Course Syllabus Spring 2011 LIT 3330.

001

Instructor: Thomas Lambert

Contact: (email preferred) Thomas.lambert1@utdallas.edu phone: (972) 883-4151
Office Hours: Wednesdays 1:00-3:00 or by appointment (advance notice appreciated)
My schedule is flexible and I can easily meet with you outside of my office hours. Just
send an email.
Office Location: JO 5.608C, 5th floor Jonsson Bldg.
Classroom MC 2.410

Course Pre-requisites, Co-requisites, and/or Other Restrictions: None

Course Description: Linguistics is a systematic, scientific approach to the study of

language. This course is a survey of the major fields of linguistics, including: phonology
and phonetics, morphology, syntax, semantics, discourse analysis, stylistics, language
acquisition and dialects. Class will be highly interactive and students will apply their
newly acquired knowledge of the nature of language to real-world issues.

Student Learning Objectives/Outcomes:

1. Students will recognize and identify basic linguistic terms and their use.
2. Students will explain the difference between descriptive and prescriptive
linguistics and discuss societal implications.
3. Students will conduct research and apply linguistic knowledge to analyze a
topic of their choice.

Required Textbooks and Materials:

Curzan, Anne and Michael Adams. How English Works: A Linguistic Introduction.
Pearson Education/Longman 2006, Second Edition ISBN-13: 978-0-205-60550-7

Crystal, David. The English Language: A Guided Tour of the Language. Penguin Books
2002, ISBN 0-14-100396-0.

Additional readings and exercises will be distributed via eLearning and/or in class. Each student
is required to participate 5 times in online discussions about these readings or about topics of
their own choice.

Assignments & Academic Calendar - All readings should be completed before class for
which they are scheduled Note: Schedule is subject to change at the discretion of the
instructor. Readings assigned should be done before class day specified.
Additional readings will be posted to the

January 11
Course overview, syllabus presentation, term paper assignment, intro exercises

January 13
Language and Linguistics
Readings: Curzan Ch 1, Crystal, pp1-12
January 18
Language and Linguistics

January 20
Language and Linguistics continued

January 25
Language and Authority
Readings: Curzan Ch 2, Crystal pp 34-51

January 27
Phonology and Phonetics
Readings: Curzan Ch 3, Crystal pp 52-68

February 1
Phonology and Phonetics

February 3
Phonology and Phonetics

February 8
Morphology
Readings: Curzan Ch 4,

February 10
Morphology, Review for Exam

February 15
*************Exam I ****************************************************

February 17
Syntax
Readings: Curzan Ch 5, Crystal pp19-33

February 22
Syntax
Reading: Curzan, Ch 6

February 24
Syntax

March 1
Syntax

March 3
Syntax
Reading: Curzan, Ch 7

March 8
Semantics
March 10
Semantics
Reading: Curzan Ch 8

March 15 & 17
Spring Break – No Class

March 22
Discourse Analysis

March 24
Discourse Analysis
Reading: Curzan Ch 9

March 29
******Exam 2**************************************************************************

March 31
Stylistics
Reading: Curzan Ch 10

April 5
Stylistics

April 7
******Term Papers Due (at 11:59 pm via WebCT)*************
Language Acquisition

April 12
Language Acquisition
Readings: Curzan, Ch 11, Crystal pp 87-106

April 14
Language Acquisition

April 19
Language Variation
Reading: Curzan, Ch 12

April 21
Language Variation

April 26
Language Variation/Review
Last day to contribute to eLearning discussions. Must have 5 before midnight.

April 28
**************Exam 3************************* (Not cumulative)
Grading Policy
Exam 1 20%
Exam 2 20%
Exam 3 20%
Term Paper 20%
Attendance/Participation/HW 20%
100%
Scale:
Grade Average
A+ 100-96
A 95-93
A- 92-90
B+ 89-86
B 85-83
B- 82-80
C+ 79-76
C 75-73
C- 72-70
D+ 69-66
D 65-63
D- 62-60
F 59-0
X Incomplete
CR Credit
NC No Credit

Course & Instructor Policies

Class will be interactive and therefore an emphasis will be placed on attendance and
participation. Readings on syllabus should be completed before class and students should
be prepared to engage in discussion of material and to do related exercises. Additional
readings will be given via eLearning and/or handouts. If you miss the midterm or final
exam, a make-up will be given only upon furnishing a written medical excuse. Late
research papers will lose 10 points for each day they are late. I will generally calculate
your attendance/HW/Participation grade as the average of your exams and paper. In
other words it will not usually affect your standing average.

No more than one or two students will receive a final grade of A+.

How to make an A on an exam in this class:

1. Attend lectures
2. Do reading and highlight key terms and ideas.
3. Review notes and highlighting 6-8 times in days preceding exam.
4. Prepare outlines for EACH potential essay question.
5. Study.
Extra Credit can be earned through the Conversation Partner program. Participants are
paired with an international teaching assistant to practice English conversation. Three
hours of conversation -- divided as you and your partner negotiate, as long as it is during
the semester of your course -- and a 200-word observation of your experience will raise
one exam grade by 5 points. You may earn extra credit once for each exam.

Receive 3 points on paper grade for a documented visit to the writing center. Many
students lose 10-15 points on paper grades for their failure to express ideas in a clear,
concise manner in Standard English. It may take 5-10 visits to the Writing Center to
address these issues.

Note: Extra credit will not be used to “fine-tune” your grade once you realize you have a
79.4 average. Don’t wait until the last minute.

University Policy: http://go.utdallas.edu/syllabus-policies

These descriptions and timelines are subject to change at the discretion of the Professor.