NB: accompanying lecture slides and audio are forthcoming.
Language Ecology Course Information, Syllabus, Reading
Psychology/CS 124 and Psychology 290G – Spring 2004
Faculty
Dan Slobin – Psychology, Linguistics (coordinator )
Patricia Baquedano-López – Education
Andrew Garrett – Linguistics
William Hanks – Anthropology, Linguistics
Leanne Hinton – Linguistics
Claire Kramsch – German, Education
Johanna Nichols – Slavic Languages and Literatures, Linguistics
Richard Rhodes – Linguistics
Eve Sweetser – Linguistics, Cognitive Science
Alan Timberlake – Slavic Languages and Literatures
Alexei Yurchak – Anthropology
Tim Beyer – GSI – Psychology
Lillian Park – GSI – Psychology
This is not a traditional psycholinguistics or cognitive science course, but rather an experimental attempt to integrate the disciplines that study language in a broader framework that we refer to as “language ecology.” This is part of an emerging interdisciplinary effort at Berkeley to explore language within its individual, societal, cultural, and historical frameworks. The course is designed and co-taught by a group of faculty members from several departments and disciplines in the social sciences and humanities. We situate language in contexts of individual mental processes as well as contexts of interaction between individuals in a society and between social groups. We approach language learning and language use as a nonlinear, relational human activity, co-constructed between humans and their environment, contingent upon their position in space and history, and a site of struggle for the control of social power and cultural memory. Language ecology embraces seven broad themes of investigation: (1) language, mind, and individual; (2) language in society; (3) language, culture, and meaning; (4) population and language; (5) language and political economy; (6) language and symbolic systems; (7) teaching and learning endangered languages.
Lectures are MW 2-3 in 101 Morgan (undergrads and grads); undergrad sections are on Fridays; the concurrent grad seminar (Psych 290G) is F 2-4 in 2129 Tolman. Recommended readings are on reserve in the Ed-Psych Library, 2nd floor, Tolman Hall. Undergraduates should consider required graduate readings as recommended for undergraduates.
Requirements for Undergraduates:
There will be four short written research projects and a take-home essay final exam. Each project = 12%; section attendance and contribution = 12%; final = 40%. Policy on late submission of project reports: one-week extension with reasonable excuse; 10% reduction in points for every day beyond one week.
Requirements for Graduates:
Read all of the required readings—for both undergraduates and graduates. There will be a term paper on a topic of the course. Graduates will also be responsible for conducting part of a seminar discussion.
See last page for web resources on contributing faculty and course topics. Go to “Course Information” on the Blackboard site for a detailed description of the field of language ecology
See here for web resources on contributing faculty and course topics.
Section I: What is language?
The purpose of this section is to explore the notion of “language,” making it clear that it means different things in different disciplines, and emphasizing the ways in which “language” will be relevant to issues of “language ecology” in the course
Wed., Jan. 21
Slobin: Orientation to the course
Fri., Jan. 23
Slobin: Language is more than syntax
Slides for Lecture
Mon., Jan. 26
Slobin: What is language from the point of view of psychology and psycholinguistics?
Audio of Lecture
Slides for Lecture
Required undergraduate reading:
Altmann, G. T. M. (1997). The ascent of Babel: An exploration of language, mind,
and understanding. “In the beginning” (pp. x-xi), Chapter 1: “Looking towards Babel: Introducing the mysteries of psycholinguistics” (pp. 1-8); Chapter 14: “The descent from Babel: Not all languages were created equal” (pp. 226-233). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Required graduate reading:
Tomasello, M. (1998). Introduction (“A Cognitive–functional perspective on language structure”) from M. Tomasello (Ed.), The new psychology of language: Cognitive and functional approaches to language structure. Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.
Clark, H. H. (1997). Dogmas of understanding. Discourse processes, 23, 567-598.
Wed., Jan. 28
Sweetser: What is language from the point of view of linguistics?
