contact your group to get information about the material covered
in class or to request notes. You do not need to contact me if you are absent.
Students with Disabilities
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If you are a student with a disability and believe you will need accommodations for this class, it
is your responsibility to contact Student Disability Services at (619) 594-6473. To avoid any
delay in the receipt of your accommodations, you should contact Student Disability Services as
soon as possible. Please note that accommodations are not retroactive, and that accommodations
based upon disability cannot be provided until you have presented your instructor with an
accommodation letter from Student Disability Services. Your cooperation is appreciated.
Grading
Grading for this course is based on a total of 500 points distributed as follows:
5 Tests……………………………………...150 points
10 Quick-writes……………………..……….100 points
1 Reflective Essay……………………..……50 points
Group Presentations/Practice Exercises……100 points
Final Exam……………………………...…100 points
500 points total
Final Grades will be based on the following Grade Scale. There will not be any artificial
adjustment of grades for any reason.
500 Point Scale
Total Points
A
93-100%
465-500
A-
90-92%
450-464
B+
88-89%
440-449
B
83-87%
415-439
B-
80-82%
400-414
C+
78-79%
390-399
C
73-77%
365-389
C-
70-72%
350-364
D+
68-69%
340-349
D
63-67%
315-339
D-
60-62%
300-314
F
0-59%
001-299
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