ANT 260: Language, Culture, and Society
Spring 2004
Class: T/TH 12:45-2:05
Room: 105 Goodnow Hall
Instructor: Dr. Brigittine French
Office: 104 Goodnow Hall
Office Hours: 11:00-12:00 M/T/TH
2:15-3:15 T/TH and by appointment
E-mail: frenchb@grinnell.edu
Phone: 269-4816
Description
This course provides an overview of linguistic anthropology, the study of human
language in its structural and cultural contexts. Through class lectures, readings, and
discussions, students will become familiar with key issues, themes, and theories about
language in contemporary anthropological and sociolinguistic scholarship. Questions
addressed include: What is unique about human language? How does language
operate as a sign system? What is the relationship between language and culture? How
do language and language practices shape and reflect social identities? How are
notions of language shaped by systems of social domination? The course is designed to
encourage students to become critical thinkers about the ways that language and
language use affect and are affected by individuals, social groups, cultural practices,
and politics.
Objectives
1) To think holistically about language, to form an understanding of human language
by integrating its structural and social aspects.
2) To become familiar with the theories and methods used in linguistic anthropology.
3) To develop the ability to synthesize and integrate perspectives addressed in the
course.
Texts
1) Bauman, Richard. 1984. Verbal Art As Performance. Prospect Heights, IL:
Waveland Press.
2) Blount, Ben. 1995. Language, Culture, and Society: A Book of Readings. 2nd Edition.
Prospect Heights, IL: Waveland Press.
3) Clark, Virginia, Paul Eschholz, and Alfred Rosa. 1998. Language: Readings in
Language and Culture. 6th Edition. New York: St. Martin’s Press.
4) Grenoble, Lenore A. and Lindsay J. Whaley. 1998. Endangered Languages:
Language Loss and Community Response. Cambridge: Cambridge University
Press.
5) Reserve readings.
Two copies of the readings will be in the anthropology reading room on the 3rd floor of
Goodnow Hall. The building is open M-F from 8:00-5:00. Students may sign out the materials
for one hour in order to make personal copies.
Course Requirements:
1) Examinations: There will be two take-home exams. Exams will consist primarily of
essay questions designed to address course materials covered in lectures, readings,
videos, and class discussions.
2) Research Paper/Proposal: There will be one formal paper. An annotated
bibliography will be due in conjunction with the paper.
3) Reading Response Papers: Each student will write a brief (one page single-spaced)
response to a set of assigned readings and present it to the class for discussion.
4) Attendance and Participation: Attendance and participation are essential to a
successful class both individually and collectively. They are both expected and graded.
Grading and Evaluation
Exam one
Exam two
Reading response
Annotated bibliography
Final paper
Exercises
Participation
20 percent
20 percent
10 percent
10 percent
20 percent
10 percent
10 percent
40 points
40 points
20 points
20 points
40 points
20 points
20 points
Late Assignments
No late assignments will be accepted without prior discussion and approval.
Students with Disabilities:
Anyone who has a disability that may require some modification of seating, testing, or
other class requirements should inform me so that appropriate arrangements may be
made. Please see me after class or during my office hours.
Topic 1: The Nature and Culture of Language
T Jan 20
Course Introduction
TH Jan 22
Bolton, W. “Language: An Introduction” in Clark et.al. Pp. 61-73.
Daniels, H. “Nine Ideas about Language” in Clark.
T Jan 27
Fromkin et. al. “The Development of Language in Genie” in Clark, et. al.
Pp. 588-604.
Ochs, Elinor and Bambi Schieffelin. “Language Acquisitions and
Socialization” in Blount.
Topic 2: Langue: Structure, Description, and Analysis
TH Jan 29
de Saussure, F. Selections from A Course in General Linguistics pp. 1-17
and 65-78 in Reserve readings.
Benveniste, Emile. "The Nature of the Linguistic Sign" pp. 17-27 in
Reserve readings.
*Student response.
T Feb 3
Callary, Edward. “Phonetics” in Clark, et. al. Pp. 113-133.
TH Feb 5
OSLF. “The Minimal Units of Meaning: Morphemes” in Clark, et. al. Pp.
134-143.
EXERCISES DUE
T Feb 10
Henry, Frank. “Syntax: The Structure of Sentences” in Clark, et. al.
EXERCISES DUE
Topic 3: Language and Worldview
TH Feb 12 Sapir, Edward. "The Unconscious Patterning of Behavior in Society" in
Blount.
Whorf, B. "The Relation of Habitual Thought and Behavior to Language"
in Blount.
*Student response.
T Feb 17
Frake, Charles. "The Ethnographic Study of Cognitive Systems" in Blount.
