ID 1: Language and Thought

Schedule

Information sheet, handed out Day 1 of class

Peer Review form

Additional readings of potential interest, arranged by topic

*NOTE: All readings are to be completed by the date they are listed on the schedule*

Week 1

[Read Orwell for next Tuesday]

Week 2

Tuesday Sept. 9^th:

Orwell, George. 1949. 1984. (Online edition)

http://www.online-literature.com/orwell/1984/

*Signet Classic edition available for purchase at Huntley

bookstore*

Week 3

Monday Sept. 15^th:

PAPER #1 DUE BY 5:00pm (3-5pp.)

How does the ruling class attempt to narrow the range of thought through language in 1984? Are these rulers successful? Be specific in your thesis statement and be sure to give evidence in support of your argument from the text.

Topic of the week (by popular demand):

Who has language and what is it anyway? Animal communication vs. Human Language

Tuesday Sept. 16^th: Discussion leader - Nick

Terrace, H. S. et al. 1979. Can an Ape Create a Sentence?

Science, vol. 206, No. 4421, 891-902.

Optional/Related reading:

Gibbons, A. 1991. Déja vu all over again: Chimp-language wars. Science, vol. 251, 1561-1562.

An Internet Chat with Koko the Gorilla (1998).

Zuberbühler, K. 2002. A syntactic rule in forest monkey communication. Animal Behaviour, 63, 293-299.

Thursday Sept. 18^th: Discussion leader - Ben

Hauser, M., Chomsky, N. and Fitch, T. 2002. The Faculty of Language: What is it, Who has it, and How did it evolve? Science, Vol. 298, 1569-1579.

Week 4

Topic of the week: The relation of human language to thought, view #1: The Linguistic Relativity Hypothesis

Monday Sept. 22^nd:

Rewrite of Paper #1 due by 5:00pm (3-5pp.)

Tuesday Sept. 23^rd: Discussion leader - Stephanie

Whorf, B. L. 1964 [1936]. An American Indian Model of the Universe. In Language, Thought, and Reality: Selected Writings of B.L. Whorf (ed.) J.B. Carroll. Cambridge, Massachusetts: The MIT Press.

------. 1964 [1940]. Science and Linguistics. In Language, Thought, and Reality: Selected Writings of B.L. Whorf (ed.) J.B. Carroll. Cambridge, Massachusetts: The MIT Press.

Thursday Sept. 25^th: Discussion leader - Laura

Whorf, B.L. 1964 [1939]. The Relation of Habitual Thought and Behavior to Language. In Language, Thought, and Reality: Selected Writings of B.L. Whorf, (ed.) J.B. Carroll. Cambridge, Massachusetts: The MIT Press.

Pullum, G. 1991. The Great Eskimo Vocabulary Hoax. In The Great Eskimo Vocabulary Hoax and other irreverent Essays on the Study of Language, Chicago, IL: The University of Chicago Press, 159-171.

Optional/Related reading

Martin, L. 1986. Eskimo Words for Snow: A Case Study in the Genesis and Decay of an Anthropological Example. American Anthropologist, vol. 88, issue 2, 418-423.

Week 5

Tuesday Sept. 30^th: Discussion leader – Stephanie

Problems with Linguistic Relativity
Discussion of the “Whorfian Renaissance”
In class writing exercise

Wednesday Oct. 1^st:

Paper #2 due (5-7pp.) by 5:00pm [click here for paper topic]

Thursday Oct. 2^nd: Discussion leader – Christie

Choi, S. McDonough, L., Bowerman, M., and Mandler, J. 1999. Early sensitivity to language-specific spatial categories in English and Korean. Cognitive Development, 14, 2441-268.

How to: Peer Review

Week 6: The relation of human language to thought view #2: Mentalese

Monday Oct. 6^th:

Peer Reviews due: you must meet with your peer review group outside of class between now and Wednesday to give each other feedback. You should e-mail me copies of your reviews by 5pm.

Individual meetings to discuss Paper rewrites on Th-F. Sign up for a time on my office door, Mason 210.

Tuesday Oct. 7^th:

Visit to Honnold Library

Thursday Oct. 9^th: Discussion leader - Caroline

Pinker, S. 1994. “An Instinct to Acquire an Art” and “Mentalese.” In The Language Instinct, Harper Collins: NY, 44-73.

