Master’s in Bilingual Education
Assessment #4
Paper on the Systematic Nature of Language
Assessment Tool
Students will demonstrate their understanding of language as a system. This understanding will be demonstrated by writing a paper in EDLI 6351 in which students use examples from the phonological system of English to show that language is systematic. The following are the directions students receive to write their paper:
Paper (meets standard 1a) – In this paper, explain the systematic nature of language by using examples from the phonological system of English. In your introduction, explain what a phoneme is and how linguists categorize phonemes. In the body of the paper explain how language is systematic by using examples of natural classes of phonemes (for example, voiceless stops or short vowels). Include examples of classes that represent vowel sounds and classes that represent consonant sounds. Your paper should have examples, but you should not discuss all the phonemes of English. Use
Chapter 3 as a reference. Conclude the paper by summarizing what your discussion shows about the systematic nature of language. This paper should be 3-5 pages long.
You will submit a draft of the paper. One member of your group will do a peer review of your paper. You will not review the person who reviewed your paper. The review should be based on the rubric below. In your review, state whether you think the paper meets the requirements, meets with weakness, or does not meet. Then explain why you made this decision. Be specific about things that were good or things that could be improved.