Asignment

Guidelines and Topics for Project 2

For this project, you may work alone or in groups of no more thanthree. You are required to conduct a data-based investigation of a linguistic topic related to one of the concepts we have discussed (or will be discussing soon): Regional or social dialects, attitudes, gender, diglossia, bilingualism, codeswitching,etc. (Please see the list of possible topics below).

Length

The collective essay should be 7-10 pages, typed (12 pt. font, 1" margins, double-spaced), including references, surveys, and any charts, etc.

Citation and List of Sources Cited

If you decide to refer to dictionaries, websites, or articles/books, do the following:

• Name all (but also only) sources you used. This includes books, articles, websites.
• Use a consistent and complete format for all your quotations (like APA).
• List all your sources in the List of Sources Cited, the final section of your paper.

General Comments

• Structure your paper clearly and purposefully by dividing it into sections; in addition, divide each section into purposeful paragraphs.

• Insert page numbers.

• Avoid conversational, informal language; however, do not replace it with convoluted language.

• Avoid any kind of jargon and wordiness, i.e., don't try to impress the reader with "big" words and statements; instead, use clear writing to make an impact on the reader.

• If you include tables or graphs as an appendix instead of in the main body of the paper, make sure you help the reader locate it (e.g. "see Appendix 1").

• If at all possible, let a person unfamiliar with Linguistics read your paper to assess its clarity.

• Spell-check and proof-read your paper for typos and grammatical errors.

Possible Topics:

You can substitute Twitter data, blog/forum posts, or some other kind of written data for any of the following projects as well.

1. Linguistic awareness among UA students: How much do students know about the languages of the Middle East? Design a survey of 20 questions and ask 10-15 students to fill it out. You may ask questions like: The official language of Iran is _____; Kurdish is closely related to _______, etc. Tabulate and analyze your results.

2. Attitudes toward accents: Using a matched-guise or verbal-guise technique and a bipolar or situational questionnaire, evaluate college students' attitudes toward different Middle Eastern accents. Record one passage in four or five different accents, then survey 10-15 students using a bi-polar survey containing 10 adjectives with their opposites; e.g., educated/uneducated, feminine/unfeminine, pleasant/harsh, etc.You need to submit the questionnaire, tape, and results of your survey.

3. Attitudes toward languages: How do Middle Eastern speakers feel about their language relative to other languages? Construct a questionnaire in which you elicit speakers' attitudes using a scalar survey. You may refer to Ferguson's articles "Myths about Arabic" and "Diglossia".

4. Gender asymmetries:Consider lexical asymmetries in a Middle Eastern language that potentially display gender bias. Your primary source of data will be one of your group members (or an outsider willing to serve as a consultant) who is a native speaker of the language; you may also consult dictionaries or other secondary sources of data. Consider disparaging uses of titles, personal names, kinship terms, taboo language, or terms of reference. Are males and females referred to or addressed equitably?

5. Codeswitching: Investigate how topic, situation, listener, and sense of self-identity influence linguistic choice. Survey 10 bilingual speakers,with at least one Middle Eastern language speaker, using a situational survey.

6. Gender and language: Do our cultural beliefs about gender affect L2 use? Construct 30 verb phrases of different action verbs then ask 9 students from three different regions, including the Middle East, to place them in sentences. Analyze the sentences; do they reflect gender biases potentially stemming from certain cultures? Do you detect any shared values reflected in these sentences?

7. Personal names in Arabic, Hebrew, Turkish or Persian: Choose one language and survey a male and female native speaker about the 20 most popular names for girls and 20 for boys. Ask them for the meaning of the name, if any. Record the list then transcribe it carefully. Analyze the list: To what extent do naming practices reflect societal values of masculinity and femininity? Compare with names in your language/culture.

8. Taboo forms in Arabic, Hebrew, Turkish and Persian: How does taboo language reflect societal values of the body, femininity and masculinity, kinship relations, love and sexuality, etc.? Is taboo language universal or relative? Choose two of the Middle Eastern languages and survey two or more native speakers about taboo language; ask questions about how they express anger, talk about sex, bodily functions, jokes, swear words, etc. Record the list of forms then transcribe them carefully. Compare the two lists from the two languages, looking for similarities and differences. You may also compare with English or Spanish if you wish.

9. Other?If you have an idea for a project, write it up, and email it to me; if approved, you're on!