Audio of Lecture
Slides for Lecture
Required undergraduate and graduate reading
Sweetser, E. (1999). Compositionality and blending: Semantic composition in a cognitively realistic framework. In T. Janssen & G. Redeker (Eds.), Cognitive linguistics: Foundations, scope, and methodology (pp. 129-162). Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter.
Mon. , Feb. 2
Hanks: What is language from the point of view of anthropology?
Audio of Lecture
Slides for Lecture
Required undergraduate reading
Hanks, W. F. (1996). Language and Communicative Practices. Chapters 1, 2. (1-38)
Sapir, E. 1973 [1933]. Language. SWES, 7-32; Blount ed. 43-63
Required graduate reading
Boas, F. 1966 [1991]. Introduction to the Handbook of American Indian Languages. Parts II, IV, & V, 10-39, 55-79.
Recommended reading
Lévi -Strauss, C. Language and the analysis of social laws. In Blount ed.143-151. [Blount, B. ed. 1997.Language, Culture and Society, a book of readings. Prospect Heights, IL: Waveland Press.]
Labov, W. The study of language in its social context. In Giglioli ed., LSC, 283-308.
Hanks, W.F. Foundations of indexical context: Social mediations of the body. In Intertexts, Chapter 2:19-68.
Wed. Feb. 4
Kramsch: Language and social theory or “Ce que parler veut dire”
Audio Of Lecture
Slides for Lecture
Required undergraduate reading
Bourdieu, Pierre. 1991. Language and Symbolic Power. Cambridge, Mass: Harvard U Press. Editor’s Introduction, Pp.1-31.
Required graduate reading
Cameron, Deborah. 2000. Introduction. Good to Talk? Living and working in a
communication culture. London: Sage. pp.1-23.
Fairclough, Norman. 1992. Ch.3 A social theory of discourse Discourse and Social
Change. Cambridge, UK: Polity press, pp. 62-100.
Recommended reading
Bernstein, Basil. 1972. A sociolinguistic approach to socialization, with some reference to educability. In Gumperz, J.J and D.ymes, Directions in Sociolinguistics. Oxford: Blackwell, 465-497.
Bourdieu, Pierre. 1991. Language and Symbolic Power. Cambridge, Mass: Harvard U Press. Ch.1. Pp.32-65.
Bourdieu, Pierre and Jean Claude Passeron. 1977. Reproduction in Education, Society and Culture. Trsl. Richard Nice. London: Sage.
Butler, Judith. 1997. Introduction: On linguistic vulnerability. Ch.4 Implicit Censorship and discursive agency. In Excitable Speech. A politics of the performative. New
York: Routledge, 1-41; 127-163.
Cameron, Deborah. 2000. Good to Talk? Living and working in a communication culture. London: Sage. Ch. 6 pp.148-183.
Cameron, Deborah. 1998. ‘Is there any ketchup, Vera?’: gender, power and pragmatics. Discourse & Society 9:4, 437-455.
Fairclough, Norman. 1989. Language and Power. London: Longman.
De Certeau, Michel. 1984. The Practice of Everyday Life. Popular culture: Ordinary
Language; “Making do”. Berkeley: UC Press.
Gee, James, Glynda Hull & Colin Lankshear. 1996. The New Work Order: Behind the language of the new capitalism. Ch.2, 4 and 5
Study questions on Pierre Bourdieu, Language and Symbolic Power 1991. Editors Introduction, p. 1-31
Fri., Feb. 6
Design the Personal Linguistic History Project in sections. The goal is to describe the use of language(s) and dialect(s) in each undergraduate student’s home and family back to the grandparental generation, including an interview with a relative. Project due on Feb 27.
Section II: Endangered languages and the field of human ecology
Mon., Feb. 9
Garrett: Language ecology: Historical perspective
Audio of Lecture
Slides for Lecture
Required undergraduate and graduate reading:
Lyle Campbell, “What drives linguistic diversification and language
spread?” (2002). In Peter Bellwood & Colin Renfrew, eds., Language-Farming Dispersals. Cambridge: McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research.
