Theories of Language

Instructor: Dr. Kirk Hazen
Office: 360 Stansbury
Office Hours: Monday 2:00 to 3:00 and by appointment
Email: khazen2@wvu.edu
Phone: 293-3107x414

Purpose: This course should help the student develop a rough-n-ready theory of language to carry through their academic career.

Goals:
1. Confront the assumptions of traditional prescriptivism.
2. Develop respect for human language.
3. Develop a non-patronizing respect for diachronic and synchronic language variation.
4. Understand what scholars mean when they talk about language.

Texts:
Course pack.

Optional:
Literary Theory : A Very Short Introduction (Very Short Introductions) by Jonathan D. Culler. Available at Stillwells.

Attendance: There is no attendance policy for this course. I believe that the course, the assignments, and the material will be interesting and difficult enough to keep you in class in order to learn and pass. If you are not in class on a regular basis, passing will become nearly impossible. If you miss class, it is fully your responsibility to find out what was missed and complete any assignments by their due date.

Advice: If you feel lost or even the slightest bit confused, contact me. Email me or come by during office hours. If you cannot make office hours, we can set up a time to talk. The quicker you get your questions straightened out, the better off you will be.

Grades:
* Author presentation. 10%
* Two short responses. 20%
* One comprehensive research paper. 30%
* Weekly reading-response postings. 40% Ê

In this class I assign pluses and minuses. The official percentages are 100-97 = A+; 96-93 = A; 92-90 = A-; 89-87 = B+; 86-83 = B; 82-80 = B-; 79-77 = C+; 76-73 = C; 72-70 = C-; 69-67 = D+. Ê Ê

Preliminary Class Plan

August 21: Herman, Introduction from Universal Grammar and Narrative Form

August 28: Plato, Cratylus

September 11: Covington, "Grammatical Theory in the Middle Ages"

September 18: Paul, chapters 1 (&2) from Principles of the History of Language

September 25: Saussure, from Course in General Linguistics (Introduction: chapter III: Object of Study; chapter IV: Linguistics of Language structure and linguistics of speech; chapter V: Internal and external elements of a language; Part One: chapter I: Nature of the Linguistic Sign; chapter II: Invariability and Variability of the Sign); Bloomfield, from Language (Language Usage).

October 2: Sapir, "Language".

October 9: Whorf, "Language and Logic"; PinkerÕs Language Instinct (chapter 3: Mentalese).

October 16: Chomsky, chapter 1 (& 2) from Language and Problems of Knowledge. Chomsky, introduction from The Minimalist Program.

October 23: Weinreich, Labov, and Herzog, "An Empirical Foundation for a Theory of Language Change"

October 30: Fairclough, chapters 1,2 (&3) from Language and Power.

November 6: MarenbonÕs "English Our English: The New Orthodoxy Examined"; SimonÕs "Why Good English is Good For You"; Cameron, chapter 3 from Verbal Hygiene.

November 13: Derrida, chapter 2 of of Grammatology ("Linguistics and Grammatology").

November 27: Lacan, "The Instance of the Letter in the Unconscious or Reason since Freud".

December 4: Kristeva, chapters 1 (&2) from Revolution in Poetic Language.