Sociolinguistics

Hi Guys,

Please send "local expressions" that you use in your home town. Translate them into İstanbul Turkish so that we can use them in our Monday class. For example:

Trakya Region

"Beya": yahu.

Thank you in advance,

Tuncer Can

Conversational Analysis

Hello Everybody,

I was surfing on the net the other day and I was looking for something I can use in my Linguistics class. However, I couldn't find anything worth. So, I made up my mind and decided to ask you to prepare something:) Here's your assignment:

1. Create an educational video (your videos should teach the topic you choose to cover), that I can use next year in my Conversational Analysis course. You can use anything from our course, however using Goffman's "System and Ritual Constraints" would be much appreciated. You can also use "Gricean Maxims", "Speech Acts" and "Pragmatics".
2. Work in groups of 3s or 4s. Bring in your videos in CD format, alternatively you can upload them to any video websites where everybody can see them and send me their "link".
3. Finish this homework till our final exam.

Good Luck,

Tuncer Can

Cooperative Principle and Politeness

Hello Everybody,

We have studied Gricean Maxims and Politeness Strategies this week. Here's your assignment of the week.

1. Note down all the "Speech Events" you have experienced during the week, (from wednesday to wednesday let's say, or etc.)
2. a)Analyze your own speech contributions according to Grice's Maxims. (if you are behaving according to the maxims or you violate them, and what are the concequences, choose to write about at least 5 conversations to examplify)
b) In what kind of situations are you more polite, and why do you think this is so? (situation names and reasons, at least 4 examples, please.)
3. You have 2 weeks to complete this work.

I hope you enjoy it while doing,

Tuncer Can

Speech Events and the Script Theory

Hi Everyone,

This week we studied "Speech Events", the "Script Theory" and the "Moves". Here's your homework:

Specify a Speech Event and write the script for it. Remember the "Script of a Ramadan Visit"

Greeting (high pitch)
Welcoming (high pitch)
Seating (high pitch)
Greeting (higher pitch)
Opening (money, children)
Topic Introduction (the silliest topics, laughs)
Topic Extension (insincere, positive)
Serving and Eating
Topic Change (positive:old bayrams) (higher pitch)
Agreeing
Topic Variation (positive: business, children) (higher pitch)
Agreeing
Compliment (highest pitch)
Acknowledge (agree, deny, redirect focus)/acceptance/downgrade the compliment
Preclosing
Closing

However, NO TWO students can work on the SAME speech event, I mean everyone should find a genuine example of a speech event.

Good Luck,

Tuncer Can

Conversational Analysis Paper

Please write the topics of your Conversational Analysis Paper so that we all know what you're doing.

Tuncer Can

Speech Acts

This week we studied the "Speech Act Theory". This week's homework consists of three parts.

1. Visit this webpage and do the exercise:
http://www.ugr.es/~inped/module10/hot_mod10/quiz1_1.htm

2. Find examples (sentences) for the following Speech Acts from TV Serials, Theatre Plays, Signs etc. (You might not find examples for each one, nevertheless think beyond sentence.)

Constatives: affirming, alleging, announcing, answering, attributing, claiming, classifying, concurring, confirming, conjecturing, denying, disagreeing, disclosing, disputing, identifying, informing, insisting, predicting, ranking, reporting, stating, stipulating

Directives: asking, begging, challenging, commanding, daring, inviting, insist, request. advising, admonishing, asking, begging, dismissing, excusing, forbidding, instructing, ordering, permitting, requesting, requiring, suggesting, urging, warning

Commissives: guaranteeing, pledging, promising, swearing, vowing, undertaking, warranting, agreeing, guaranteeing, inviting, offering, promising, swearing, volunteering

Acknowledgments: apologizing, condoling, congratulating, greeting, thanking, accepting (acknowledging an acknowledgment)

Representatives: affirm, believe, conclude, deny, report

Expressives: apologize, appreciate, congratulate, deplore, detest, regret, thank, welcome.

Declarations: I now pronounce you man and wife, I sentence you to be hanged by the neck until you be dead, I name this ship...

3. Answer the following question? What kind of a Speech Act is this homework's text? (What do I want/intend to achieve by putting all this language together?)

I wish you and your family a very good holiday. (specify the speech act in this sentence)

Tuncer Can

The Art of Language or the Language of Art

Hi,

This week we studied "Discourse Analysis". Here's your homework: You have 2 weeks to complete your assignment.

1. Visit an art museum (Istanbul Modern Art Museum, Sakıp Sabancı Museum, Pera Art Museum, etc.)
2. Tell us which exhibition you visited. Analyze the artists' language. Try to explain how the artists are expressing the meaning without using a verbal or non-verbal language. Are they any successful and how they succeed to express the meanings they have in their mind? Exemplify by artists' and their works' names.
3. Post your comments to our blogger.

