Course description: This course is an introduction to linguistics, the scientific study of language, with a particular focus on Spanish linguistics. After an introduction to the nature of language in general and the study of Spanish as a foreign language, we will study the structure of the Spanish language, focusing on phonetics and phonology (the study of sounds) and later morphosyntax (the study of the structure of words and sentences). Once we have examined the Spanish language from a formal point of view, we will study language at the social level, focusing on how the Spanish language varies in the Spanish-speaking word, how language is used to carry out different speech acts, how the Spanish language is acquired in immersion contexts, and finally some of the ramifications of our attitudes toward certain varieties. Previous linguistic knowledge is not necessary to take this class.
Course Narrative: Linguistics is one of the main foundations for the understanding of a language, so this course is indispensable for the major. In the SPAN 303 class we learned the terms and basic structures to understand the syntactic functioning of Spanish, we also delved into the phonetic area and the transcriptions within it. The terms and the material taught in the course were a key to develop the final group project in which we were able to explain the lexical, phonological and morphological variables in a specific dialect. My group and I decided to focus our project on the eastern side of El Salvador, specifically, San Miguel. In our research we discovered that the speech of this region is highly marginalized for the rest of the country, but mostly by “educated urban zones”. The dialect of San Miguel suffers from social stratification because it still contains traits of their Lenca's ancestors. They have a different pronunciation differing from the rest of the country and are called "uneducated" and illiterate people because of this reason. This class allowed me to observe the prescriptive rules used at the academic level but also the stereotypes and the reasons why many types of dialects and linguistic selections are stigmatized. One of these allegations is because certain people with great social influence put into practice certain types of speech and this is what is taught to future generations. Finally, it is the feminine influence in the public sphere that promotes linguistic changes, since it is mothers who try to use a more cultured and sophisticated language. This course helped me improve my language skills in terms of terminology, but the most important thing was to see another social perspective and discover why we make certain types of selections. Also accept the dialectal diversity within a language, in this case Spanish.
Course Narrative: Linguistics is one of the main foundations for the understanding of a language, so this course is indispensable for the major. In the SPAN 303 class we learned the terms and basic structures to understand the syntactic functioning of Spanish, we also delved into the phonetic area and the transcriptions within it. The terms and the material taught in the course were a key to develop the final group project in which we were able to explain the lexical, phonological and morphological variables in a specific dialect. My group and I decided to focus our project on the eastern side of El Salvador, specifically, San Miguel. In our research we discovered that the speech of this region is highly marginalized for the rest of the country, but mostly by “educated urban zones”. The dialect of San Miguel suffers from social stratification because it still contains traits of their Lenca's ancestors. They have a different pronunciation differing from the rest of the country and are called "uneducated" and illiterate people because of this reason. This class allowed me to observe the prescriptive rules used at the academic level but also the stereotypes and the reasons why many types of dialects and linguistic selections are stigmatized. One of these allegations is because certain people with great social influence put into practice certain types of speech and this is what is taught to future generations. Finally, it is the feminine influence in the public sphere that promotes linguistic changes, since it is mothers who try to use a more cultured and sophisticated language. This course helped me improve my language skills in terms of terminology, but the most important thing was to see another social perspective and discover why we make certain types of selections. Also accept the dialectal diversity within a language, in this case Spanish.
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