Jane Hill, “Language spread among hunter gatherers” (2002). Unpublished Paper
Jared Diamond & Peter Bellwood, “Farmers and their languages: The
first expansions” (2003). Science, 300, 597-602. Article
Wed., Feb. 11
Hinton: Endangered languages
Audio of Lecture
Slides for Lecture
Required undergraduate and graduate reading
Hinton, L. (1994). Flutes of Fire: Introduction, Chapter 1, Chapter 17. Heyday Books
Mon., Feb 16
Presidents’ Day Holiday – no class
Wed., Feb. 1
Video: Transitions
Fri., Feb 20
no section meetings or grad seminar: Symposium on Language Ecology
Section III: Language and cognition
Mon., Feb. 23
Slobin: Language and mind: Linguistic relativity and determinism
Audio of Lecture
Slides for Lecture
Required undergraduate reading:
Whorf, B. L. (1940). Science and linguistics. Technology Review, 42, 229-231, 247-248.
Levinson, S. C. (2003). Language and mind: Let’s get the issues straight! In D. Gentner & S. Goldin-Meadow (Eds.), Language in mind: Advances in the study of language and thought (pp. 25-46). Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Required graduate reading
Gumperz, J., & Levinson, S. C. (1996). Introduction (“linguistic relativity re-examined), Introduction to part I (“Linguistic determinism: the interface between language and thought”). In J. Gumperz & S. C. Levinson (Eds.), Rethinking linguistic relativity (pp. 1-36). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Levinson, S. C. (1996). Frames of reference and Molyneux’s question: Crosslinguistic evidence. In P. Bloom, M. A. Peterson, L. Nadel, & M. F. Garrett (Eds.), Language and space (pp. 109-170). Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Recommended reading
Brown, R. (1958). Chapter VII of Words and things (“Linguistic relativity and determinism”). Glencoe, IL: Free Press.Lucy, J. A. (1996). The scope of linguistic relativity: an analysis and review of empirical research. In J. Gumperz & S. C. Levinson (Eds.), Rethinking linguistic relativity (pp. 37-69). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Wed, Feb 25
Slobin: Language as category maker
Audio of Lecture
Slides for Lecture
Required undergraduate reading
Slobin, D. I. (1996). From “thought and language” to “thinking for speaking.” In J. J. Gumperz & S. C. Levinson (Eds.), Rethinking linguistic relativity (pp. 70-96). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Bowerman, M., & Choi, S. (2001). Shaping meanings for language: universal and language-specific in the acquisition of spatial semantic categories. In M. Bowerman & S. C. Levinson (Eds.), Language acquisition and conceptual development (pp. 475-511). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Required graduate reading
Lucy, J. A., & Gaskins, S. (2001). Grammatical categories and the development of classification preferences: a comparative approach. In M. Bowerman & S. C. Levinson (Eds.), Language acquisition and conceptual development (pp. 257-283). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Boroditsky, L. (2000). Metaphoric structuring: Understanding time through spatial metaphors. Cognition, 75, 1-28.
Recommended reading
Slobin, D. I. (2003). Language and thought online: Cognitive consequences of linguistic relativity. In D. Gentner & S. Goldin-Meadow (Eds.), Language in mind: Advances in the study of language and thought (pp. 157-192). Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Mon., Mar. 1
Pyers: Language as personal and social tool-kit
Audio of Lecture
Slides for Lecture
Required undergraduate reading
de Villiers, J. G., & de Villiers, P. A. (2003). Language for thought: Coming to understand false beliefs. In D. Gentner & S. Goldin-Meadow (Eds.), Language in mind: Advances in the study of language and thought (pp. 335-384). Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Tomasello, M. (2003). The key is social cognition. In D. Gentner & S. Goldin-Meadow (Eds.), Language in mind: Advances in the study of language and thought (pp. 47-57). Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Required graduate reading
Bickel, B. (2000). Grammar and social practice: On the role of ‘culture’ in linguistic relativity. In S. Niemeier & R. Dirven (Eds.), Evidence for linguistic relativity (pp. 161-192). Amsterdam/Philadelphia: John Benjamins.
