- English 326
- Fall, 2000
- John C. Schafer
- Office: 213 Founders' Hall
- Office Hours:
- Tues.: 1:30-2:30
- Thurs.: 10:00-12:00
- E-mail: jcs1@axe.humboldt.edu
LANGUAGE STUDY FOR TEACHERS
I. Course Description and Objectives
English 326 is an introductory course in language designed primarily for prospective teachers.
It is a course in language, not in how to teach language or language arts. Its purpose is to give you
accurate information about the English language, focusing on the following topics:
- The sound system of English
- How sounds are represented in our writing system
- Ways of describing the structure of English sentences
- The Varieties of English (dialects, formal and informal styles)
The above topics will be covered using lecture/discussion and group work. The following topics will
be covered by group projects:
English 326 is not a course in how to teach English as a second language or in how to teach reading
or writing. But it is crucial preparation for teaching these subjects. Many of our activities are
designed to assist you in making connections between what you're learning about the English
language and issues related to teaching ESL (TESL) and language arts. For example, the assignment
on invented spelling will give you a chance to apply your new knowledge of phonetics to analyze the
writing of first graders. Group projects on reading and phonics and grammar and writing and
other topics will give you a chance to apply your knowledge of linguistics to issues of classroom
practice. In other words, I've designed the course to help you make connections between the kind of
language analysis you will be learning in English 326 and the challenges you will face as a teacher.
This design reflects my experience that English 326 students learn more about the English language
as they begin to think about it in the context of their chosen career as teachers.
II. Textbooks
- Stageberg, Norman and Dallin D. Oaks. An Introductory English Grammar, 5th Edit. [Abbrev.: IEG]
- Wolfram, Walt, Carolyn Temple Adger, and Donna Christian. Dialects in Schools and Communities [Abbrev.: Dialects]
- Packet of Exercises and Readings (Available at HSU Bookstore)
III. Requirements
- Attendance: Absences make the grade go lower.
- Reading: You'll be reading chapters from our two textbooks and articles in our course packet and also some additional
reading to prepare for your final projects (See below).
- Exercises: To help you understand the material, I will assign exercises from time to
time.
- Paper on invented spelling: You'll analyze a journal kept by a first grader and observe
progress from invented to conventional spelling.
- Final Project: This includes an individual paper and also a group presentation to the
class. The project is explained below.
- Tests: There will be three tests. Test 3 will be given during our final exam
period.
IV. Grading
- Three tests: 30%
- Group work: 25%
- This grade is based on attendance at group meetings, your exercise book (part of your packet), a self-evaluation,
and the grade your group receives on the group's final group project.
- Individual paper related to group project: 20%
- Paper on invented spelling: 15%
- Class participation: 10%
- As mentioned above, poor attendance will hurt your grade.
V. Lab or Activity Hour
This is a four-unit, not a three-unit, course. Our class meets regularly in the classroom on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. In addition, you will
meet in groups to discuss work on various exercises and projects, including your final project.
Sometimes I will attend these group meetings; sometimes I won't. Meeting times and the location
of these group sessions will be arranged during the second or third class.
VI. Late Papers
Papers turned in late will be automatically marked down one grade per every day late. For
example, an A paper turned in a day late would be graded A-; a B paper two days late would be
graded C+, etc.
VII. Syllabus
Note: Almost all readings are from An Introductory English Grammar (abbreviated IEG) or
Dialects in Schools and Communities (abbreviated LRLC) or from the course packet. I've placed some readings useful for your group projects on reserve in the library. There will also be some shorter handouts.
Week 1
Assignment for group work: No group meeting this week.
- Mon., Aug. 28: Introduction; Goals of Course;
What Are Phonetics, Morphology, Syntax,
Sociolinguistics?
- Diagnostic Test
- Wed., Aug. 30: Phonetics: Vowels
- IEG, Chap. 1, especially pp. 7-23
- Before you come to class today, read about your assignment to do a group project.
- Fri., Sept. 1: Phonetics: Vowels (Continued)
Week 2
Assignment for group work: Do the exercise called "How to Pronounce an English Consonant
Sound" (Separate handout) and discuss the results at your group meeting.
- Mon., Sept. 4: Phonetics: Consonants
- IEG, Chap. 1 (Already assigned; review pp. 23-30.)
- Wed., Sept. 6: Phonetics: Consonants (Continued)
- For information on the International Phonetic Alphabet, click on
I.P.A. Look at the consonant chart and count the
number of consonant sounds represented. Compare this chart to the chart of English consonant
phonemes in IEG, p. 27. How many of the IPA's consonant sounds are found in English?
- Fri., Sept. 8: Phonemes and Allophones; Phonemic and Phonetic Levels of Representation
- Handout "Levels of Representation"; study also "The Phoneme" in IEG (pp. 11-13).
Week 3
Assignment for group work: Transcription exercises 1 and 2. Do the exercises individually before
the group meeting and discuss your results with group members.
- Mon., Sept. 11: Group Activity on Common Pronunciation Problems of
Non-Native Speakers
- Materials for group activity will be distributed in class.
