Description
This course investigates the nature and function of human language: how it originated, how it is acquired, how it is used, how it changes over time, how it is patterned, how it is represented in the brain, and how it affects identity, culture, and history. General linguistic principles applicable to all languages will be introduced, and students will explore the major concerns, controversies, and discoveries of this exciting field.
Prerequisites
"C" or higher in ENG 100.
Course Student Learning Outcomes (CSLOs)
- Use the terminology of linguistic study.
- Describe the role of language in human evolution and cultural development.
- Explain the historical relationships among modern languages.
- Identify geographic, historical, and social factors that cause language change, variation, endangerment, and extinction.
- Describe how human language reflects and affects cultural and personal identities and biases.
- Explain the physiological processes by which human language is stored and processed by the brain and produced in spoken, signed, and written forms.
- Evaluate established theories of language acquisition for children and adults, including the interaction of biological and social factors.
- Explain similarities and differences amongst the structures and uses of spoken, written, and signed forms of language and human non-verbal communication.