| Course Overview |
* English VI: Language, Culture, Communication * Overview This course is a language/linguistics hybrid. There will be lectures and videos on language, culture, and communication from a social science perspective, but students will also practice using the sounds, vocabulary, and grammar of English to communicate their own understanding and viewpoint effectively, through discussion and presentation. This is partly a linguistics course. As such, we will study the relationship between language, culture, and society, and how communication is achieved through language (and what is communicated). We will also survey the literature on language and solidarity and identity. Students will use TED talks to go more deeply into topics that they are interested in. This is partly a course on communication in English, especially speaking and listening. We will focus on academic English but we will also occasionally discuss informal English. Lectures will include not just theory but discussion of some of the real linguistic and social situations that students might encounter in English. Importantly, we will spend time for students to thoroughly discuss the topics covered. Students will practice summarizing ideas and expressing their thoughts and viewpoints in English, and listening and speaking in English and about English (though we will sometimes make a contrastive study of Japanese in order to help shed light on English). They will also give three short presentations, in English, about TED talks with topics relevant to the class. Therefore, class time will be divided into two main sections. Usually, the first half of class will be a lecture, and then, for the second half, students will work in small groups, using English to reflect on the lecture and reading, to discuss further questions, to share their own ideas and experiences, or for their presentations and group discussions based on those topics. |
| Last updated | : 2023/3/3 (13:12) |