- Wed., Sept. 13: Spelling and Pronunciation
- IEG, Chap. 3
- Fri., Sept. 15: Invented Spelling; Explanation of Paper on
Invented Spelling
- Susan Sowers, "Six Questions Teachers Ask about Invented Spelling" (Packet)
- Donald R. Bear and Shane Templeton, "Explorations in Developmental Spelling: Foundations for Learning and
- Teaching Phonics, Spelling, and Vocabulary" (Packet)
Week 4
Assignment for group work: Transcription exercises 3 and 4. Do the exercises
individually before
the group meeting and discuss your results with group members.
- Mon., Sept. 18: Invented Spelling (Continued)
- No reading assignment
- Wed., Sept. 20: Invented Spelling: In-class Group Activity
- No reading assignment
- Fri., Sept. 22: Long and Short Vowels
- No reading assignment. Begin reviewing for test.
Week 5
Assignment for group work: Transcription exercises 5 and 6. Review for first test.
- Mon., Sept. 25: Review; Practice Dictation
- Review for test.
Wed., Sept. 27: First Test
Study for test.
- Fri., Sept. 29: Different Definitions of Grammar; Explanation of
Group Reports on Usage
- IEG, Chapter 18
Week 6
Assignment for group work:
(1.) Begin discussion of final group project. See handout entitled
"Group Projects." Before
your group meeting, everyone should have read the article listed in the "Group Projects" handout--the
article that I have indicated is a good introduction to your topic.
(2.) Verb Tense Exercise 1:
Simple and Progressive Tenses
(Simple Present,
Simple Past, and
Simple Future; and
Present Progressive,
Past Progressive,
and Future Progressive)
- Mon., Oct. 2: Morphology
- IEG, Chap. 8, pp. 87-105 (Note: This isn't the whole chapter.)
- Wed., Oct. 4: Parts of Speech: Form Classes
- IEG, Chap. 12
- Paper on Invented Spelling Due
- Fri., Oct. 6: Parts of Speech: Form Classes (Continued)
- No additional reading assignment. Continue to study IEG, Chap. 12.
Week 7
Assignment for group work:
(1.) Help each other prepare reports on a usage issue. (Short oral report to be given to the
whole class on Mon., Oct. 16)
(2.) Verb Tense Exercise 2: Simple and Progressive Tenses (Cont.)
As you work on your usage reports, click on
usage for a website that may be
useful. The material
provided here is brief, however, and you will need to consult some reference books
(see assignment sheet) as well.
- Mon., Oct. 9: Syntax: Structure Classes
- IEG, Chap. 13
- Wed., Oct. 11: Syntax: Structure Classes (Continued)
- No additional reading assignment.
- Fri., Oct. 13: Noun and Verb Phrases
- IEG, Chap. 14
Week 8
(1.) Assignment for group work: Hear reports from members on their area of responsibility.
(2.) Verb Tense Exercise 3: The Perfect Tenses
(Present Perfect,
Past Perfect, and Future Perfect)
- Mon., Oct. 16: Reports on Usage Issues
- Prepare usage reports.
- Wed., Oct. 18: Group Reports on Usage Issues (Continued)
- Prepare usage reports.
- Fri., Oct. 20: Basic Sentence Patterns
- IEG, Chap. 15
Week 9
Assignment for group work:
(1.) Work on Final Group Project.
(2.) Verb Tense Exercise 4: The Perfect Progressive Tenses
(Present Perfect Progressive,
Past Perfect Progressive, and Future Perfect Progressive)
- Mon., Oct. 23: Basic Sentence Patterns (Cont.)
- Wed., Oct. 25: Positional Classes
- IEG, Chap. 16, pp. 249-259
- Fri., Oct. 27: Positional Classes (Cont.)
- IEG, Chap. 16, pp. 269-270 (Omit section on verb-adverbial composites.)
- Study carefully exercise 16-19 (pp. 269-270), a review of the four positional classes.
- Rough drafts of individual papers related to group projects are due. Bring copies to
give to your group members and to me.
Week 10
Assignment for group work:
Note: This week groups meet twice: once during the regular group meeting time and once during the regular class period (and in the regular classroom) on Wed.
Read drafts of papers written by your group members, fill out written response forms, and
share your thoughts regarding your group members' papers during your regular group meeting and when your group meets during class time on Wed., Nov. 1.
- Mon., Oct. 30: Video: American Tongues
- No additional reading assignment
- Wed., Nov. 1: Group Members Respond to Drafts of
Individual Papers Related to Group Presentations
- Fri., Nov. 3: Review for Test 2
Week 11
Assignment for group work:
(1.) Continue responding to group members' papers if you didn't finish on Fri.
(2.) Verb Tense Exercise 5: Review of the Twelve Tenses
- Mon., Nov. 6: Test 2
- Wed., Nov. 8: Language Variation in the U.S.; Defining Dialect, Accent, Slang, and Standard English
- Dialects, Chapters 1 and 4
- Click on atlas
for information on the Linguistic Atlas of the U.S. projects.
- See the Phonological Atlas of North America for recent information on English dialects that is based on a telephone survey of the major urbanized areas of the U.S. and Canada.