Weeks 7-8: The relation of human language to thought view #3:

Chomsky, UG, and the Language-Thought Connection

Tuesday Oct. 14^th:

Paper #2 rewrite due in class

Film: “Discovering the Human Language: Colorless Green Ideas”

Thursday Oct. 16^th: Discussion leader - Kevin

Chomsky, N. 1993. Language and Thought.

Thursday, Oct. 23^rd: Discussion leader – Andrea

Chomsky, N. 1983 The Psychology of Language and Thought.

Interview conducted by Robert W. Rieber.

http://monkeyfist.com/ChomskyArchive/linguistics/psychology_html .

Week 9: Gesture, communication, and thought

Tuesday, Oct. 28^th: Discussion leader – Billy

Goldin-Meadow, S. 1999. The role of gesture in communication and thinking. In Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 3, 11, 419-429.

Wednesday, Oct. 29^th:

Paper #3 due (5-7 pp.) by 5:00pm [click here for paper topic]

Thursday, Oct. 30^th: Discussion leader – Max

Zheng, M. and S. Goldin-Meadow. 2002. Thought before language: how deaf and hearing children express motion events across cultures. Cognition, 85, 145-175.

Weeks 10-11: The relation of human language to thought views #4-5: Piaget and Vygotsky

Tuesday, Nov. 4^th: Discussion leader – Stephanie

Discussion of Piaget’s views on the development of Language and Thought in the child.

Thursday, Nov. 6^th: Discussion leader – Cathy

Vygotsky, L. Piaget’s Theory of the Child’s Speech and Thought. Chapter 2 in Thought and Language.

Abbreviated version Online at:

http://www.marxists.org/archive/vygotsky/works/words/ch02.htm .

Friday, Nov. 7^th:

Dinner and Clockwork Orange at Stephanie’s house – 6:30pm

Tuesday, Nov. 11^th: Discussion leader - Hayden

Vygotsky, L. The Genetic Roots of Thought and Speech. Chapter 4 in Thought and Language.

Abbreviated version Online at: http://www.marxists.org/archive/vygotsky/works/words/ch04.htm .

Wednesday, Nov. 12^th:

Paper #3 rewrite due by 5:00pm

Thursday, Nov. 13^th: Discussion leader - Sylvan

Bellugi, U. et al. 2000. The neurocognitive profile of Williams Syndrome: A complex pattern of strengths and weaknesses. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience 12: Supplement, 7-29.

Friday, Nov. 14^th: Attendance required at the following public lecture:

The Impact of Language Differences on Intellectual Development

Professor John Lucy

The University of Chicago

Dept. of Psychology

1:30pm

Rose Hills Theater

Smith Campus Center

Week 12: Language and Propaganda

Tuesday, Nov. 18^th: Discussion leader - Jared

Herman and Chomsky. 1988. A Propaganda model. Chapter 1 in Manufacturing Consent. Pantheon books.

Thursday, Nov. 20^th: Discussion leader – Tara

Barsamian, D. 2003. Collateral Language: An Interview with Noam Chomsky. Zmag, August, 2003.

Klemperer, Victor. 2000. Excerpts from The Language of the Third Reich.

(Handed out in class.)

Optional reading:

Eisman, April. 2003. The Media of Manipulation: patriotism and propaganda – mainstream news in the United states in the weeks following September 11. Critical Quarterly 45: 1-2, 55-72.

Week 13:

Monday, Nov. 24^th:

Final Research Paper Draft due by 5:00pm

Tuesday, Nov. 25^th: Discussion leader - Emily

Lacan: The Unconscious structured as a language (readings distribtued in class)

Week 14: Language and Gender

Tuesday, Dec. 2^nd:

Guest lecture by Don MacKay: Gender-neutral pronouns? (readings distributed in class)

Wednesday, Dec. 3^rd:

Peer reviews due today and tomorrow at peer group sessions in Mason 210.

Thursday, Dec. 4^th:

Language and Gender: Do men and women really speak differently?

Week 15: Wrap-up

Tuesday, Dec. 9^th:

Final Discussion/Wrap-Up, Course Evaluations

Wednesday, Dec. 10^th: