SRJC Course Outlines

11/21/2024 7:46:16 AMANTH 5 Course Outline as of Summer 2025

Changed Course
CATALOG INFORMATION

Discipline and Nbr:  ANTH 5Title:  ANTH OF LANG, COMM & CUL  
Full Title:  The Anthropology of Language, Communication, and Culture
Last Reviewed:3/13/2023

UnitsCourse Hours per Week Nbr of WeeksCourse Hours Total
Maximum3.00Lecture Scheduled3.0017.5 max.Lecture Scheduled52.50
Minimum3.00Lab Scheduled06 min.Lab Scheduled0
 Contact DHR0 Contact DHR0
 Contact Total3.00 Contact Total52.50
 
 Non-contact DHR0 Non-contact DHR Total0

 Total Out of Class Hours:  105.00Total Student Learning Hours: 157.50 

Title 5 Category:  AA Degree Applicable
Grading:  Grade or P/NP
Repeatability:  00 - Two Repeats if Grade was D, F, NC, or NP
Also Listed As: 
Formerly:  ANTHRO 5

Catalog Description:
Untitled document
Language is fundamental to our human lives. Creating meals, providing shelter, expressing humor and love, provoking fights and forging agreements, people communicate how they perceive and navigate the world. Students in this course use an anthropological perspective to study how the power of culture fashions language between and among the smallest communities to the largest societies. We delve into the structure of language, including the bio-cultural basis of how sounds are made and produced, and we study the unique culture histories of our global language families. We explore how language changes over time by means of cultural acts and social mingling. Importantly, we study issues of language loss and conservation.

Prerequisites/Corequisites:


Recommended Preparation:
Eligibility for ENGL 1A or equivalent

Limits on Enrollment:

Schedule of Classes Information
Description: Untitled document
Language is fundamental to our human lives. Creating meals, providing shelter, expressing humor and love, provoking fights and forging agreements, people communicate how they perceive and navigate the world. Students in this course use an anthropological perspective to study how the power of culture fashions language between and among the smallest communities to the largest societies. We delve into the structure of language, including the bio-cultural basis of how sounds are made and produced, and we study the unique culture histories of our global language families. We explore how language changes over time by means of cultural acts and social mingling. Importantly, we study issues of language loss and conservation.
(Grade or P/NP)

Prerequisites:
Recommended:Eligibility for ENGL 1A or equivalent
Limits on Enrollment:
Transfer Credit:CSU;UC.
Repeatability:00 - Two Repeats if Grade was D, F, NC, or NP

ARTICULATION, MAJOR, and CERTIFICATION INFORMATION

Associate Degree:Effective:Fall 2024
Inactive: 
 Area:D
Social and Behavioral Sciences
 
CSU GE:Transfer Area Effective:Inactive:
 DSocial ScienceFall 2024
 D1Anthropology and Archeology  
 
IGETC:Transfer Area Effective:Inactive:
 4Social and Behavioral ScienceFall 2024
 4AAnthropology and Archeology  
 
CSU Transfer:TransferableEffective:Fall 2024Inactive:
 
UC Transfer:TransferableEffective:Fall 2024Inactive:
 
C-ID:

Certificate/Major Applicable: Major Applicable Course



COURSE CONTENT

Student Learning Outcomes:
At the conclusion of this course, the student should be able to:
Untitled document
1. Describe key features of language structures and methods of linguistic anthropology.
2. Identify historical roots and cultural regions using histories of language families.
3. Use key anthropological terms to demonstrate knowledge of language acquisition and transformation over time.
 

Objectives: Untitled document
At the conclusion of this course, the student should be able to:
1. Explain the anthropological approach to language and communication.
2. Analyze and exemplify how language and culture are acquired and interrelated.
3. Identify the structural properties of language.
4. Analyze non-verbal communication cross-culturally.
5. Describe the bio-cultural origins and development of language through time.
6. Describe the ways in which beliefs about languages and speakers have social consequences.
7. Describe factors and consequences of language change (including loss) over time.

Topics and Scope
Untitled document
I. Cultural Life of Language and Communication
    A. Terminology and definitions of human language
    B. Culture and lexicons of anthropology
    C. Signs, symbols, and indices
II. Language as a Formal System
    A. Structural components of language
    B. Phonology, morphology, and syntax
    C. International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)
    D. Pragmatism
    E. Sign Language and non-verbal forms of communication
III. Methods of Language Study
    A. Ethnographic approach
    B. Material culture of archaeology
    C. Biological basis of language
IV. Historical Linguistics: Regional Language Families and Evolution, may Include Regions of:
     A. Indus Valley
    B. Africa
    C. South Pacific and Southeast Asia
    D. East Asia
    E. North and South Americas
V. Language and Worldviews
    A. Sapir-Whorf hypothesis
    B. Language acquisition and socialization
    C. Communicative styles and genres
    D. Social differentiation, status and social hierarchies
     E. Multilingualism
VI. Communities of Language
    A. Language emergence and language relationships
    B. Gender and communication
    C. Identity, status, power, and agency
    D. Language technologies and media platforms
    E. Code-switching
VII. Language Loss and Preservation
    A. Language death
    B. Revitalization
    C. Language shift
    D. Language loss factors
    E. Maintenance of linguistic diversity

Assignments:
Untitled document
1. Reading assignments in the course textbook(s) (1-2 chapters/week)
2. Writing assignments (1,500-2,500 words total), such as
     A. Summaries
    B. Responses
    C. Short ethnographies
    D. Research papers
3. Quizzes (3-5)
4. Comprehensive examinations (2-5)
5. Presentations (optional)

Methods of Evaluation/Basis of Grade.
Writing: Assessment tools that demonstrate writing skill and/or require students to select, organize and explain ideas in writing.Writing
30 - 65%
Writing assignments
Problem solving: Assessment tools, other than exams, that demonstrate competence in computational or non-computational problem solving skills.Problem Solving
0 - 0%
None
Skill Demonstrations: All skill-based and physical demonstrations used for assessment purposes including skill performance exams.Skill Demonstrations
0 - 0%
None
Exams: All forms of formal testing, other than skill performance exams.Exams
30 - 65%
Quizzes; examinations
Other: Includes any assessment tools that do not logically fit into the above categories.Other Category
5 - 15%
Attendance and participation; presentations (optional)


Representative Textbooks and Materials:
Untitled document
The Anthropology of Language: An Introduction to Linguistic Anthropology. 4th ed. Ottenheimer, Harriet. Cengage. 2018.
Bravo for the Marshallese: Regaining Control in a Post-Nuclear, Post-Colonial World. 2nd ed. Barker, Holly. Wadsworth. 2012 (classic).
Concise Introduction to Linguistics. 6th ed. Rowe, Bruce and Levine, Diane. Prentice-Hall. 2022.
From the Kitchen to the Parlor: Language and Becoming in African American Women's Hair Care. Jacobs-Huey, Lanita. Oxford University Press. 2006 (classic).
Language, Culture, and Communication: The Meaning of Messages. 8th ed. Bonvillain, Nancy. Prentice Hall. 2019.
Language, Culture, and Society: An Introduction to Linguistic Anthropology. 7th ed. Salzmann, Zdenek, and Stanlaw, James and Adachi, Nobuko. Westview. 2017 (classic).
Living Language: An Introduction to Linguistic Anthropology. 3rd ed. Ahearn, Laura. Wiley Blackwell. 2011 (classic).
Magical Writing in the Salasaca. Wogan, Peter. Westview Press. 2002 (classic).
Western Apache Language and Culture. Basso, Keith. University of Arizona Press.1990 (classic).

Print PDF