LING 220
The Syntactic Structure of English

Syllabus

Spring 2010
TF 1:10-2:25, location TBA

instructor:Prof. Nathan Sanders       office: N. Acad. Building 255
email: nsanders@williams.edu phone: x4714
AIM: NathanSanders hours: MT 3-5
Yahoo IM: ProfSanders and by appointment

Useful Links

Course Description

From the course catalog: This course is an introduction to a rigorous, scientific approach to language study. No previous training in linguistics is assumed, and no reading is required for the course. A better understanding of the underlying structure of English and of language in general will proceed by way of class discussion and homework problems. These discussions and problems will involve students in observation and analysis of linguistic data through construction, testing, and revision of syntactic theories. The homework will require time and careful attention and will usually be rather challenging. Format: lecture/discussion. Requirements: participation in discussions and 30–40 pages of writing in the form of regular essays. No prerequisites. Enrollment limit: 19 (expected: 19).

This course is writing intensive (it satisfies the writing requirement) and is cross-listed as English 224.

If the course is over-enrolled, preference on the waiting list will be given to students who are planning on graduating with a concentration or major centered on linguistics or a related area and students who have taken linguistics courses in the past. The remaining students will be assigned a lottery order, with those in attendance at the first lecture getting priority.

Readings

There is no textbook for this course, though occasional readings will be distributed. All information needed to learn the material will be made available in lectures.

Grading

Your grade for the course is calculated as a weighted combination of your attendance (5%), class participation (15%), and essay average (80%).

Essays

Essay assignments are available from this website, so missing class is not an excuse for skipping an essay. Essays are due at the beginning of class since their content will be discussed in lecture. For this reason, late essays cannot be accepted. To compensate for this strict policy, your lowest essay grade is dropped when computing your final grade. You are encouraged to work together in groups, but in accordance with the Williams College Honor Code, you must write up your own essays, in your own words, listing the names of all students you consulted with. Suspected violations will be pursued to the full extent of College policy! One of the major objectives of the course is to improve your writing skills. Thus, as the course goes on, the form of your essays will weigh more heavily than just getting "the right answer". A writing style that qualifies as minimally passing for the first essay will most certainly not qualify as minimally passing for the final essay! Please consult the handout "Nine Guidelines for Writing Essays" for more information on appropriate writing style in this course.

Other Coursework and Class Participation

You will be frequently assigned short problems to work on inside and outside of class. You will not need to hand in any formal write-up for these assignments, but you will be asked to present some portion of them as part of your class participation grade. Productive participation in all class discussions is an absolute requirement for this course. Simply showing up to class is not sufficient.

Exams

There are no exams for this course.