Linguistics 220: Language and Society

Course description

How do language and society affect one another? This course will focus on the study of linguistic variation and change from a variety of perspectives on the social. We'll examine how linguistic variation corresponds to large-scale social categories like age, gender, race/ethnicity, and socioeconomic class, as well as how individual speakers use language to construct identities, portray stances, and achieve interactional goals. We'll explore how language is a social practice that is situated in history, and how language can reflect, reinforce, create, and contest societal power structures. Students will participate in hands-on quantitative research in sociolinguistic variation to examine directly how the social and linguistic are intertwined.




Learning outcome goals

Through successfully completing this course, you will:

• know the difference between descriptive and prescriptive views on language.
• understand the ways that language use can show variation, and the social factors that can condition this variation.
• conduct quantitative and qualitative analyses of linguistic variation.
• write clear critical analyses of the relation between social factors and linguistic variation.
• present sociolinguistic data and analysis.
• understand broader implications of sociolinguistic variation and linguistic discrimination.









Course Organization - Remote Learning

While learning remotely can present new and unique challenges, I hope that you will be able to get as much out of this course as you would via in-person meetings! Our syllabus and schedule can always be found on this page, and all announcements, assignment submissions, and Zoom links can be found via our Canvas page. Please be sure to have e-mail notifications for Canvas announcements turned on, as I will communicate with the class through Announcements throughout the quarter. The course will be organized as follows:




Weekly DIY Lectures (Tuesdays)

Beginning in Week 2, you will complete Tuesday classes asynchronously (on your own time). See the readings that are assigned for each class day on our Schedule page (click the tab above). All readings and class slides can be found in the Files section of our Canvas page.

Each week, I will pre-record a lecture based on the Tuesday readings. The lecture will be posted to Canvas in the Panopto tab by the start of our class time, Tuesday 11:20 a.m. CST. These may be single, longer videos or multiple shorter videos. If multiple videos, you must view all of them.

Each week, you must complete the Tuesday readings, then view the pre-recorded lecture. Then, you will submit very brief (2-4 sentence) responses to each of the reading/lecture questions included in the lecture (number your answers) for that week by 11:59 p.m. CST on Tuesday. During the recorded lecture, it will be made clear what these questions are. Submit these in the "Reading/Lecture Response" Assignment (in the Assignments tab) on Canvas for that week. These are intended to ensure that you've completed the reading and viewed the lecture. You must show an understanding of and engagement with the readings and lecture to receive points. Note that throughout the quarter, you may skip three of these responses without penalty. For this reason, late responses will not be accepted. However, for weeks that you do not complete a response, you are still expected to complete the readings and pre-recorded lecture prior to Thursday's synchronous class. More info on the late policies are provided below.




Weekly Zoom Discussions (Thursdays)

Our Thursday classes will be completed synchronously at our appointed lecture time, 11:20am-12:40pm CST. We will connect via Zoom, and you can access our meeting for the day by clicking on the Zoom tab in Canvas, then selecting the day's meeting. I will walk us through some slides, and we will have a class discussion about the readings and Tuesday's lecture. You will be expected to attend and participate in each Thursday Zoom discussion unless arrangements have been made in advance with Prof. D'Onofrio. I understand that internet connectivity and other issues may make attending discussions difficult. If you have trouble connecting for any reason, please e-mail Prof. D'Onofrio or one of the TAs to notify us in advance. Zoom discussions will be recorded and made available to students who cannot attend a session.

If you are unable to attend a Zoom discussion lecture, let Prof. D'Onofrio and your assigned TA know as far in advance as possible (please provide an explanation). To make up your attendance points, you must watch the recorded lecture (this will uploaded to Canvas in the Files tab in the "Thursday recordings" folder) and add two discussion points or questions to our Canvas discussion board in response to a topic of discussion brought up in the synchornous class. Post your points or questions on the board within 24 hours of our class (by 11:20 a.m. CST on the day after the synchronous lecture you missed). Explain what you are responding to clearly - the goal is to show you have watched the synchronous class recording as well as to engage with the discussion in class. If another student has left a post on the relevant class here, you may respond to that as well. Each recording will be deleted after 7 days.

