LINGUISTIC ANALYSIS PAPER

Theme: In writing this paper, you will get a little taste of the kind of systematic data collection that is the input for linguistic analysis. You will also use the tools and knowledge from the class and apply what you have learned to novel data, your own. The purpose of the paper is to get you to reflect on your own language(s) by taking a closer look at how you speak and comparing your native language with another language that you have some familiarity with. One of the languages will be YOUR NATIVE LANGUAGE. The other language will be a language with which you have some personal experience. If your ability is weak in the second language, so much the better! It will make for a good comparison. The second language could be any of the following:
English, if you speak a language other than English as your first language.
A language that you have studied in school, even if only two years in high school.
A language in which you have some ability because of exposure to it through relatives who speak it, having lived where it was spoken, or any other circumstance.
Research: Your only sources of information should be your knowledge of the two languages you choose and the information you get in Linguistics 1 from lectures, the course textbook, and course readings. If you choose a language that you studied in school, you may want to consult your textbooks, but you do not need to do any library research.
Length and form: The paper should be 4-6 pages, double-spaced, and in 12-point type with 1 inch margins. You will not need a bibliography other than listing a language text(book) you may have consulted, as mentioned just above. Your paper is to be submitted through Turnitin on the CCLE course website. The course website will explain how to do this.

Outline of the Paper: Your paper must have the following sections (in underlined bold below):
Introduction: Describe your linguistic background as it relates to the paper. This should include information on the context of where you learned each language—at home, in school (including where you studied and the amount of time), living where the language is spoken, etc. If you learned one of the languages in school, say a little about how it was taught—little or much speaking of the language in class, little or much English used during class, little or much emphasis on good pronunciation, little or much emphasis on memorizing grammar rules, etc.
Non-Standard Language: Everyone speaks a dialect and most people use both formal and informal language, depending on the situation. In this section, identify 3 slang or informal words/phrases in your native language that you use and are currently in vogue at your university, in your clubs, among your friends and social circle, etc. For each word/phrase, (1) explain what it means, (2) when you would use it, (3) when you first heard the word/phrase.
Comparison of sounds: Select one point of comparison between sounds found in the two languages. Examples of such comparison might be:
The pronunciation of Spanish vowels, which are “pure” vowels, and English vowels, which tend to be “diphthongized” (compare the pronunciation of of the vowel in Spanish de ‘from’ with the pronunciation of the vowel in English day)
The presence of front rounded vowels in French, German, or Chinese and their absence in English
The presence of palatal fricatives in English (the sounds symbolized by the underlined letters in ash and azure) and their absence in Spanish
The presence of velar fricatives (“guttural sounds”) in German or Hebrew and their absence in English
The sound description need not be technical, but try to use terminology and concepts introduced during the lectures on Phonetics. You should (1) write the sounds using the INTERNATIONAL PHONETIC ALPHABET symbols as we did in class during the Phonetics module of the course, (2) provide an articulatory description of the sounds, and (3) give sample words. Include some comments comparing the languages, for example, noting what sounds you tend to substitute for the “hard” sounds of your non-native language.
Do not confuse the alphabet of the language with the sounds of the language. Two points will automatically be deducted for this error.
Comparison of grammar: Select one point of “grammar” for comparison. This could either be a point of:
Syntax, e.g. order of words in a sentence, order of elements in the NP, use of endings that mark words for whether they are subject or object, etc.
Word formation, e.g. inflection of verbs, marking words for gender agreement, formation of compound words, etc.
The grammar description need not be technical, but try to use terminology and concepts introduced during the lectures on Syntax and Morphology. Describe the way the two languages mark a comparable structure, e.g. how each language marks past tense, what the order of a noun and its modifiers are in each of the languages, etc. BE SURE TO INCLUDE EXAMPLES FROM BOTH LANGUAGES!
Acquisition: Compare the way you “think” in the two languages as related to the way you learned them and the contexts where you use them. For example:
You create utterances spontaneously in your native language because you learned it through the normal process of language acquisition, but you speak Spanish slowly and falteringly because you put sentences together using grammar rules you memorized in school.
You speak English with an accent and/or make grammatical errors in English because you learned it after the “critical age”, yet you find it easier to discuss technical subjects in English than in your “home” language because you use the latter only in everyday domestic contexts.
GIVE AT LEAST ONE CONCRETE EXAMPLE OF AN ERROR YOU HAVE MADE OR AN IDEA YOU HAVE HAD TROUBLE EXPRESSING IN YOUR NON-NATIVE LANGUAGE.

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