2020-21

This course is an advanced survey of topics in graduate syntax examining current syntactic theory through detailed analysis of a range of phenomena and readings from the primary research literature.

Language processing requires listeners to pay attention to multiple cues simultaneously. This seminar examines how cue integration is accomplished at different levels of linguistic analysis, with a comparison between speech perception and sentence comprehension. In addition to general models of cue integration, we will also look at how cue weighting and integration vary across individuals, and  what mechanisms underpin such variability.

This course focuses on current approaches to the study of bi- and multilingualism, taking a broad definition that understands bilingualism as the use of more than one language. Individuals show a great deal of variability in the ways they acquire and use different languages, and can most We focus on the use of multilingualism in society, asking theoretical questions such as:

• How people use their multilingual repertoire in different settings and different kinds of interactions, ranging from face-to-face communication to multilingual practices
• The use of different languages (and linguistic varieties) in indexing social identity
• Theoretical questions in the differences between code-switching, the idea that speakers alternate between one language and another, versus translanguaging, the claim that both (or all) languages are constantly active, and the multilingual speaker actively chooses one or another depending on which is appropriate, in an integrated communicative approach
• How individuals are socialized into using different languages, and how language ideologies affect language policies and practices in the family, in educational settings, in the workplace, and more broadly in society

At the same time, we consider the practical study of multilingualism, assessing proficiency, language attitudes and awareness of multilingualism. The course is based on readings and a hands-on project involving data collection and analysis.

This course is a continuation of Introduction to Syntax (LING 20201).

Seminar on topics related to syntax; topic TBD.

This course is an advanced survey of topics in graduate syntax examining current syntactic theory through detailed analysis of a range of phenomena and readings from the primary research literature.

In this seminar we explore the relationship between race and place, honing in on the question of how race dynamics have affected linguistic variation in the Chicago landscape. We examine sociohistorical texts on the migration of African Americans to Chicago, while also drawing data collected in the region to answer the aforementioned question.

This course is an introduction to sociolinguistics, the study of language in its social context. We will look at variation at all levels of language and how this variation constructs and is constructed by identity and culture, including relationships between language and social class, language and gender, and language and ethnicity. We will also discuss language attitudes and ideologies, as well as some of the educational, political, and social repercussions of language variation and standardization.

This course explores definitions of race and ethnicity, asking how both are socially constructed through structures and institutions, as well as interpersonally. Further, we explore what linguistics can tell us about race and how language is used to racialize to individuals.

The field methods course is a two-quarter course, taken by graduate students and advanced undergraduates. (Students may elect to take the course more than once.) This course is devoted to the elicitation, transcription, organization, and analysis of linguistic data from a native speaker of a language not commonly studied. Students will also gain practical experience in the use of fieldwork equipment. Language chosen may vary from year to year.