Courses

ASL 3450 | Comparative Linguistics: ASL and English

TuTh 3:30pm - 4:45pm

Bruce Sofinski

Describes spoken English and ASL (American Sign Language) on five levels: phonological, morphological, lexical, syntactic, and discourse and compares/contrasts them using real-world examples. Describes major linguistic components and processes of English and ASL. Introduces basic theories regarding ASL structure. Emphasizes ASL's status as a natural language by comparing/contrasting similarities and unique differences between the two languages.

Fulfills the structure requirement for the Linguistics B.A./M.A

ANTH 2400 | Language and Culture

MoWed 10:00am - 10:50am + obligatory discussion section

Nathan Wendte

Introduces the interrelationships of linguistic, cultural, and social phenomena with emphasis on the importance of these interrelationships in interpreting human behavior. No prior knowledge of linguistics is required.

ANTH 2410 | Sociolinguistics

TuTh 11:00am - 12:15pm

Daniel Lefkowitz

Reviews key findings in the study of language variation. Explores the use of language to express identity and social difference.

ANTH 2415 | Language in Human Evolution

MoWed 2:00pm - 2:50pm + obligatory discussion section

Mark Sicoli

Examines the evolution of our capacity for language along with the development of human ways of cooperating in engaged social interaction. Course integrates cognitive, cultural, social, and biological aspects of language in comparative perspective. How is the familiar shape of language today the result of evolutionary and developmental processes involving the form, function, meaning and use of signs and symbols in social ecologies?

ANTH 2444 | Language, AI, and Society

MoWed 8:00am - 9:15am

Nathan Wendte

Artificial Intelligence is everywhere—on your computers, your phones, and in an ever-increasing number of mundane spheres of daily life. As the technology expands, so do the questions surrounding its use and implications for us individually and as a society. In this course we grapple with a subset of these questions through readings, discussions, and assignments that focus on AI and its relationship with language and language users (i.e., us!). We will cover the basics of how things like Large Language Models operate, including the biases that are baked into the data upon which they are trained. We will discuss the unseen labor the enables the “magic” of tools like ChatGPT. And we will debate the ecological pros and cons of the proliferation of such tools and their environmental costs.

ANTH 3450 /  7450 | Native American Languages

TuTh 12:30pm - 1:45pm

Armik Mirzayan

Introduces the native languages of North America and the methods that linguists and anthropologists use to record and analyze them. Examines the use of grammars, texts and dictionaries of individual languages and affords insight into the diversity among the languages.

Fulfills the structure requirement for the Linguistics B.A./M.A

ANTH 3480 / 7480 | Language and Prehistory 

MoWed 3:30pm - 4:45pm

Eve Danziger

This course covers the basic principles of diachronic linguistics and discusses the uses of linguistic data in the reconstruction of prehistory.

Fulfills the historical requirement for the Linguistics B.A./M.A

ANTH 5559 | Voice and Representation

Mo 5:00pm - 7:30pm

Aron Marie

"Find your inner voice", "the voice of a nation"; the word voice has many uses. It simultaneously refers to the actof phonation (speech), and functions as a trope for representation, presence, and identity. In this course we diveinto the anthropology of voice, asking: how does voice as a modality relate to identity, politics, andrepresentation? We will analyze how voices are portrayed in media, activism, and research itself. We will alsoexamine when voices are heard (or not) by the state.

ANTH 7400 | Linguistic Anthropology

MoWed 2:00pm - 3:15pm

Lise Dobrin

An advanced introduction to the study of language from an anthropological point of view. No prior coursework in linguistics is expected, but the course is aimed at graduate students who will use what they learn in their own anthropologically-oriented research. Topics include an introduction to such basic concepts in linguistic anthropology as language in world-view, the nature of symbolic meaning, language and nationalism, universals and particulars in language, language in history and prehistory, the ethnography of speaking, the nature of everyday conversation, and the study of poetic language. The course is required for all Anthropology graduate students. It also counts toward the Theory requirement for the M.A. in Linguistics.

Fulfills the theory requirement for the Linguistics M.A

EDIS 7840 | Discourse Analysis in Education

Th 3:30pm - 6:00pm

Chris Chang-Bacon

This course provides an introduction to discourse analysis theory and methodology as they relate to classrooms and other educational settings. Readings will provide an overview of discourse analysis approaches used in educational research, with a particular focus on micro-ethnographic and conversation-analytic approaches. Fieldwork and hands-on analysis of discourse will form a significant portion of the course.

EDHS 4300 | Psycholinguistics & Communication

TuTh 5:00pm - 6:15pm

Filip Loncke

This course focuses on the psychological processes that underlie the acquisition and the use of language. There is an emphasis on the interaction between linguistic skills and other cognitive skills. Topics include learnability, microgenesis of speech, bilingualism and variation, and a psycholinguistic approach to breakdowns (i.e., language pathology).

EDHS 4310 | Exploring Linguistic Diversity

Mo 3:30pm - 6:00pm

Filip Loncke

This course uses the students' personal experience and perceptions as a starting point to interpret and understand theories. The course introduces central concepts such as language contact, language dominance, language policies, creolization, bilingualism, language diversification, language dispersal, dialect, idiolect, and sociolect. The course also includes a focus on policies that can influence linguistic variation.

LNGS 3250 / 7010 | Introduction to Linguistic Theory and Analysis

MoWedFr 11:00am - 11:50am

Mark Elson

Introduces sign systems, language as a sign system, and approaches to linguistics description. Emphasizes the application of descriptive techniques to data.

Fulfills the foundational requirement for the Linguistics B.A./M.A

LING 2430 | Languages of the World

MoWed 4:00pm - 5:15pm

Armik Mirzayan

An introduction to the study of language relationships and linguistic structures. Topics covered the basic elements of grammatical description; genetic, areal, and typological relationships among languages; a survey of the world's major language groupings and the notable structures and grammatical categories they exhibit; and the issue of language endangerment. 

