Syllabus

Revised Syllabus for English 457: Sociolinguistics

Spring 2020

Updates in red as of 19 March 2020

In this class we are going to consider a number of questions about the relationship between language and society.

• What language varieties do people use?

• What affects their choice of variety?

• What do people use language to do?

• How does who a person is affect how he or she uses language?

• How does how a person uses language affect and reflect who she or he is?

• How does the social context in which a language develops and is used affect its structure?

• How does the social contract between users of a language affect their interpretation of what is said or written?

Learning Goals

Required Reading

• Introducing Sociolinguistics, 3rd ed., 2019. Miriam Meyerhoff

• (available from directly from the publisher in paperback or electronic format for purchase or rental or from Amazon in either electronic or paperback format or from Barnes and Noble in electronic or paperback format.)

• Other articles to be distributed in class/on the class website. All articles posted on the website will be protected with the password announced in class.

Grading

Grades will be based on homework (15%), quizzes (30%), fFinal project research proposal (20%), and take-home final exam (35%).

Homework Policy

I encourage you to talk about your homework (and anything else in the class) with each other (and me, of course); however, each of you should write up your homework separately. Homework assignments will be graded credit/no credit. Your homework will be accepted only at or before the due date, so even if you feel your attempt is unsatisfactory, turn it in.

Quizzes

In lieu of a midterm we will have quizzes every 2-3 weeks--whenever I think there is a coherent amount of stuff to be quizzed on. I will typically notify you the class session before the quiz, but quizzes may occur without prior notice. No individual quiz will be worth much (no more than 5% of the total grade), but as a group they represent about a third of your course grade

Final project Research Proposal

A research proposal for your final project will be due Wednesday, 8 April 2020 by 5pm on Monday, 20 April 2020. The proposal will be worth 5% 20% of your final grade (therefore 25% of your final project grade). The other 15% of the final project grade will be based on your your final paper, which will be no longer than 10 double-spaced pages due by Monday of Finals Week (4 May 2020).

Take-Home Final Exam

The final exam will be cumulative, due on Wednesday of Finals Week (6 May 2020).

Attendance

As an adult, you must make your own decisions whether or not to come to class. However, you should realize that coming to class is part of your job as a student, as is completing the homework on time and passing the quizzes, the final project and the final exam. Coming to class and participating will make meeting your other responsibilities in this class easier. I do not take attendance in this class, but I do reserve the right to give an attendance quiz (worth 50% of a regular quiz) without warning if the attendance in class falls too low.

You must attend one weekly on-line meeting and ask a question at each meeting you attend for the last six weeks of class; each week's worth of meeting and question counts as 1/2 of a homework grade--thus adding three homeworks to the total number of homeworks.

University Announcements

Academic Honesty

As an institution of higher education, Washington State University is committed to principles of truth and academic honesty. All members of the University community share the responsibility for maintaining and supporting these principles. When a student enrolls in Washington State University, the student assumes an obligation to pursue academic endeavors in a manner consistent with the standards of academic integrity adopted by the University. To maintain the academic integrity of the community, the University cannot tolerate acts of academic dishonesty including any forms of cheating, plagiarism, or fabrication. Washington State University reserves the right and the power to discipline or to exclude students who engage in academic dishonesty. The consequences of plagiarizing in this class are an automatic zero on the assignment, and may also entail an “F” in the class and referral to the Student Conduct Board.

Disability Accommodation

Students with Disabilities: Reasonable accommodations are available for students with a documented disability. If you have a disability and need accommodations to fully participate in this class, please either visit or call the Access Center (Washington Building 217; 509-335-3417) to schedule an appointment with an Access Advisor. All accommodations MUST be approved through the Access Center.

Safety Statement

Classroom and campus safety are of paramount importance at Washington State University, and are the shared responsibility of the entire campus population. WSU urges students to follow the “Alert, Assess, Act” protocol for all types of emergencies and the “Run, Hide, Fight” response for an active shooter incident. Remain ALERT (through direct observation or emergency notification), ASSESS your specific situation, and ACT in the most appropriate way to assure your own safety (and the safety of others if you are able). Please sign up for emergency alerts on your account at MyWSU. For more information on this subject, campus safety, and related topics, please view the FBI’s Run, Hide, Fight video and visit the WSU safety portal.

Severe Weather

For severe weather alerts, see: http://alert.wsu.edu/ and https://oem.wsu.edu/emergency-procedures/severe-weather/. In the event of severe weather affecting university operations, guidance will be issued through the alert system.