Applied Linguistics (MA) — Courses
APLING 601
Linguistics
This course examines the nature and origin of language, the history of linguistics, and new theoretical developments in the field. Principles of language analysis—phonology, morphology, syntax, and semantics—are discussed. The course systematically compares the structure of English with a variety of other languages.
3 Lect Hrs, 3 Credits
APLING 603
Cross-Cultural Perspectives
This course is designed to help students develop perceptions of cultural similarities and differences from knowledge of concepts and meanings of culture. Special emphasis will be given to issues of linguistic and cultural discontinuities, the acculturation process, minority education, and inter-ethnic communication. Discussions and research will be directed toward developing multicultural educational programs and activities.
3 Lect Hrs, 3 Credits
APLING 605
Theories and Principles of Language Teaching
This course is designed to present students with a theoretical background in the principles and methods of teaching English as a second language. It presents concepts from the fields of linguistics, sociology, anthropology, psychology, and education as they relate to language teaching theory. In addition to these influences on the field of ESL, the course will include a survey of major methodological approaches to ESL teaching in order to evaluate how well theory has been applied to practice.
3 Lect Hrs, 3 Credits
APLING 611
Methods and Materials in Foreign Language Instruction
This course seeks (1) to relate methods of teaching a foreign language to current Second Language Acquisition (SLA), research and theory and evaluate these methods; (2) to discuss classroom problems in light of current
3 Lect Hrs, 3 Credits
APLING 612
Integrating Culture into the Language Curriculum
This course takes a hands-on approach and bridges the gap between theoreticians and classroom practitioners. Participants can tie in their critical understanding of cross-cultural perspectives into numerous aspects of the language curriculum. They explore how culture has been taught traditionally and how cultural values are embodied in authentic documents. They gain awareness of potential cultural conflicts between their own culture and the culture they teach or their students’ culture. Discussion and research are directed towards developing instructional units based on a large variety of authentic documents that reflect multicultural diversity and help students discover and resolve cultural conflicts.
Prerequisite: APLING 603.
3 Lect Hrs, 3 Credits
APLING 614
Foundations of Bilingual/Multicultural Education
This course will examine the rationale for bilingual education and its typology through a survey of some successful
3 Lect Hrs, 3 Credits
APLING 615
Methods and Materials in Bilingual Education
This course will examine major contemporary theories of learning in bilingual education. The course will focus on instructional improvement strategies and objectives and procedures of evaluation as they relate to the developmental needs of elementary and secondary bilingual students. Course participants will acquire an understanding of the process of developing culturally embedded teaching materials in the areas of art, music, social sciences, and language arts.
3 Lect Hrs, 3 Credits
APLING 616
Curriculum Development in Bilingual Education
This course will offer an analysis of the major components of curriculum study, including practices, innovations, positions and theories as applied to bilingual education.
3 Lect Hrs, 3 Credits
APLING 618
Teaching ESL: Methods and Approaches
This course will familiarize students with methods of language teaching, such as audiolingualism, cognitive-code and notional functionalism, and the more specific methodological models that represent extensions and adaptations of these differing perspectives. In addition, approaches to teaching English language skills and techniques that transcend skill areas will be studied and evaluated.
3 Lect Hrs, 3 Credits
APLING 621
Psycholinguistics
Contemporary issues in the fields of first and second language development and bilingualism will be addressed within the framework of the psychological development of the individual, from early childhood through adolescence. Theories of learning will also be addressed, particularly as they have been used to explain language development, including behaviorism, cognitive psychology, Piagetian constructivist theory, Soviet activity theory, and Freirean critical consciousness and praxis.
3 Lect Hrs, 3 Credits
APLING 623
Sociolinguistics
This course will focus on the study of language variation and its social, political and cultural significance. Students will evaluate current sociolinguistic theory and research and will conduct mini-projects of their own. Topics of study will include language attitudes, language identity and the relationship of language and power.
3 Lect Hrs, 3 Credits
APLING 624
Language and the Media: Semiotics, Representations, and Discursive Formation
This course is designed to introduce the student to the history and current research in the study of symbols, signs and images (visual language) that function in the various media of popular culture as a formative means of communication. The course will explore the production and exchange of meanings and circulating signifying systems by introducing the student to important schools of thought in this area of analysis. We will analyze the language/symbolic orders used in news media, comedy, television advertising, children’s cartoons, music video, situation comedies, soap operas, magazine photos, music lyrics, museum exhibits and history as text. In exploring how formative systems of representation set the rules, norms, and conventions by which social life is ordered and governed, this course will offer curricular insights for the language/multicultural classroom by presenting a cultural studies approach to formal pedagogy.
