For this week, read files 3.0–3.2 in Language Files, available on our Readings & Videos page. I will post a video going over this topic this week, and I’ll let you know when I do so.

Quiz #2, which covers weeks 4–6, is now available. It must be submitted by 11:59pm on Friday, 3 March. As with last time, you may take this quiz as many times as you like before the deadline, but I will only grade your final submission. This is an open book quiz – you may refer to the readings, discussion board posts, and videos – and you are welcome to help one another study, but you may not share answers with one another. Sharing answers will constitute cheating and will earn you a 0 on this quiz without the chance to retake it.

Also be sure to post a response to the Week 6 discussion board thread, which is also due by 11:59pm on Friday, 3 March. If you’ve not yet done your Week 5 response, please post it ASAP for partial credit.

This week’s reading comes from Language Files (2016). It introduces you to a tool called the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA), which linguists use to transcribe speech sounds in a consistent and accurate way. Please read file 2.1 (pp. 42–47) and familiarize yourself with the IPA Chart, each available on the Readings & Videos page of our course site.

You are also encouraged to read (or at least skim) files 2.2 and 2.3. The IPA chart can be confusing, and files 2.2 and 2.3 help to explain how it is organized, building on the topics we discussed last week (like voicing, nasality, etc.).

Also, please make sure to post a response to the Week 5 discussion board thread. Your post is due by 11:59pm on Friday, 24 February.

I will post a video going over these topics this week, and I’ll notify you when I do so.

For this week, read chapters 4 and 5 (pp.21–33) in the book by David Crystal and chapter 28 (pp.124–127) in Rickerson & Hilton’s book. As always, both are on the Readings page of the class website. I’ll post a video discussing these readings this week, probably by Wednesday afternoon.

Submit Quiz #1 by 11:59pm on Friday, 17 February. This covers the readings and videos from weeks 1–4. Take this quiz as many times as you like before the deadline, but I will only grade your final submission. This is an open book quiz – you may refer to the readings, discussion board posts, and videos – and you are welcome to help one another study, but you may not share answers with one another. Sharing answers will constitute cheating and will earn you a 0 on this quiz without the chance to retake it.

Finally, please respond to the Week 4 discussion board topic by 11:59pm on Friday, 17 February. If you did not yet respond to any of the prior weeks’ topics, you may do so for partial credit. Almost a full third of the class did not respond to the Week 3 topic, which was due last Friday. If this applies to you, post your response ASAP!

After I have all of your quiz submissions graded, I will send each of you a progress report with your grade so far based on everything you’ve submitted. Be on the lookout for those emails early next week.

Hi everyone,

I hope that you all had a lovely weekend! I’m writing with your assignment for this week.

Please read chapter 17 (pp. 75–78) in the Rickerson & Hilton book, as well as the reading titled “Language Files file 1.3.” Both can be accessed on the Readings page of the class site. Remember, the password is “linguist” (without the quotation marks). Later this week – probably on Wednesday – I’ll post a video going over some of the key points. I’ll email you again to let you know when that’s available, but, as with last week, I strongly encourage you to do the reading before watching the video.

After you’ve done the reading, please respond to the next discussion board thread I’ve posted, “Week 3: Descriptivism and prescriptivism.” Responses are due by 11:59pm this Friday.

Finally, if you haven’t yet responded to last week’s thread, “Week 2: What is language?,” you can do so now for partial credit. (Responses were due by 11:59pm last Friday.)

Thank you, and don’t hesitate to let me know if you’ve any questions!
Joe

Hi everyone,

I hope all’s well! First, a reminder that the first discussion board post – a reply to the “Week 1: Introduce yourself!” thread – is due by 11:59pm tonight. If you haven’t already done so, please check out that assignment and make your first post. And if you have already posted, I’ll be replying to your posts tomorrow.

Here’s your next assignment:

Please read chapters 1, 2, and 14 (pp. 7–14 and 62–66) in the Rickerson & Hilton book on the Readings page of our class site. (That sounds like a lot, but it’s really less than fifteen pages.) On that page, enter the password “linguist” (without the quotation marks) and download the PDF of the book.

Then, post a response to the next discussion board thread, “Week 2: What is language?” For this one, please make sure you respond to my thread by clicking “Reply” on my post. Don’t create a new thread to post your response. (You’re welcome to start a new thread to start a new discussion, but please keep your responses to the assigned discussions in the right threads.) This response is due by 11:59pm on Friday, February 3rd.

I’ll reach out to you all again later this week, once I’ve posted a video discussing the reading. This should help to emphasize and explain some of the more important parts.

Thank you, and please don’t hesitate to let me know if you have any questions or want to schedule an office hours meeting. Looking forward to reading your responses!

Best wishes,
Joe

Hello and welcome! For your first assignment, please respond to the discussion board thread on Blackboard to introduce yourself.

This assignment is due by 11:59pm on Monday, January 30th. (This is a bit of an outlier. In the future, most assignments will be posted on Mondays and due on Fridays.)