Slides from Thursday Zoom meetings will be posted to Canvas after each class, to best reflect the content covered in that day's class.

If you are unable to attend a Zoom lecture, it is your responsibility to ask your TAs any questions that you would have asked in class - please do not hesitate to e-mail your assigned TA for clarification on any points discussed in class, or to request a Zoom meeting.





Course Policies




Office Hours

Office hours will be held virtually via Zoom, by appointment. If you have any questions or concerns at all, or would like to discuss course topics or assignments further, we strongly encourage you to arrange an appointment with one of us. Please e-mail the TA assigned to your last name (see above) or Prof. D'Onofrio to arrange a virtual appointment. If you have questions about your grade on an assignment, please arrange an appointment with the TA who graded it.




Communication with instructors

Please contact Prof. D'Onofrio, Jaime, Chantal or Kate via e-mail for questions, issues, or to set up a Zoom appointment. If you have a question, be sure to check these pages thoroughly before e-mailing, in case the answer to your question is already there. We highly recommend that you read over any e-mail you send prior to hitting the send button. Please use appropriate e-mail etiquette - we strongly recommend looking over this page on how to send e-mails to professors or TAs! We make every effort to address your questions and concerns thoughtfully and respectfully, and we ask that you do the same when posing questions, whether in meetings or via e-mail. Any e-mail sent before 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, will be answered the same day. While there is a good likelihood of a prompt answer for emails sent after 5 p.m., or on weekend days, the only guarantee we make is that after-hours emails will be answered the next business day. Reading responses and project files should be submitted in the Assignments tab in the course Canvas page unless otherwise specified.




Synchronous class policies

While readings and outside work are crucial to understanding the content of the course, the bulk of what you'll learn will come from engaging in our discussions. This requires your preparation, attendance and full attention during class. Please turn off and put away cell phones and close distractions on your computer prior to coming to our Zoom classroom. Please mute your microphones when you are not speaking, though we prefer to see your faces via video if you are comfortable. We strongly encourage you to participate with your voice (use the "raise hand" function) or via chat in our Zoom discussions.

We will provide you with respect during class, and I expect that you will treat us and your fellow classmates with the same respect. Discriminatory language and sexual harassment will not be tolerated. Speaking up and remaining open-minded will be crucial in class, but please do your best to frame comments with tolerance and respect. Attendance and participation throughout the quarter will be noted. If you have questions or concerns about classroom conduct at any point, please contact Prof. D'Onofrio as soon as possible.




Late assignments

You are allowed three reading/lecture response skips throughout the quarter, no questions asked. Because of this allowance, no late responses will be accepted. See more info in the grading breakdown section, below.

Projects that are late will be deducted a full letter grade for each 24 hour period that they are late. Assignments turned in more than 48 hours late will not be accepted, and no credit will be given. This does not apply to the final paper, which must be turned in on the due date, no exceptions.




Academic integrity

All students are expected to comply with Northwestern's principles regarding academic integrity. See this link for more information. Suspected violations will be investigated.




Students with documented disabilities

Any student requesting accommodations related to a disability or other condition should to register with AccessibleNU (accessiblenu@northwestern.edu; 847-467-5530) and provide the instructor with notification from AccessibleNU, preferably within the first two weeks of class. All information will remain confidential.

Recording

Synchronous meetings of this class will be recorded by the instructor for educational purposes. These recordings will be shared only with students enrolled in the course and will be deleted at the end of the quarter. Please contact Prof. D'Onofrio if you have any questions or concerns about recordings.

All recordings and materials provided in class are not intended to be shared beyond our classroom. While our synchronous discussions will be recorded for students who are not able to make those classes, these will be only shared with students in the class.

Unauthorized student recording of classroom or other academic activities (including advising sessions or office hours) is prohibited. Unauthorized recording is unethical and may also be a violation of University policy and state law. Students requesting the use of assistive technology as an accommodation should contact AccessibleNU.