LING 3101 / 5101 | ESL Teaching Practicum: Language

Fr 3:00pm - 3:50pm

Janay Crabtree

Through this course, students focus on teaching oral English as another language, while gaining experience in the practice of English-language teaching to international students, faculty, and staff at the University. This is an excellent opportunity to gain teaching experience under the supervision of an experienced mentor. For every 1 hour of credit, students must meet with an instructor for 5 classroom & practice 33 hours.

LING 3102 / 5102 | ESL Teaching Practicum: Culture

Fr 4:00pm - 4:50pm

Janay Crabtree

Through this course, students focus on culture in ESL, while gaining experience in the practice of English-language teaching to international students, faculty, and staff at the University. This is an excellent opportunity to gain teaching experience under the supervision of an experienced mentor. For every 1 hour of credit, students must meet with an instructor for 5 classroom & practice 33 hours

LING 3103 / 5103 | ESL Teaching Practicum: Writing

Fr 5:00pm - 5:50pm

Janay Crabtree

Through this course, students focus on the topic of writing in an L2, while gaining experience in the practice of English-language teaching to international students, faculty, and staff at the University. This experience is an excellent opportunity to gain teaching experience under the supervision of an experienced mentor.

LING 3400 / 7400 | Structure of English

MoWed 1:00pm - 1:50pm

Janay Crabtree

Introduces students to the descriptive grammar of English and applied methods for reasoning about linguistic structure through community-engaged group research introducing linguistics to Virginia High School students. Covers units of sound and phonemic transcriptions, word building and inflection, lexical categories, basic sentence types, common phrase and clause patterns, and syntactic transformations structural analysis and use of evidence.

Fulfills the structure requirement for the Linguistics B.A./M.A

LING 5401 | Linguistic Field Methods 

Wed 5:00pm - 7:30pm

Armik Mirzayan

Investigates the grammatical structure of non-European language on the basis of data collected in class from a native speaker. A different language is the focus of study each year.

Fulfills the structure requirement for the Linguistics B.A./M.A

LING 5410 | Phonology

TuTh 5:00pm - 6:15pm

Armik Mirzayan

An introduction to the theory and analysis of linguistic sound systems. Covers the essential units of speech sound that lexical and grammatical elements are composed of, how those units are organized at multiple levels of representation, and the principles governing the relation between levels.

Fulfills the theory requirement for the Linguistics B.A./M.A

LING 7300 | Psycholinguistics

TuTh 5:00pm - 6:15pm

Filip Loncke

This course focuses on the psychological processes that underlie the use of language and speech. Is language competence different from other human skills? Is language a biological, a psychological, a cultural phenomenon, or all of these? Why do people speak with an accent? Why do we forget words (and why do we remember them)?

SPAN 3000 | Spanish Phonetics

TuTh 3:30pm - 4:45pm

Omar Velazquez Mendoza

An introduction to the sound system of both Peninsular & Latin Am Spanish. Class discussions focus on how the sounds of Spanish are produced from an articulatory point of view, and how these sounds are organized & represented in the linguistic competence of their speakers. When appropriate, comparisons will be made between Spanish & English or Spanish & other (Romance & non-Romance) languages. Course seeks to improve the student's pronunciation. Pre-requisites SPAN 2020 or equivalent (it can be taken simultaneously with SPAN 3010).

SPAN 3200 | Introduction to Hispanic Linguistics

MoWed 2:00pm - 3:15pm

Lorena Albert Ferrando

This course provides an introduction to core areas of linguistic analysis using Spanish. Areas covered include sounds of Spanish (phonetics & phonology), word formation (morphology), sentence structure (syntax), meaning of words, phrases, sentences, & larger chunks of discourse, also in social context (semantics & pragmatics), history of the Spanish language, regional & social variation (dialectology & sociolinguistics), & language acquisition. Pre-requisites SPAN 2020 or equivalent (it can be taken simultaneously with SPAN 3010).

SPAN 4530-01 | Instituting Spanish: Language and Power (Special Topics Seminar: Language)

MoWed 3:30pm - 4:45pm

Lorena Albert Ferrando

This course examines the role of institutions, associations and organizations in the configuration of Spanish Studies as a field defined by language as its distinctive trait. Focusing on bodies such as the Royal Academy of Spain, AATSP, Instituto Cervantes, and Sigma Delta Pi, the course examines how linguistic knowledge is produced, authorized, and regulated, and how power, ideology and prestige shape the institutional life of Spanish.

SPAN 4530-02 | Latin American Spanish (Special Topics Seminar: Language)

TuTh 5:00pm - 6:15pm

Omar Velazquez Mendoza

SPAN 4530 (Latin American Spanish) focuses on the study of the geographical distribution of the main varieties of the Spanish language as spoken in the Americas from the perspective of phonetics and phonology (the organization of sounds in speakers' minds and their actual articulation), morphosyntax (the formation and organization of words and phrases), and, to some extent, also the lexicon (vocabulary) and semantics (meaning). The distribution of Spanish dialects is studied both synchronically (i.e., in the present) and diachronically (i.e., historically). After establishing Spanish as one of the varieties descended from Vulgar (spoken) Latin from the north of the Iberian Peninsula, its spread throughout the Americas is traced country by country. Likewise, the main Latin American regions where Spanish coexists or has coexisted with other languages ​​are presented. The social context of the United States, where Spanish coexists with English, is also discussed. The course focuses particularly on the formative period of New World Spanish, the colonial period, especially with regard to the contributions that African and indigenous languages ​​have had on the language.

Fulfills the structure requirement for the Linguistics B.A./M.A