3 Lect Hrs, 3 Credits
APLING 625
Second Language Acquisition
Exploring the acquisition of representative language forms or language functions by second language speakers, this course draws on contrastive linguistics for patterns of systematic variation among languages or continua along which languages vary; it also draws on empirical second language research for regularities in learners’ performance that reveal how their individual, internal representations of the target language systematically change with meaningful exposure to that language.
3 Lect Hrs, 3 Credits
APLING 626
Structured English Instruction
This course is designed to equip teachers and prospective teachers with the theoretical and practical knowledge and skills to organize and implement language and literacy instruction for English language learners (ELLs) effectively. It will explore the pedagogical and legislative history of linguistic minority education and ESL education in the United States. However, the focus will be on instructional approaches utilized in Structured Sheltered English Immersion classroom settings. Students will be challenged to develop instructional plans that simultaneously teach ESL, content area knowledge, and metacognitive learning strategies to ELLs. The course content will be taught/learned through the kinds of experiential, participatory, and process-oriented strategies that are used in successful English language development classrooms.
3 Lect Hrs, 3 Credits
APLING 627
Phonetics and Phonemics
This course will cover the sound system of English and the principles of phonetics and phonemics as well as provide an introduction to phonology. Students will practice using this knowledge to do error analysis and to teach aural/oral skills.
3 Lect Hrs, 3 Credits
APLING 629
The Structure of the English Language
This course covers ways of describing the structure of English, starting with traditional methods used in many textbooks and finishing with alternative methods. It will discuss teaching methodologies and sociolinguistic considerations and provide opportunities for practice in applying these theories and techniques.
3 Lect Hrs, 3 Credits
APLING 633
Discourse Analysis in ESL
This course will deal with approaches to discourse analysis, which will be defined as a set of procedures for interpreting utterances in context. The course will examine different descriptive models from the disciplines of linguistics, sociology, and anthropology and apply them to a variety of texts and contexts. It will concentrate on face-to-face oral interaction, but some aspects of written or “planned” texts will also be discussed. The models of discourse analysis will be applied to the areas of everyday conversation, classroom interaction, and (native/non-native) interaction in interviews, classrooms, and everyday conversation.
3 Lect Hrs, 3 Credits
APLING 635
Literacy & Culture
The course will take a sociolinguistic and anthropological approach to the analysis of discourse and, in so doing, seek to clarify the distinction between “oral style” strategies and “literate style” strategies in communication. It will look at so-called “oral cultures” and cultures influenced by writing, as well as at cross-cultural differences in orientation toward spoken communication and language and literacy socialization practices. A great deal of emphasis in class will be placed on the analysis of “non-literary” texts: e.g., interactions between teachers and young children as the children tell stories during “Show and Tell,” interactions between writing instructor and student writers during writing conferences, narratives told by adolescents who speak Black English Vernacular, written texts produced by student writers from various non-mainstream backgrounds.
3 Lect Hrs, 3 Credits
APLING 637
Ethnography of Language, Culture, and Learning
This course addresses the how and why of ethnographic inquiry. It introduces students to ethnographic approaches, research methodologies, and, most importantly, to the kinds of questions demographers ask. Participants read and critically assess a wide variety of ethnographic research which addresses issues in language, learning, and the enculturation process. They also implement ethnographic approaches and insights in developing and conducting their own qualitative research. As a final project, students are required to write a project proposal for ethnographic research.
3 Lect Hrs, 3 Credits
APLING L669 (ENGL L669)
Writing Theories in Second Language Instruction
This course will consider the key issues in writing theory, research, and pedagogy as they are specifically related to writing in a second language. It will introduce students to the existing research and developing theories on the composing process and examine, critique, and evaluate current and traditional theories and practices by exploring the ways in which theory and research can be translated into instruction.
3 Lect Hrs, 3 Credits
APLING 670
Testing in the Bilingual/ESL Classroom
Students will become familiar with language proficiency and language dominance testing and with other measurement and evaluative procedures needed in the administration and instruction of limited English proficient students in ESL and bilingual programs.
3 Lect Hrs, 3 Credits
APLING 671
The Bilingual Child with Special Needs
Students in this course will become familiar with the various types of testing needed for bilingual special needs children. The course will survey existing tests in intelligence, academic achievement, and language development, as well as post-test remediation and therapy.
3 Lect Hrs, 3 Credits
APLING L672 (ENGL L672)
Theory and Practice in Adult ESL
This course is designed for those currently teaching or planning to teach in adult ESL programs. Participants will begin by examining adult learning theory and second language acquisition, then contrast several approaches to curriculum development, including survival, competency-based and participatory models. Implications for practice in adult literacy, vocational and workplace literacy, and family literacy will be examined in light of these models. Issues arising from participants’ classroom practice will be incorporated throughout, and projects may involve classroom-based curriculum development, materials design, and research.
