SUMMER 2004
COURSE DESCRIPTION
A practical study of the English language from the perspective of its history,
linguistics, and language change. The course offers an introduction to the study
of language and places English in the context of world languages, examines its
evolution over time, and characterizes its living uses and structures.
TEXTS
Required (available at Creighton Bookstore)
Recommended (available at Reinert Alumni Library and online and other bookstores):
COURSE REQUIREMENTS
1) Term Project & Presentation (25%)
Each student will design and complete a term project on any aspect of language, linguistics, or the history and character of the English language. Projects may be conventional academic papers but may also take other forms, including creative work, documentaries, web sites, painting, music, etc. Projects may take the form of experiments, field research, or practical studies gathering and analyzing of data on current usages of the language in specific contexts (for example: group or regional dialects, slang, origins of words, features of pronunciation, etc.). Projects addressing issues in current phonology (the sound of the language) should make use of audio/video recordings and may also be accompanied by a written paper. In general, students are encouraged to be creative and imaginative and to choose material and media which are interesting and stimulating. Art works are acceptable provided they are relevant and provide insight into some aspect of the language and its current or historical use. Projects may be undertaken individually or in groups (group projects need to be substantial and extensive enough to justify the participation of two or more people). All projects must involve some measure of research to be used as the foundation or inspiration of the work to be undertaken. All projects must be approved by the instructor in advance (see Schedule below). All projects must also be presented to the class at the end of the term.
Students choosing to write a paper should follow MLA, APA, or Chicago formatting guidelines. Other styles may also be acceptable provided they are clear and consistent. Students may use the instructor's "Guidelines for Papers").
2) Two Exams (50 % each)
Students will take two exams covering the materials studied. Exams will include objective, multiple choice, short answer, and problem-solving questions.Questions will be based primarily on the material outlined in the course's webnotes and emphasized in lectures and class discussions.
3) Participation and Other (25 %)
Class participation, attendance, effort, attentiveness, preparation, responsibility, and, in general, active and constructive involvement in all aspects of the course will also be taken into consideration in the course grade.
GRADING AND OTHER POLICIES
Deadlines: Make-ups/extensions for a missed deadline will
only be given in cases of documented serious illness or other
valid, non-frivolous excuse such as documented participation in
official University sports or academic/service events (it will be
up to the instructors to determine and decide on the
acceptability of an excuse). Otherwise, students must meet all
deadlines specified in the syllabus.
Student Conduct and Academic Honesty: All students in the class are expected to observe the University's guidelines on student conduct as described in Creighton University's Student Handbook (see "Code of Conduct," and especially the section on "Academic Misconduct" dealing with problems of plagiarism, cheating, etc.). All work submitted under a student's name must be personal and original and must be created during and for the specific purposes of the course. Cheating in exams, engaging in plagiarism, misrepresentations of authorship, omission of credits or other acknowledgments of outside sources (including other students' papers, fraternity/sorority files, internet materials, books, periodical articles, and other printed or published matter), as well as other forms of academic dishonesty will result in failing the given assignment or, at the discretion of the instructor, the entire course. Problems such as repeated lateness arriving to class, inattentiveness, or disruptive behavior will adversely affect the class participation grade. Problematic behavior of this sort can also result, at the discretion of the instructor and with the advice of the Dean, in more severe penalties, including failing the entire course.
Attendance: In general, ll absences and late arrivals, regardless of
the reason, will be taken into account in the attendance measurement (notice
that the policy described here has a built-in margin of tolerance before it
begins to affect the course grade). The attendance measurement will be calculated
as the percentage of total class time attended. The course grade may not exceed
the percentage of total class time attended (i.e. if a student attended only
75% of the total class time, the course grade may not be higher than 75 or C).
Notice also that, at the discretion of the instructor, any student missing more
than 30% of the total class time may fail the course.
Grading: Grading: All aspects of the course will be graded on a 0-100
point scale where 90-100 = A, 80-89 = B, 70-79 = C, 60-69 = D, and 0-59 = F.
The course grade will be calculated according to the following formula:
|
Exams |
50% |
| Term Project |
25%
|
|
Other Performance |
25%
|
|
Total |
100% |
COURSE SCHEDULE
Students must read the assigned material as well as the web
notes (click on the links in the online syllabus for each topic) by the day
when they are listed. The online syllabus can be found at:
http://mockingbird.creighton.edu/english/fajardo/teaching/edu645/summer2004/syllabus.htm
Mon Jun 07
Tue Jun 08
Wed Jun 09
Thu Jun 10
Fri Jun 11
Mon Jun 14
Tue Jun 15
Wed Jun 16
Thu Jun 17
Fri Jun 18
Mon Jun 21
Tue Jun 22
Wed Jun 23
Thu Jun 24
Fri Jun 25
Last updated 6/3/2004
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