Recommended reading
Hanks, W. F. (1996). Language form and communicative practices. In J. J. Gumperz & S. C. Levinson (Eds.), Rethinking linguistic relativity (pp. 232-270). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Gumperz, J. J. Introduction to Part IV (“The social matrix: culture, praxis, and discourse”); The linguistic and cultural relativity of inference. In J. J. Gumperz & S. C. Levinson (Eds.), Rethinking linguistic relativity (pp. 359-406). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Wed., Mar. 3
Sweetser: Metaphor in language and in multimodal communicative interaction
Audio of Lecture
Reading
Sweetser, E. (1998). Regular metaphoricity in gesture: bodily-based models of speech interaction. In Actes du 16e Congrès International des Linguistes (CD-ROM), Elsevier.
Section IV: Language and culture
Mon., Mar 8
Rhodes: What’s in an Ojibwe verb?
Required reading
Sapir, E. (1921). Language, Chapter VI: “Types of linguistic structure.”
Rhodes, R. (1979). On the semantics of the instrumental finals of Ojibwe. In Papers of the 11th Algonquian Conference.
Wed, Mar 10
Hanks: Language and colonial history
Audio of Lecture
Required undergraduate reading:
Hanks, W.F. 2000. Language and discourse in Colonial Yucatan. InIntertexts, chapter 10:271-312.
Required graduate reading
Hanks, W.F. 1987. Discourse genres in a theory of practice.
Amer Ethno14(4):668-692. Reprinted in Intertexts: 133-164.
Recommended reading
Fabian, J. 1986. Language and colonial power. Intro, Chap 1-3. 1-91.
Mon, Mar, 15
Hanks: Deixis and methodological issues of investigating language in the field – Part I
Required undergraduate reading:
Goodwin and Duranti, 1992. Rethinking Context: an introduction (Duranti and Goodwin 1992:1-42).
Peirce, C.S. 1955 [1940]. Philosophical writings of Peirce, ed. by J. Buchler. Chap. 7: Logic as semiotic, the theory of signs, 98-119.
Required graduate reading
Goffman, E. Footing. In forms of talk, 124-59.
Recommended reading
Goffman, E. The Neglected Situation. In Giglioli, P. Language in Social Context. 61-66
Wed., Mar, 17
Hanks: Deixis – Part II
Audio of Lecture
Required undergraduate reading:
Levinson, S. 1983. Pragmatics. Chapter 1. Deixis.
Required graduate reading
Bühler, K. “The Deictic Field of Language and Deictic Words.” In Speech, Place, and Action: Studies in Deixis and Related Topics, edited by R. J. Jarvella and W. Klein. New York: Wiley, 1982, pp. 9-30.
Spring Break
Section V: Language and society
Mon., Mar 29
Baquedano-López: Language and identity in educational contexts: From practiceto policy
Audio of Lecture
Required undergraduate reading:
U.S. Supreme Court: Lau v. Nichols, 1974.
http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/scripts/getcase.pl?court=US&navby=case&vol=414&invol=563
Proposition 227-Full text of the Proposed Law, 1998.
http://primary98.ss.ca.gov/VoterGuide/Propositions/227text.htm
Amended Resolution of the Oakland Board of Education, December 18, 1996. http://www.linguistlist.org/topics/ebonics/ebonics-res2.html
Rickford, J. & Rickford, R. Spoken soul: The story of Black English. Chapters 9 (Education) and 10 (Media), pp. 163-202. New York & Canada: John Wiley & Sons.
Gutiérrez, K., Baquedano-López, P., & Asato, J. (2000). “English for the Children”: The new literacy of the Old World Order, language policy and educational reform. Bilingual Research Journal, 24: 1 & 2: 87-112.
