SPRING 2005
COURSE DESCRIPTION
A historical study of the English language including consideration of its place among the languages of the world and stages of its development such as Old,
Middle, and Modern English. The course will address the nature and
mechanisms of language change with attention to both linguistic and historical conditions related to language evolution.
TEXTS
Required
Recommended (available at Reinert Alumni Library):
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 (painting, music, sculpture, film, etc.), documentaries, web sites, experiments, field research, or practical studies gathering and analyzing 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 be approved by the instructor in advance (see Schedule below). All projects must be presented to the class at the end of the term (approx. 10-minute presentations, see Schedule below). Students choosing to write a paper may follow MLA, APA, or Chicago format guidelines. Students may also use the instructor's "Guidelines for Papers").
2) Two Exams (25 % 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, readings, 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, all absences, late arrivals and early departures, 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:
Two Exams |
50% |
| Term Project | 25% |
Other Performance |
25% |
Total |
100% |
COURSE SCHEDULE
Thu Jan 13
Thu Jan 20
Thu Feb 03
Thu Feb 10
Thu Feb 17
Thu Feb 24
Thu Mar 03
Thu Mar 10
Thu Mar 24
Thu Mar 31
Thu Apr 07
Thu Apr 14
Thu Apr 21
Thu May 05
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Last updated: 3/10/2005