Students will learn 
1) what the various fields of linguistics are
2) how spoken language is produced with sound waves
3) how the digestive and respiratory systems double as speech organs
4) how the sounds of human language are categorized
5) how languages systematically change over time
6) what common language disorders are and how studying brain damage helps us understand how language works
7) how children learn their language
8) what the bilingual brain looks like
9) how to use corpora, or large bodies of language data, to ask and answer linguistic questions
10) what we have learned about human language by comparing the brains of people speaking signed and spoken languages

Many courses in linguistics focus on applications of linguistics such as grammar, but few are oriented to the sciences. This course will show students that science concepts are very much needed to understand human language.

Homework Offered
Homework includes exploratory exercises, watching videos, playing with applications, collecting data, and creating linguistic questions and hypotheses.
1 - 2 hours per week outside of class
Assessments Offered
Progress is assessed using a participatory rubric during class meetings and via assignments between classes. There are also periodic quizzes and tests.
Grades Offered