Linguistic Field Methods
Course Description
Summary
This course is designed to equip students with the basic methodologies necessary to carry out linguistic fieldwork with speakers/users of un(der)documented languages. Students will be trained in the skills and tools of language documentation and description by working with a speaker of a language previously unknown to them. Learning and independently applying techniques for the collection, transcription, management, and analysis of linguistic data, we will create and annotate a corpus of language, build a lexical database, and produce a collaborative grammatical sketch. Students will additionally have the opportunity to use the language records we create to more closely investigate a linguistic topic of personal interest. This methodological training will be situated within an ongoing discussion of the ethical conduct of research with the users of these languages (often other than our own), highlighting the importance of making this work beneficial to those users.
Learning Outcomes
- Independently set up a recording session that aligns with ethical, theoretical, and methodological standards
- Use software developed for language documentation to analyze the phonology and grammar of an unfamiliar language through a descriptive lens
- Be able to use novel linguistic data to explore and explain broader questions in linguistics
Prerequisites
Students must have previous taken "Language as System and Social Behavior" or another course that has introduced basic concepts in linguistics, such as phonology and syntax.
Please contact the faculty member : alexiafawcett@bennington.edu