Module ANTH3331: LINGUISTIC ANTHROPOLOGY

Department: Anthropology

ANTH3331: LINGUISTIC ANTHROPOLOGY

Prerequisites

• Political & Economic Organization (ANTH2051) OR Kinship & Belief Systems (ANTH2041).

Corequisites

• None.

Excluded Combination of Modules

• None.

Aims

• To give students a critical understanding of the relationships between language and other socioculutural phenomena through examination of ethnographic and linguistic materials
• To give students an understanding of the ways in which anthroplologists, linguists and others have historically understood these relationships
• Enable students to interrogate these materials using conceptual tools acquired in other anthropology modules

Content

• The module is intended to enable students to:
• consider the relationships that exist between linguistics and anthropology
• examine a number of influential theories of language
• evaluate the use of the theories in approaches to anthropology studied in other modules
• examine theories that:
• treat languague as an autonomous entity
• universalist and relativist perspectives
• contextually based theories that analyse speech in terms of non-linguistic phenomena, and
• approaches that foreground language as a kind of practice in itself

Learning Outcomes

• Have a thorough understanding of the intellectual topography related to linguistic anthropology.
• Have a demonstrable in-depth knowledge of certain key issues.
• Integrate and evaluate a range of information and data from ethnographic and theoretical sources.

• Be familiar with, and able to demonstrate, links and differences between the ideas and approaches adopted by various anthropologists/linguists.
• Able to evaluate and critically analyse anthropological/linguistic literature and related social thought.
• To discern and establish connections between intellectual arguments.
• To present a coherent demonstration of the theoretical implications of different arguments.

• To succinctly present complex arguments related to current issues as advanced by anthropologists/linguists.
• To identify a researchable problem independently and explore it.
• To find relevant information and utilise socio-cultural anthropological sources effectively.
• To construct an effective argument that demonstrates an awareness of the subtlety and complexity of selected theoretical issues.
• Demonstrate an ability to explore the issues creatively in writing.

Modes of Teaching, Learning and Assessment and how these contribute to the learning outcomes of the module

• Lectures, seminars, presentations, essays. Lectures give students summaries of the key positions and arguments of important authors. Seminars will allow them to interrogate the assumptions of these authors. Presentations give the student a chance to study a particular theme in depth and work together to create a coherent argument.
• Summative essay tests skills of understanding, analysis, information collection and presentation, while final written examinations test assimilated knowledge and understanding and the ability to write succinctly and analytically at short notice.
• Formative assessment takes place on a regular basis and may be regarded an integral part of the day-to-day teaching process.
• Formative feedback is given the Summative Essay as well as on seminar presentations.

Teaching Methods and Learning Hours

Summative Assessment

Formative Assessment:

Formative assessment provided on presentations.

■ Attendance at all activities marked with this symbol will be monitored. Students who fail to attend these activities, or to complete the summative or formative assessment specified above, will be subject to the procedures defined in the University's General Regulation V, and may be required to leave the University