LINGUISTICS AT WAKE FOREST: PERSONNEL & COURSES
Faculty
IRMA ALARCÓN: Dept. of Romance Languages (Ph.D. Indiana University): Second Language Acquisition, Hispanic linguistics, TESOL.
MARGARET BENDER: Dept. of Anthropology (Ph.D. Chicago): Language and culture, language and gender, Cherokee studies.
OLGIERDA FURMANEK: Dept. of Romance Languages (Ph.D Nebraska-Lincoln): translation and interpreting.
LUIS GONZÁLEZ: Dept. of Romance Languages (Ph.D. California-Davis): Syntax, Spanish linguistics, Computer-assisted language learning.
BILLY HAMILTON: Dept. of German & Russian, and Associate Dean. (Ph.D. Yale): Russian linguistics, Slavic studies.
MICHAEL HYDE: Dept. of Communication (Ph.D. Purdue): Semantics, pragmatics.
RALPH KENNEDY: Dept. of Philosophy (Ph.D. University of California-Berkeley): Philosophy of language.
GILLIAN OVERING: Dept. of English (Ph.D. SUNY-Buffalo): English linguistics, philology.
STÉPHANIE PELLET: Dept. of Romance Languages (Ph.D. University of Texas-Austin): French linguistics, second language acquisition/development, sociolinguistics, pragmatics.
JEANNE SIMONELLI: Dept. of Anthropology (Ph.D. Oklahoma): language and culture, anthropological linguistics.
ROBERT ULERY: Dept. of Classical Languages (Ph.D. Yale): Classical languages.
STAN WHITLEY: Dept. of Romance Language. (Ph.D. Cornell): General linguistics, phonology & phonetics, Spanish linguistics, second language acquisition, sociolinguistics, historical linguistics.
HEIKO WIGGERS:
Dept. of German/Russian. (MA, Eastern Washington): Germanic linguistics.
Linguistics Circle On many Fridays at 4:00 during the semester, WFU faculty and friends in languages and linguistics gather to discuss their recent research. For more information on our current schedule of Lingustics Circle presentations and talks, or to be added to our mailout list, contact Dr. Whitley (above link). |
Program & Courses
The linguistics program at Wake Forest dates from 1991. It is interdisciplinary and courses are taught by faculty drawn from several departments. For information or advising, you may see any of the members of the Interdisciplinary Linguistics Committee The coordinator and chief advisor is Dr. M. Stanley Whitley, who has additional information on the field and on graduate study programs in linguistics and languages.
Linguistics courses may be taken individually, but there is also an interdisciplinary minor available. The minor requires the basic introductory course Lin/Ant 150 and 4 additional courses. Students minoring in linguistics are strongly encouraged to study foreign languages, achieving proficiency in at least one, as well as social and behavioral sciences.
The 4 courses (12 hours) in addition to Lin/Ant 150 may be chosen from the following three groups: general linguistics, historical linguistics for individual languages, and related linguistics courses on particular languages. It is strongly recommended that at least one course be from historical linguistics.
GROUP 1: COURSES IN GENERAL LINGUISTICS
Lin./Ant. 150 Introduction to Linguistics. The social phenomenon of language: how it originated and developed, how it is learned and used, its relationship to other kinds of behavior; types of language (oral, written, signed) and language families; analysis of linguistic data; social issues of language use. (Counts as either Linguistics 150 or, in Division 4, Anthropology 150; also satisfies Cultural Diversity requirement under either designation.)
Lin. 301 Semantics and Language in Communication. A study of how meaning is created by sign processes. Among the topics studied are language theory, semiotics, speech act theory, and pragmatics. (Also listed as Communication 301.)
Lin. 310 Sociolinguistics and Dialectology. Study of variation in language: effects of regional background, social class, ethnic group, gender, and setting; social attitudes toward language; outcomes of linguistic conflicts in the community; evolution of research methods for investigating language differences and the diffusion of change. P--Lin. 150 or permission of the instructor.
Lin. 330 Introduction to Psycholinguistics and Language Acquisition. A psychological and linguistic study of the mental processes underlying the acquisition and use of language; how children acquire the structure of language and how adults make use of linguistic systems.
Lin./Ant. 333 Language and Gender. Relationships among language structure, language use, and social categories, focusing on men’s and women’s speech, attempts to create gender neutrality in language, grammatical and social gender, and the role of language use in the (re)production of gendered identities and social roles.
Lin. 337 TESOL Linguistics. An introduction to the theoretical and practical linguistics resources and skills for teaching English to speakers of other languages (TESOL) within the United States or abroad. Also listed as Edu 337. P--Lin 150 or Eng 304; knowledge of a second language is recommended.
Lin. 340 Topics in Linguistics. An interdisciplinary study of selected topics, such as morphology, phonology/phonetics, syntax, historical linguistics, history of linguistic theory, semiotics, ethnolinguistics, issues in Asian linguistics, language and gender. P--Lin. 150 or permission of instructor.
Lin. 351 Comparative Communication. A comparison of communicative and linguistic processes in one or more national cultures with those of the United States. (Also listed as Communication 351.) P--Lin. 150 or permission of instructor. Options (vary by year): 351A Japan, 351B Russia, 351C Great Britain, 351D Multiple Countries, 351E China.
Lin. 375 Philosophy of Language. A study of such philosophical issues about language as truth and meaning, reference and description, proper names, indexicals, modality, tense, the semantic paradoxes, and the differences between languages and other sorts of sign systems. P--Permission of instructor. (Also listed as Philosophy 375)
Lin. 383 Language Engineering: Localization & Terminology. Introduction to the process of making a product linguistically and culturally appropriate to the target locale, and to computer-assisted terminology management. Surveys applications in translation technology. P--Permission of instructor.
Lin. 398, 399 Independent Study. A reading and research
course designed to meet the needs of selected students, to be carried out
under the supervision of a faculty member in the linguistics minor program.
P--Lin/Ant. 150 and permission of instructor.
GROUP 2: HISTORICAL LINGUISTICS IN PARTICULAR LANGUAGES
Note: courses about foreign languages might be
taught in the language; check with the instructor.
Eng. 304 History of the English Language.
Rus. 332 History of the Russian Language.
Spn. 321 Rise of Spanish (History of the Spanish Language).
Frh. 341 Rise of French (History of French)
Ges. 345 History of the German Language.
GROUP 3: RELATED LINGUISTICS COURSES
Note: courses about foreign languages might be
taught in the language; check with the instructor.
Ant. 355 Language and Culture.
Eng. 390 The Structure of English.
Frh. 322 French Phonetics.
Frh. 342 The Structure of French.
Frh. 343. Modern French.
Frh. 344 The French-Speaking World.
Frh. 345 Language and Society.
Rus. 230 The Structure of Russian.
Spn. 322 Spanish Phonology (Spanish Pronunciation and Dialect Variation).
Spn. 324 Contrastive Spanish/English Grammar and Stylistics.