Lucy, John. “Whorf’s View of the Linguistic Mediation of Thought” in
Blount.
*Student response.
Topic 4: Ethnography of Communication
TH Feb 19 Edwards, P. "Speech Communities" in Clark, et. al. Pp. 267-276
Hymes, Dell. "The Ethnography of Speaking" in Blount.
T Feb 24
Gumperz, John. "Linguistic and Social Interaction in Two Communities"
in Blount.
Goffman, Erving. "On Face-Work" in Blount
*Student response.
TH Feb 26
Hughs, John. “Languages and Writing” in Clark et. al.
Guest Lecturer: Professor Mercedes Niño-Murcia: Ethnography and
Literacy
4:15 Lecture (ATTENDENCE IS REQUIRED)
T Mar 2
EXERCISES DUE
Topic 5: Semiotic Approaches to Language and Culture
TH Mar 4
Peirce, C. S. "Icon, Index, and Symbol" Pp. 156-173 in Reserve readings.
Mertz, Elizabeth. "Beyond Symbolic Anthropology: Introducing Semiotic
Mediation" pp. 1-19. in Reserve readings.
T Mar 9
Silverstein, Michael. "Shifters, Linguistic Categories and Culture
Description" in Blount.
*Student response
TAKE HOME EXAM
Topic 6: Verbal Art and Performance
T Mar 9
4:15 workshop on folk music and politics in the U.S. by Charlie King
(ATTENDENCE IS REQUIRED)
TH Mar 11
Bauman, Richard. Part I “Verbal Art As Performance” Pp. 3-45
*Student response
SPRING BREAK
T Mar 30
Abrahams, Roger. ”Training of Man of Words in Talking Sweet” in
Bauman.
Graham, Laura. “Performing Dreams” in Reserve readings.
TH April 1
Video: Language You Cry In
ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY DUE
Topic 7: Language Variation
T April 6
Hong Kingston, Maxine. "Finding a Voice" in Clark, et. al. Pp. 13-16
Caldas S. and S. Caron-Caldas. "Rearing Bilingual Children in a
Monolingual Culture: A Louisiana Experience" in Clark, et. al. Pp. 514-521.
*Student response.
TH April 8
Video: American Tongues/People Like Us
Marckwardt, A. and J. Dillard. “Social and Regional Variation” in Clark,
et. al. Pp. 277-291.
T April 13
Cukor-Avila, Patricia. “The Complex Grammatical History of AfricanAmerican and White Vernaculars in the South” in Reserve readings.
Chun, Elaine. “The Construction of White, Black, and Korean American
Identites through African American Vernacular English” in Reserve
readings.
*Student response.
TH April 15 Keenan, E. “Norm-Makers, Norm-Breakers” in Reserve readings
Tannen, D. "I'll Explain It to You" in Clark, et. al. Pp. 365-379.
*Student response.
Topic 8: Political Economy of Language
T April 20
Bourdieu, P. "The Economics of Linguistic Exchanges" in Reserve
readings.
Irvine, Judith. "When Talk Isn't Cheap: Language and Political
Economy" in Reserve readings
TH April 22 Hill, Jane. "The Grammar of Consciousness and the Consciousness of
Grammar" in Blount.
*Student response.
Topic 9: Language Endangerment, Loss, and Revitalization
T April 27 Dorian, Nancy. “Western Language Ideologies and Small-Language
Prospects” in Grenoble and Whaley.
Grenoble, Lenore and Lindsay Whaley. “Toward a Typology of Language
Endangerment” in Grenoble and Whaley.
TAKE HOME EXAM
TH April 29 Mithun, Marianne. “The significance of Diversity in Language
Endangerment and Preservation” in Grenoble and Whaley.
Hale, Ken. “On Endangered Languages and the Importance of Linguistic
Diversity” in Grenoble and Whaley.
*Student response.
T May 4
Dauenhauer, Nora and Richard Dauenhauer. “Technical, emotional, and
Ideological Issues in Reserving Language Shift” in Grenoble and Whaley.
French, Brigittine. “The Politics of Mayan Linguistics in Guatemala:
Native Speakers, Exert Analysts, and the Nation” in Reserve readings.
*Student response.
TH May 6
Jacobs, Annette. “A Chronology of Mohawk Language Instruction at
Kahnawa:ke Kaia’titahkhe” in Grenoble and Whaley.
Woodbury, Anthony. “Documenting Rhetorical, Aesthetic, and Expressive
Loss in Language Shift” in Grenoble and Whaley.
T May 11
FINAL PAPERS DUE IN MY OFFICE BY 12:00 PM.