İstanbul Modern Art Museum (free-admission on Thursdays) (in Tophane)
http://www.istanbulmodern.org/tr/f_index.html

Sakıp Sabancı Art Museum (in Emirgan)
http://muze.sabanciuniv.edu/

Pera Art Museum (in Taksim)
http://www.peramuzesi.org.tr/

Good Luck,

tuncer can

Take Home Final Exam

Hi Guys,

Here's our Final Exam:

FINAL EXAM: Take Home
1) Frame: Around 1500 words
2) Evaluation: Content, citations, reference, language, clarity, order…
3) Due date: the final exam day (whenever)
4) We will have a 10 Point Final Exam as well.
5) Don’t forget to bring your Evaluation Letters

Questions
Language? Make up your own explanatory theory of language. (45 pts)
Why do we study Linguistics at ELT Departments? (45 pts)

You are always welcome to ask any questions regarding the exam.

Very good luck,

tuncer

Word Formation: Morphology

Hi,

This week we are looking at the word formation processes. Here's your task: Raise you head and eyes while you are walking on the street and look for names of the bussinesses (names of shops, or anything of this sort); see and give us examples of the word formation processes given below.(More than one example is welcome)

Word Coinage:
Compound words:
Acronyms:
Words from names:
Blends:

Good Luck,

tuncer

A Poem

Greetings,

This week we have an activity that is supposed to make our both hemispheres work, like we talked during the class, we are writing a poem on "Language" or "Linguistics", in Turkish or English, choose whichever.

Good Luck,

tuncer

Left Brain Dominance

Hello Everybody,

This week we have a simple question: " What do you think are some of the solutions in changing the left hemisphere dominant school programs, think of particularly foreign language classrooms?" Remember our discussion of the school programs and the characteristics of the left hemisphere.

Check ou these before answering...
http://staff.washington.edu/chudler/lang.html
http://www.med.harvard.edu/publications/On_The_Brain/Volume4/Number4/F95Lang.html
http://www.brainconnection.com/topics/?main=col/burns00feb
http://www.brainconnection.com/topics/?main=fa/listening-skills

Good luck in your exam,
questions will be similar to these that are on the blogger.

tuncer

Langage Acquisition

Remembering Brown's Order of Acquisition, Krashen's Theory of Second Language Acquisition, and the Order of Sound Acquisition, could you comment on if acquisition (not learning) of second/foreign language is possible in Foreign Language Classrooms?

Why don't you check these before answering...

http://www.sk.com.br/sk-krash.html
http://www.iteachilearn.com/cummins/
http://www.sdkrashen.com/SL_Acquisition_and_Learning/index.html

tuncer

Origins of Language and The Future of Language

This week we have studied the 3 approaches to the question of "the origins of language", "The Divine Theory", "The Evolution Theory" and "The Social Theory". Bearing these and the nature of language(last week's question) in mind, could you please foresee the future of the language? Try to picturize the future world in language context.

You might want to check these as well...
http://www.putlearningfirst.com/language/01origin/01origin.html
http://userpage.fu-berlin.de/~rober/linguistics/origins.html#divine
http://www.massey.ac.nz/~alock/virtual/lockfin.htm

Listen to the Conversation if you can... http://www.forbes.com/2005/10/19/cx_audio_comm05_noamchomsky.html

tuncer

What is Language?

Here are some of the anwers your classmates have given for the question "What is Language". Based on these, could you make an attempt to make up a more wholistic answer. Before answering you might want to consider the discussions we've had during the class on Monday.

"Communicative device, and open- ended" (Emine)
"Expression of thoughts and feelings" (Saadet & Elif)
"Alive" (Mustafa & Elçin)
"Significant part of culture" (Yasin)
"Meaningful chain of sounds" (Pınar)
"Great power and weakness" (Samet)The ability to get the word combinations together (Seda
"Language is interaction, a certain system of signs" (Sine)
"Verbal: the way to express our thoughts" (Narin)
"is culture" (Demet)
"istediğimiz şekilde kullanabileceğimiz bir paradır" (Derya)
"Mirror of our mind" (Şenol)
"Something about practical thinking" (Kübra)
"Construction based on words" (Fikret)
"Dil bir oyun hamurudur" (Yağmur)
"That chains people together" (Hatice)
"Tool to earn money" (Gamze)

You might also want to check some of these...
http://www.asha.org/public/speech/development/language_speech.htm
http://anthro.palomar.edu/language/language_2.htm
http://www.abdn.ac.uk/langling/whatis.shtml
http://ling.lsa.umich.edu/ug/linguistics.html

tuncer