The Center for Applied Linguistics also maintains a good site for information on dialects.
- Fri, Nov. 10: How Dialects of English Differ; How Dialects Are Studied
- Dialects, Chapters 2 and 8
- Do exercise in Dialects on "Levels of Dialect" in box 8.2 (pp. 177-180); and also exercises on how dialects pattern in boxes 8.4 and 8.5 (pp. 190-200).
Week 12
Note: Optional group meetings this week. Meet if you need to in order to plan your group
presentation.
- Mon., Nov. 13: Video: "Black on White" (from the Story of English series)
- Holmgren and Cosmos, "Black on White: The Development of a Major Social Dialect of Modern English" (Packet)
- Wed., Nov. 15: Pidgins and Creoles
- LRLC, Crystal, #23, pp. 321-327
- Read material on a website called the Creolist Archive which has good information on pidgins and
creoles. For this class (Nov. 15) read the 16 answers in the FAQ
(Frequently Asked Questions)
section. Click on the block labeled "Text Collection" for sample creole texts. Click on the block labeled "Speech," then on "Jamaican" (under English-lexicon creoles), then on "An Anansi Story." Listen to this story and be ready to talk about this text in class today. (Your computer will have to have speakers and Real Audio software to enable you to listen; the software can be easily downloaded from the internet. If you can't listen to "An Anansi Story," you can at least read it.)
- Fri., Nov. 17: Origins of African American Vernacular English):
- Adetokunbo K. Borishade, "The Niger-Kordofanian Linguistic Bases of African American
Ebonics: A Creole
- Language" (Packet)
- Robbins Burling, "Where Did It Come From?" (Reserve)
- Look also at the ebonics web page maintained by the Center for Applied Linguistics.
THANKSGIVING VACATION
Week 13
Assignment for group work: Work on Final Group Projects. Groups will be meeting in class on Friday of this week. Members of each group can decide whether their group needs to also meet during the group meeting time this week.
- Mon., Nov. 27: Dialects and Classroom Strategy
- Dialects, Chapter 7
- Fri., Dec. 1: Group Planning Meetings
- Meetings of groups during regular class time to do final planning for
reports to class.
- Final draft of individual papers due.
Week 14
Assignment for group work: No group meetings unless a group needs to meet to finish planning for
group reports.
- Mon., Dec. 4: Group Presentation: Grammar
and the Teaching of Writing
- Wed., Dec. 6: Group Presentation: Acquisition of Language
Fri., Dec. 8: Group Presentation: Comparing
English to Other Languages
Week 15
Assignment for group work: No group meetings unless a group needs to meet to finish planning for
group reports.
Mon., Dec. 11: Group Presentation: Reading: Phonemic Awareness, Phonics and the Search for a Balanced Approach
Wed., Dec. 13: Group Presentation: Gender and Language
Fri., May 7: Review for Test 3
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MWF 12:00-12:50 Section: Final exam (Test 3) is Wed., Dec. 20 from 10:20-12:10.
MWF 2:00-2:50 Section: Final exam (Test 3) is Mon., Dec. 18 from 12:40-2:30.
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- Note: This packet can be purchased at the HSU Bookstore. These exercises and articles are listed in the order they appear on the syllabus.
Transcription Exercises
- Transcription Exercise 1: High Front Vowels and /ay/ Dipthong
- Transcription Exercise 2: High Back Vowels, Central Mid-Vowel, and "R-Colored" Vowel
- Transcription Exercise 3: Low Central and Low Back Vowels and the Dipthongs
/aw/ and /y/
- Transcription Exercise 4: Mid Back, Mid Front, and Low Front Vowels
- Transcription Exercise 5: Interdental and Alveo-palatal Fricatives
- Transcription Exercise 6: Alveo-palatal Affricates, Velar Nasal, and Aspirated /hw/
Verb Tense Exercises
- Verb Tense Exercise 1: Simple and Progressive Tenses
- Verb Tense Exercise 2: Tense and Time Reference
- Verb Tense Exercise 3: The Perfect Tenses
- Verb Tense Exercise 4: The Perfect Progressive Tenses
- Verb Tense Exercise 5: Review Exercise on Verb Tenses
Articles
- Sowers, Susan. "Six Questions Teachers Ask about Invented Spelling." Understanding Writing. Ed. Thomas
- Newkirk and Nancie Atwell. Chelmsford, MA: Northeast Regional Exchange, 1982. 47-56. [No ISBN listed]
- Bear, Donald R. and Shane Templeton. "Explorations in Developmental Spelling: Foundations for Learning and
- Teaching Phonics, Spelling, and Vocabulary." Reading Teacher 52 (Nov., 1998): 222-242.
- McKay, Janet Holmgren and Spencer Cosmos. "Black on White: The Development of a Major Social Dialect of
- American English." The Story of English. Dubuque, Iowa: Kendall/Hunt, 1986. 97-106. ISBN: 0 403 4035 4
- Borishade, Adetokunbo K. "The Niger-Kordofanian Linguistic Bases of African American Ebonics: A Creole
- Language." Western Journal of Black Studies 18 (1994): 1-10.