Required graduate reading
Baquedano-López, P. (1997). Creating social identities through doctrina narratives. Issues in Applied Linguistics 8(1): 27-45
Recommended reading
Moll, L., Estrada, E., Díaz, E., & Lopes, L. (1997). The organization of bilingual lessons: Implications for schooling. In M. Cole, Y. Engeström, & O. Vásquez (Eds.). Mind, culture, and activity: Seminal papers from the Laboratory of Comparative Human Cognition (pp. 254-268). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Gutiérrez, K., Baquedano-López, P., & Tejeda, C. (1999). Rethinking diversity: Hybridity and hybrid language practices in the Third Space. Mind, Culture, and Activity 6(4): 286-303.
Wed., Mar 31
Kramsch: Sociocultural and ecological theories of second language acquisition
Audio of Lecture
Handout
Required undergraduate reading:
Lantolf, James. 2000. Introducing sociocultural theory. In James Lantolf (ed.) Sociocultural Theory and Second Language Learning.Oxford: Oxford U Press, pp. 1-26.
Van Lier, Leo. 2000. From input to affordance: social-interactive learning from an ecological perspective. In Lantolf, James (d.) 245-59.
Required graduate reading
Kramsch, Claire. 2003. Introduction: “How can we tell the dancer from the dance?”. In Kramsch, Claire (ed.) Language Acquisition and Language Socialization. Ecological perspectives. London: Continuum, pp.1-30
Recommended reading
Donato, Richard. 2000. Sociocultural contributions to understanding the foreign an second language classroom. In J. Lantolf (Ed.) Sociocultural theory and second language learning. Oxford: OUP.
Kramsch, Claire. 2000. Social discursive constructions of self in L2 learning. In J.Lantolf (ed.) Sociocultural theory and second language learning. Oxford: OUP.
Rampton, Ben. 1999. Inner London Deutsch and the animation of an instructed foreign language. Journal of Sociolinguistics 3: 480-504.
Larsen Freeman, Diane. 1997. Chaos/complexity science and second language acquisition. Applied Linguistics 18:2, 141-65.
Lemke, Jay L. 2003. Language development and identity: Multiple timescales in the social ecology of learning. In C. Kramsch (Ed.) Language Acquisition and Language Socialization. Ecological perspectives. London: Continuum, 68-87.
Ochs, Elinor. 2003. Becoming a speaker of culture. In C. Kramsch (Ed.) Language Acquisition and Language Socialization. Ecological perspectives. London: Continuum, 99-120.
Pavlenko, Aneta and Lantolf, James. 2000. Second language learning as participation and the (re)construction of selves. In Lantolf, James (Ed.) above, 155-77.
Mon., Apr. 5
Kramsch: The multilingual subject
Audio of Lecture
Handout
Required undergraduate reading
Kramsch, Claire. Forthcoming. The multilingual subject. What it means to learn, speak and write a language that is not your own. Chapters 5-6. Oxford: OUP.
Required graduate reading
Kramsch, Claire. Forthcoming. The multilingual subject. What it means to learn, speak and write a language that is not your own. Chapter 2-3. Oxford: OUP.
Recommended Reading
Norton, Bonny. 2000. Identity and Language Learning. Gender, ethnicity and educational change. London: Longman.
Pavlenko Aneta and James P. Lantolf. Second language learning as participation and the (re)construction of selves. In J. Lantolf (Ed.) Sociocultural theory and Second Language Learning. Oxford OUP, 155-77. Pavlenko, Aneta. 2001. Language learning memoirs as a gendered genre. Applied Linguistics 22:2, 213-40.
Mon, Apr 12
Yurchak: Language and political ideology
Audio of Lecture
Handout
Wed, Apr 14
Kramsch: Language policy and the cultural politics of English as an international language
Handout
Audio of Lecture
Undergraduate Reading
Pennycook, Alastair. 1994. The world in English. The cultural politics of English as an international language. London: Longman pp.1-37.
Graduate reading
Brutt-Griffler, Janina. 2002. Ch.3. Ideological and economic crosscurrent of Empire.
