Course Search Results

  • LIN 333: Conversation Analysis

    3.00 Credits
    West Chester University of Pennsylvania

    How do people use language to communicate and accomplish social action? This course will introduce students to the field of conversation analysis, a branch of discourse analysis that focuses on the structural organization of naturally occurring talk. Though initially developed as a sociological framework for examining the production of social order in everyday life, conversation analysis is a widely used research methodology in linguistics, communication studies, social psychology, and other allied fields, and its development over the past fifty years reflects the interdisciplinary coalitions of scholars that have adopted it as a research methodology. Students in this course will learn to look beyond the commonsense or stereotypical answers to questions about how and why we behave as we do, and will learn specific details of ways in which speakers use language to accomplish mundane activities of everyday life and institutional tasks. This class will also introduce the role of some nonverbal behavior and ecology--including gesture, eye gaze, head nods and shakes, and features of the surrounding environment--in accomplishing mutual understanding and negotiating relationships.
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  • LIN 350: Semantics and Pragmatics

    3.00 Credits
    West Chester University of Pennsylvania

    This course provides an introduction to the theoretical frameworks of Semantics (meaning in language) and Pragmatics (meaning in context). In the first part of the semester, we will focus on semantics, exploring how the meaning of a sentence or a phrase is derived from its parts. In the second part of the semester, we will focus on pragmatics and investigate how meaning is related to conversational context. We will investigate linguistic meaning and its role in communication, culture, society, politics, advertising, and literature. The course will explore the following topics: word and sentence meaning; logical semantics; thematic roles and lexical conceptual structure; presupposition, text organization, and implicature; reference, sense, and mental images; speech acts and implicature; deixis; relevance theory. Prerequisite:    (ENG 230 or LIN 230)
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  • LIN 355: Computational Linguistics

    3.00 Credits
    West Chester University of Pennsylvania

    Computational linguistics is a broad interdisciplinary field that incorporates tools, research, and techniques for processing language with computers at different levels of linguistic structure. This course will introduce you to some of the topics and tasks in computational linguistics that focus on linguistic structure. This class is designed with the expectation that students have a background in either linguistics or computer science, though not necessarily both, and will provide them with the necessary foundations in both of these disciplines in order to conduct their own research in computational linguistics.
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  • LIN 373: Language Change

    3.00 Credits
    West Chester University of Pennsylvania

    Introduction to the theory and methods in the study of language change and historical linguistics. Topics covered will include: reasons for language change; types of change (phonological, morphological, syntactic, semantic, pragmatic); the comparative method and linguistic reconstruction; generative approaches to language change; usage-based approaches to language change; the relationship between language variation and change; historical sociolinguistics; dialect and language contact; pidgins, creoles, and the emergence of new languages; language attrition and language shift. Prerequisite:    ENG 331, LIN 230
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  • LIN 380: Language & Culture

    3.00 Credits
    West Chester University of Pennsylvania

    This course provides a comprehensive overview of anthropological approaches to the study of language, culture, and society. Topics of study include anthropological theories of language, linguistic relativity, language diversity and inequality, language shift, and the creative use of language in performance. Students also will gain experience conducting original research on the social and interactional role of language in our everyday social life. Prerequisite:    (ANT 102 or ENG 230)
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  • LIN 388: Corpus Linguistics

    3.00 Credits
    West Chester University of Pennsylvania

    An introduction to the use of corpora, a collection of authentic and naturally occurring texts in an electronic format, in the study of language. Students will become familiar with construction, evaluation, and different kinds of corpora, corpus-linguistic methods, and application of corpus-based research in a variety of domains (e.g., language acquisition, language teaching, sociolinguistics, forensic linguistics, etc.). Prerequisite:    (ENG 230 or LAN 327 or LIN 230)
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  • LIN 411: Seminar Linguistics

    3.00 Credits
    West Chester University of Pennsylvania

    Specialized studies in linguistics. Topics announced annually. Prerequisite:    (LAN 327 or LIN 230)
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  • LIN 412: Capstone Seminar in Linguistics

    3.00 Credits
    West Chester University of Pennsylvania

    This course is a variable-topic research seminar entailing specialized studies in linguistics. The topic for each section will be announced before registration. Prerequisite:    ENG 331, LIN 230, LIN 332, LIN 350
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  • LIT 100: Popular Culture: Reading Culture as Text

    3.00 Credits
    West Chester University of Pennsylvania

    An introduction to analyzing and interpreting everyday cultural expressions within diverse social, historical, economic, and political contexts.
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  • LIT 101: Contemporary Issues Through Literature

    3.00 Credits
    West Chester University of Pennsylvania

    This lecture-style course links the study of various genres of literature from a range of time periods (texts included on the syllabus can range from medieval to contemporary) to contemporary events and issues.
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