Unauthorized use of classroom recordings, including distributing or posting them, is also prohibited. Under the University's Copyright Policy, faculty own the copyright to instructional materials, including those resources created specifically for the purposes of instruction, such as syllabi, lectures and lecture notes, and presentations. Students cannot copy, reproduce, display or distribute these materials. Students who engage in unauthorized recording, unauthorized use of a recording or unauthorized distribution of instructional materials will be referred to the appropriate University office for follow-up.

Grading Breakdown




Participation (5%)

Much of our class will be based on discussions. Your attendance and participation in these discussions are critical for your participation grade. Notify Prof. D'Onofrio as soon as possible if you must be absent from a synchronous class for any reason. Attendance will be taken, and your class participation will be noted.




Reading/Lecture Responses (25%)

There is no assigned textbook for this course. Instead, we will be drawing from an assortment of books, articles, and other media. Each week, we will have a class discussion relating the readings to the topic of the week, listed on the Schedule page. All readings will be uploaded to our Canvas site in the Files tab. To get you thinking critically about the assigned readings and pre-recorded lecture, you will complete a set of short reading/lecture responses Tuesday of each week.

Questions for each set of readings will be provided in the pre-recorded lecture for the week, highlighted in purple. You must answer all of the questions for the week for full credit. Submit your responses in the Assignments tab on our Canvas site by 11:59pm CST. Responses are part of your grade, and you should expect to share your thoughts in class discussions as well.

You may skip THREE of the nine reading responses throughout the quarter, no questions asked. This means you should complete a total of six responses throughout the quarter. Because of this allowance, no late responses will be accepted, and no make-up responses will be allowed. If you choose to turn in more than the required six responses, only your highest six scores will be counted. Note that you will be expected to complete the readings assigned for each class meeting, as well as watch the pre-recorded lecture for the week, even if you choose to skip a reading response that week.

There will also be a final reflection writing assignment due by the beginning our final required class meeting (11/19) that will be part of your reading response grade. This assignment is required of all students, and cannot be used as one of your skips.




Projects (45%)

Aside from the reading responses and the final paper, you will complete two projects in this class. The project grades will include tasks and activities leading up to the project, as well as a write-up or presentation. You must complete all of these components to get full credit for the assignment.

All assigned tasks and project deadlines will be noted on the Schedule page in the corresponding week that they are due, with instructions and materials provided in advance.

All course work must be completed by the specified time on the day they are due, or else they are late. All assignments should be submitted via Canvas under the Assignments tab.




Final paper (25%)

This class will not include a final exam, but instead a final paper due during the exam period. The final paper will be a written proposal for a sociolinguistic research project, involving an original research question, a review of sociolinguistic literature relevant to this question, and a detailed proposal for carrying out research on the question (approximately 5-7 pages, double spaced). Specific details about the final project will be provided throughout the quarter. The final paper is due (no exceptions) by the end of the day on Wednesday, December 2, by 11:59 PM.

Linguistics Experimental Requirement

As a 200-level course in the Linguistics Department, this class has an experimental requirement. You must complete the requirement by completing 2 experimental credits during the quarter (a total of two hours of time). This quarter, all studies will be completed online. See these guidelines for complete information about fulfilling these requirements.

An account will be created for you in the Sona system during the second week of class (on Sept 23rd), which is where you'll sign up for studies and be assigned credit. You should receive an e-mail by the end of the second week of class with your login information. If you do not receive an e-mail by this point, or you have trouble logging into Sona, please let your TA know as soon as possible.

While your experimental participation is not graded, failure to complete both experimental credits will result in your course grade being lowered by one "notch" on the letter grade scale (e.g. A to A-, A- to B+, etc.)

Opportunities to complete the requirement will be posted on Sona throughout the quarter. If you don't see a slot that will work for you, we recommend you check back, as more will be posted.

We strongly encourage you to complete your credits well before the end of the quarter. You must fulfill the requirement, no exceptions, by the end of Reading Week (Tuesday December 1 at 11:59pm CST).