3 Lect Hrs, 3 Credits
APLING L673 (ENGL L673)
Teaching Reading in the Bilingual/ESL Classroom
Current reading theories are analyzed in reference to bilingual and ESL reading practices. Specific reading methodologies, materials, and strategies are explored.
3 Lect Hrs, 3 Credits
APLING 674
ESL Materials Development
This course surveys major methodological trends in curriculum and syllabus design and provides an overview of ESL materials and an analysis of ESL texts. While engaged in extensive review of existing materials, students explore possibilities for adaptation, supplementation, and development of original materials for specific ESL populations.
3 Lect Hrs, 3 Credits
APLING 678
Technology in Language Education
This course has two primary goals: (1) to survey the various kinds of technological resources available for use in the ESL classroom; and (2) to evaluate critically the use of technology in the ESL classroom and the extent to which it is compatible with current theories of language acquisition.
3 Lect Hrs, 3 Credits
APLING 680
The Computer in the Bilingual/ESL Classroom
This course will cover various applications of personal computers in the bilingual or ESL classroom and develop a Conversational Statistical Package for analyzing problems of the limited English proficient student.
3 Lect Hrs, 3 Credits
APLING 681
Computer Assessment in the Bilingual/ESL Classroom
This course will equip students with the necessary computer skills to construct instruments to evaluate bilingual/ESL student competencies, design measures for placement, and construct exit tests in both the native language and English.
3 Lect Hrs, 3 Credits
APLING 682
Bilingual/ESL Computer-Assisted Instruction
This course will train students to develop programs for the bilingual or ESL student in computer-aided instruction, both in the native language and in English as a second language. An analysis of learning difficulties and appropriate computer instruction activities will be covered.
Prerequisite: APLING 680.
3 Lect Hrs, 3 Credits
APLING 683
Bilingual/ESL Computer Curriculum Development
Students will learn the role of computer processing in curriculum development and evaluating materials used in Bilingual/ESL programs. Using a microcomputer, students will develop and program appropriate teaching strategies at the elementary or secondary level for their bilingual or ESL curricula.
3 Lect Hrs, 3 Credits
APLING 684
Bilingual/ESL Computer Research Methods
This course will examine the role of microcomputers in quantitative educational research. Topics include conceptualization of research problems, development of hypotheses, definition and measurement of the important variables, design of research strategies, analysis of data, interpretation and inference, and writing and implementing a research proposal in Bilingual or ESL education.
Prerequisites: APLING 680 and APLING 681.
3 Lect Hrs, 3 Credits
APLING 685
Internet in the Bilingual/ESL Classroom
This course is designed to address the need for the integration of the Internet in the language classroom, whether in the form of Web-enhanced or Web-based lessons. Special focus is given to the ways the Internet can be used to enrich, enhance, and deliver lesson plans that successfully address language goals and the needs of second language learners. Students taking this course will gain competency in effectively browsing the Web, integrating Web resources for educational resources, and thoughtfully using technology and the Internet to plan classroom activities. In addition, issues such as the Digital Divide, Acceptable Use Policies, Copyright, Quality Assurance and Content Validity will be addressed with the aim of developing a theoretical framework and thinking about the Internet critically.
3 Lect Hrs, 3 Credits
APLING 691
Research Seminar
Experimental research seminars on special topics.
APLING 696
Independent Study
This course will provide opportunities for students to work independently in one of the following areas: Applied Linguistics, Psycholinguistics, Sociolinguistics, Second Language and Bilingual Methodology, and Cross-Cultural Studies. Students who wish to do an independent study should submit a study plan, including: a brief description of their area of interest and an outline of the topic they plan to research in terms of content, time, and the structure of their project. To be eligible to take an independent study course students should be at the end of the course work for the MA and have at least a 3.5 GPA. All research plans for an independent study should be approved by their advisor and the Graduate Program Director.
APLING 697
Special Topics in Applied Linguistics
An advanced course, offering intensive study of selected topics in bilingual/ESL/foreign language pedagogy studies. Course content varies according to the topic and will be announced prior to registration.
3 Lect Hrs, 3 Credits
APLING 698
Practicum/Field Experience
A supervised, on-site experience in the teaching of bilingual education, ESL, or foreign language pedagogy in a school or in a social or educational agency serving limited English proficient students. Students must meet with their academic advisor to discuss available practicum options. Students interested in a licensure practicum must meet with the licensure specialist to discuss options.
3 Lect Hrs, 3 Credits