Ch.4 The contested terrain of colonial language policy. World English. A study of its development Clevedon, UK: Multilingual Matters. Pp.34-85
Phillipson, Robert. 2002. Ch.2 and 3. English-only Europe? Challenging language policy. London: Routledge. 1-60
Recommended reading
Canagarajah, Suresh. 1999. Resisting linguistic imperialism in English teaching. Oxford: Oxford U Press.
Crystal, David. 1997. English as a Global Language. Cambridge: Cambridge U Press.
Graddol, David. 1997. The Future of English? London: British Council
Kachru, Braj. 1990. The alchemy of English: The spread, functions and models of non-native Englishes. Urbana: U of Illinois Press
Kachru, Braj B. (Ed.) 1992. The Other Tongue: English across cultures (2d. ed). Urbana: U of Illinois Press
Lippi-Green, Rosina. 1997. English with an accent. London: Routledge, pp.41-73. Pennycook, Alastair. 1998. English and the discourses of colonialism. London: Routledge.
Phillipson, Robert. 1992. Linguistic imperialism. Oxford: Oxford U Press.
Skutnabb-Kangas, Tove & Robert Phillipson (Eds.) 1994. Linguistic Human Rights. Overcoming Linguistic Discrimination. New York: Mouton de Gruyter.
Skutnabb-Kangas, Tove. 2003. Linguistic genocide in education – or worldwide diversity and human rights
Mon, Apr 19
Timberlake: Sociolinguistics:language variation
Audio of Lecture
Required undergraduate reading Bynon, Theodora. “The Social Motivation of Language Change.” Historical Linguistics. Cambridge, 1977. Ch. 5, pp. 198–215. P140.B95.
Milroy, James, and Lesley Milroy. “Belfast: Change and Variation in an Urban Vernacular.” Peter Trudgill, ed. Sociolinguistic Patterns in British English. London, 1978. Pp. 19–36. PE1072.S65.1978
Required graduate reading
Labov, William. “Contraction, Deletion, and Inherent Variability of the English Copula.” Language 45 (1969):715–62.
Thomas, Beth. “Differences of Sex and Sects: Linguistic Variation and Social Networks in a Welsh Mining Village.” Jennifer Coates and Deborah Cameron, ed. Women in Their Speech Communities: New Perspectives on Language and Sex. London, 1989. P. 51–60. P120.S48.W65 1988 [Moff]
Wed, Apr 21
Rhodes: Language spread
Audio of Lecture
Required undergraduate reading
Diamond, J. (1997). Guns, germs, and steel, Chapter 16: “How China became Chinese.” Norton.
Mon,, Apr 26
Hinton: Language revitalization
Audio of Lecture
Required undergraduate reading
Hinton, L. (1994). Flutes of fire. Chapters 18, 19, 21, 22. Heyday Books.
Required graduate reading
Fishman, J. (1991) Reversing Language Shift. Chapter 4: How threatened is ‘threatened’? A typology of disadvantaged languages and ameliorative priorities
Wed, Apr 28
Hinton: E Ola Ka ’Olelo Hawai’i (a film by ’Aha Punana Leo, on language revitalization in Hawai’i)
Mon., May 3
Nichols: Population and language, typology, geography, language in history
Mon, May 10
Slobin: Part of a psycholinguistic synthesis: Why is language the way it is?
Required undergraduate reading
Slobin, D. I. (1979). Chapter 3 (“Psychological constraints on the form of grammar”), Chapter 7 (“Recapitulation: Form and function in language”) from Psycholinguistics (2nd ed.). Glenview, IL: Scott Foresman.
Tomasello, M. (2003). Introduction (“Some surprises for linguists”) in M. Tomasello (Ed.), The new psychology of language, Vol. 2. Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.
Required graduate reading
Bybee, J. (2003). Cognitive processes in grammaticalization. In M. Tomasello (Ed.), The new psychology of language, Vol. 2: Cognitive and functional approaches to language structure (pp. 145-168). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Recommended reading
Slobin, D. I. (2001). Form function relations: how do children find out what they are? In M. Bowerman & S. C. Levinson (Eds.), Language acquisition and conceptual development (pp. 406-449). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.