History of the English Language
Dr. Meehan
Final Project
Transforming Language Learning
“Although it’s important not to overgeneralize, we think it’s safe to say that school language programs, by and large, are based on an obsolete model of language learning, one essentially inherited along with the grammars of Dionysus Thrax and Archbishop Lowth.”
--Thomas and Tchudi, The English Language: An Owner’s Manual
Our study this term has looked at this issue of the obsolete model of language learning from both sides—what the inherited, traditional model of grammar has been in school and what newer models of language learning, influenced by linguistics, might be.
This final project invites you to take the transformation of language learning to the next level, based on your understanding of linguistics and Grammar/grammar that we have explored in the course. The project is to develop a website that, in your view, would be an effective resource and model of language learning for someone interested in improving their understanding of language and their skills in usage—speaking and/or writing.
Objectives:
To reflect on and assess your learning and understanding of key concepts of linguistics and Grammar studied in the course.
To apply your understanding to a pragmatic context—helping another better understand and improve their own language use.
To explore further the ways that electronic language and multimedia writing transforms language use and understanding.
Requirements:
Your website should have the following components and links.
1]A diagnostic test for understanding the 10 most important concepts, from your point of view, in language study. The goal of the diagnostic section is to reinforce what you understand to be keys to linguistics and Grammar (based on your reading this term) and to help a user assess their own grasp of these concepts. It will be up to you how you assess it. You might think of this as an FAQ section of your web. You can also do this as a Top 10 list: The ten most important concepts about the history and theory of English and linguistics that someone going to your site needs to understand.
2]A short essay (2-3 pages) that focuses on one of your 10 concepts and explains how understanding this concept is important for language learning. The essay should contain a thesis (why this concept is significant) and make specific reference (properly cited) to one of our texts and/or a secondary resource that you use to support your thesis.
-or-
A lesson plan/curriculum unit (2-3 pages) designed to teach one or more of the concepts with the overall objective of improving comprehension of the concept and language learning. You can imagine your audience for this unit would be a secondary school language arts teacher looking for ways to transform the way s/he teaches language in school. Your plan should make reference to one of our texts and/or a secondary resource that you use to support your focus and approach. Use the following as a basic format for a lesson/curriculum plan: http://www.readwritethink.org/lessons/lesson_view.asp?id=201
3]A links and resources page. An annotated list of at least 5 electronic resources (sites, articles, databases) that you believe are useful and interesting for language learning. The annotation should be a 1-2 sentence description of what the link offers. In addition, you should link your three case studies from the course here.
4]A home page. In effect, a “cover” for your project—though much more dynamic. Your home page will contain the links to the other sections of the site and must include a brief self-reflection (about 1 page) on your own experiences with language learning, how studying linguistics and Grammar has influenced your thinking on language and how that thinking is evident in your web site. What understanding of language and Grammar is your site offering? Your home page/web site should have a title—and may make use of other media (including images) as you see fit. Be creative in how you represent your understanding and ideas.
You can do this project using Front Page. [For a tutorial on using FrontPage to make a web page at Morningside College, connect here: http://www.morningside.edu/morningside/help/students/studentwebs.htm]
These projects will form the basis for an actual Linguistics/Grammar web site that I will be building for this course—and future students in the course will consult. Since you are all language users yourselves, you might also think of this project as your own web site in progress.
Assessment:
I will assess your project focusing on three main criteria: strength of the learning and understanding the project reflects; thoroughness of the work it contains; creativity and effectiveness of the language and writing the project displays. Your final project will count approximately 10% of the final grade; the final quiz on language terms and concepts will count 10%.
A: Excellent and impressive—I highly recommend this site as an effective and engaging learning tool.
B: Strong and good—a good site to consult, some things still to be developed, but mostly effective and engaging.
C: Average—the site has some interest and use, though doesn’t stand out from thousands of other sites in terms of its effectiveness; check back after updates are made.
D: Weak and poor—do not recommend this site until extensive changes and updates are made.
Dates:
During the final exam period, you will take the final quiz and share your website with the class.