Professor's Name: Ellen Johnson Telephone: 368-5638
Evans 233C (inside Writing Center) ejohnson@berry.edu,
http://fsweb.berry.edu/academic/hass/ejohnson
Office hours: MW 8:30-11, T 9:30-12:30, H 12-12:30, F 9:30 - 11
Course Description (3 hours credit)
ENG 434 Studies in Linguistics: Advanced studies in theoretical and applied linguistics. Emphasis on social and historical influences on English language structure and use. May be retaken for credit with different topic. PR: One 200-level literature or linguistics course.
WNS 344 Special Topics in Women's Studies :Concentrated study in a special topic in women's studies.
The course on language and gender will have two parts. The first will examine the representation of men and women in language, with a focus on English and gender roles in American society. We will look especially at changes toward gender-neutral language in occupational titles and pronoun usage. The connotations of words for women and men along the gender continuum will be a topic of semantic analysis. Media portrayals of men and women will be the subject of critical discourse analysis and language awareness exercises.
The second part of the course will examine how men and women use language differently. We will look at differences in all areas of language, from pronunciation and grammar to discourse features. Some questions to ask are "Why do women use more standard language?" "Who interrupts more, men or women?" and "Who talks the most?". We will look at how some features of language use are seen as more feminine/ masculine, and how the choice of these features reflects the speaker's social identity. Finally, we will assess language use in terms of how it instantiates power relations in our society.
The purpose of this course is to contribute to the intellectual development of Berry students. It will encourage students to understand and value diversity by exploring differences among people, promoting dialogue on issues of diversity. It will assist students in becoming literate and responsible citizens of a democracy in a changing world. Students should learn to reason clearly and analytically, communicate effectively, make informed and morally sound choices, and understand scientific inquiry and phenomena. They should also acquire that breadth of vision that comes with an historical consciousness and an awareness of cultural diversity.
Goals: The students will
Expected Outcomes: The students will
Textbooks
Cameron, Deborah. The Feminist Critique of Language, 2nd ed. 1998, Routledge.
Eckert, Penelope, and Sally McConnell-Ginet. Language and Gender. 2003, Cambridge.
Methods of Instruction
Reading, discussion, lecture, video, and exploratory activities.
Attendance Policy
Attendance will count toward class participation grade. Students missing more than one consecutive week of classes will be turned in to registrar. It is the student's responsibility to find out what work was missed before returning to class, from a classmate.
Special Requirements
Students will complete two research projects using primary sources, including data they collect in the field. The first one involves work with dictionaries and computer corpora of texts from various genres, supplemented by other media. Students will analyze gendered terms and their meanings in social contexts, or, alternatively, do a statistical study of descriptive terms applied disproportionately to men and women. The second project will be based on ethnographic study of a group. Students will observe the differential use of a particular language feature by people of different genders and discuss the social meaning of this feature from the perspective of readings in the theory of language and gender. There will be two exams and essays based on the readings.
Evaluation Components and Grading Scale
Essays (2) 40% Quizzes 10%
Project 1 15% Participation 5%
Project 2 25% Leading discussion 5%
A = 93-100 A- = 90-92
B+ = 87-89 B = 83-86 B- = 80-82 etc.
Schedule of Class Sessions will be distributed in a separate handout
Bibliography
Bergvall, Victoria L., Janet M. Bing, and Alice F. Freed. 1996. Rethinking Language and Gender Research: Theory and Practice. New York: Longman.
Cheshire, Jenny, and Peter Trudgill. 1998. The Sociolinguistics Reader Volume 2: Gender and Discourse. New York: Arnold.
Coates, Jennifer, and Deborah Cameron. 1988. Women in their Speech Communities. New York: Longman.
Coates, Jennifer.1986. Women, Men and Language. New York: Longman.
Graddol, David, and Joan Swann. 1989. Gender Voices. Cambridge: Blackwell.
Hopper, Robert. 2003. Gendering talk. East Lansing: Michigan State Univ Press.
Johnson, Sally, and Ulrike Hanna Meinhof. 1997. Language and Masculinity. Cambridge: Blackwell Publishers.
Miller, Casey, and Kate Swift. 2001. Words and Women, rev. ed. iUniverse.
Philips, Susan, Susan Steele, and Christine Tanz. 1987. Language, gender & sex in Comparative Perspective. New York: Cambridge University Press.
Poynton, Cate. 1989. Language and Gender: Making the Difference. New York: Oxford .
Tannen, Deborah. 1993. Gender and Conversational Interaction. New York: Oxford.
Thorne, Kramarae, and Henley. 1983. Language, Gender and Society. Rowley: Newbury House.