Admission requirements
N.B. This course has two prerequisites
A course in articulatory phonetics, such as the BA Taalwetenschap course ‘Klanken van de wereld’ (=‘Sounds of the World’) or an equivalent, is a prerequisite. Students with no previous training in articulatory phonetics are required to make up for this deficiency before or during the Field Methods course. Please contact the lecturer if you have questions.
A basic knowledge of linguistic concepts and how to apply them to language data is assumed; as described for morphology and syntax in e.g.
Payne, Thomas E., 2006. Exploring language structure: A student’s guide. Cambridge: CUP.
Kroeger, Paul R., 2005. Analyzing grammar: An Introduction. Cambridge: CUP.
and for phonetics and phonology in e.g.Gussenhoven, C. and H. Jacobs. 1998 (2nd ed.) Understanding Phonology. London: Arnold
Davenport, Mike and S.J. Hannahs. 2005 (2nd ed.) Introducing Phonetics and Phonology. London: Arnold.
Description
An exciting part of studying linguistics is learning about a language from speakers rather than from books. This course is aimed at preparing students for a real-world field situation by working with a native speaker of a language unfamiliar to them. The main goal is to document and analyze central areas of the language, ranging from sounds, to words, to sentences and utterances. The course will additionally include the practical use of tools and techniques for eliciting, recording, transcribing, archiving and presenting linguistic material, while ethical and practical issues of working in the field will also be discussed. Students will carry out both group work and an individual project.
Course objectives
At the end of the course, a student should be able to…
record, transcribe and annotate speech data of a language that students were previously not familiar with, through the interaction with a native speaker
gather data from the relevant language through word lists, texts, and grammatical elicitation
organise linguistic data in a database
achieve a basic analysis of the phonology, morphology and syntax of the relevant language and present this in written form
identify the kinds of data needed to fill gaps in the analysis
evaluate the usefulness of different elicitation methods for different linguisic domains
evaluate the relationship between the collected data and the theory that shapes linguistic research questions
acquire skills in the use of audio and video recording techniques as well as relevant software (Elan, Toolbox, etc.)
evaluate practical issues related to fieldwork (choosing a field site, orthography design, how to work with speakers, etc.)
Timetable
Time and date on which the course is offered or a link to the website.
Mode of instruction
Combination of * Lecture * Seminar, and * Research
Each week we meet twice: (1) one class of 2 hours where we collect data in class and have plenary discussion of data collection, analysis, and practical or ethical issues as they arise, and (2) one class of 1 hour for information on data recording, organisation, storage, and software, as well as specific analytical questions that arose during group work outside class.
In addition to these 3 ‘contact hours’, students also collect their own data with the native speaker outside class, in groups of 2-3, for minimally 30 minutes per week.
Students taking this course must be prepared to attend all classes and to work intensively throughout the course.
In the first part of the course, we collect lexical data and get to know tools for data recording, organisation and storage. In the second part, we collect and transcribe textual data, and work on the phonological analysis. In the third part, we analyse the textual data using direct elicitation and analyse the morphology and aspects of the syntax of the language.
Students take turns in being the manager of the field sessions in class. Duties include: prepare the sesssion, keep elicitation going, take notes of the results, transcribe, gloss and translate the data, submit a written report before the next class, to be discussed in that class.
Assessment method
- I. Performance in field sessions, transcription, data annotation, class attendance (20%) – II. Essay 1: Introduction to the language (1 page) – III. Essay 2: Phonology sketch (5 pages) (20%) – IV. Essay 3: Morpho-syntax sketch (approx 8-10 pages) (20%) – V. Term paper: A grammar sketch of minimally 20 pages (plus appendix) (40%).
It contains: (i) An introduction to the language (revision of essay 1)
(ii) A chapter on the phonology (revision of essay 2)
(iii) A chapter on the morpho-syntax (revision of essay 3),
(iv) A chapter on a special topic chosen by the student (3-5 pages),
(v) An Appendix with (a) a text of a few minutes (transcribed, glossed and translated), (b) A word list (local language-English, English-local language)
The term paper is due before the end of the semester. Not meeting this deadline is considered the equivalent of not passing an exam, and the next opportunity to have your work graded will be at the end of the following semester.
Blackboard
The use of Blackboard is crucial in this course Blackboard
Reading list
Bowern, Claire. 2008. Linguistic Fieldwork: A Practical Guide. Palgrave MacMillan, 253 pp.
Chelliah, Shobhana L. and Willem J. de Reuse. 2011. Handbook of Descriptive Linguistic Fieldwork. London: Springer 2011, 492 pp.
Payne, Thomas. 1997. Describing Morphosyntax. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 375 pp.
Registration
This has to be filled out by the key-user of the department.
Registration Studeren à la carte and Contractonderwijs
Registration Studeren à la carte
Registration Contractonderwijs
Remarks
The language of study depends on the availability of a native speaker consultant, and will be known a few weeks before the start of the course.