Anthropology (ANTH) 354

Language and Culture (Revision 4)

Revision 4 is closed for registrations, replaced by current version.

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Delivery Mode: Individualized study or grouped study

Credits: 3

Area of Study: Social Science

Prerequisite: None. ANTH 275 is recommended.

Faculty: Faculty of Humanities & Social Sciences

Anthropology Studies home page

Course website

Téluq equivalency: LIN 1001

ANTH 354 is not available for challenge.

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Overview

ANTH 354 introduces students to a subfield of anthropology—linguistic anthropology. Culture cannot be studied without the aid of language, but linguistic anthropology contributes more than the means to study culture. Descriptive linguistics, for example, helps anthropologists study language and culture, and historical linguistics provides clues that help archaeologists reconstruct past ways of life. This course presents some of the techniques and methods used by linguistic anthropologists.

Outline

ANTH 354 consists of the following ten units:

Unit 1: The Study of Language and the Nature and Origins of Human Languages
Unit 2: Phonology 1: The Production of Speech Sounds
Unit 3: Phonology 2: Sound Patterns and Phonological Environments
Unit 4: Morphology and Writing Systems
Unit 5: Language Change, History, and Classification
Unit 6: Syntax: The Sentence Patterns of Languages
Unit 7: Language Acquisition
Unit 8: Semantics
Unit 9: Ethnolinguistics
Unit 10: Sociolinguistics: Language and Society

Evaluation

To receive credit for ANTH 354, you must achieve a minimum grade of “D” (50 percent) on all assignments and an overall grade of “D” (50 percent) for the entire course. The weighting of the composite grade is as follows:

Quiz 1	Quiz 2	Assign 1	Assign 2	Assign 3	Total
5%	5%	30%	30%	30%	100%

To learn more about assignments and examinations, please refer to Athabasca University's online Calendar.

Course Materials

Textbooks

Fromkin, Victoria, Robert Rodman, Nina Hyams, and Kristen M. Hummel. 2010. An introduction to language: 4^th Canadian ed. Toronto, ON: Nelson/Thompson.

Hickerson, Nancy Parrott. 2000. Linguistic Anthropology. 2^nd ed. Fort Worth, TX: Harcourt College Publishers.

Other Materials

The course materials also include a course manual, and a study guide.

Athabasca University reserves the right to amend course outlines occasionally and without notice. Courses offered by other delivery methods may vary from their individualized-study counterparts.

Opened in Revision 4, September 29, 2006.