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UNIT 1 Comparison across languages & descriptivism
Week 1 Japanese in a global context
Week 1a Japanese and the languages of Japan (M 9/13)
1.0 Introduction/syllabus
– Syllabus/schedule
1.1 Japanese and the languages of Japan
– Language and diversity (Linguistics Society of America)
Week 1b Language in flux (W 9/15)
1.2 Language in flux: How history relates to the contemporary Japanese
– What is correct language? (Linguistics Society of America)
1.3 Historical background
– Shibatani (2018) Sections 1 &２
Week 2 Is the Japanese language peculiar?
Wk2a Changing sounds and rhythms (M 9/20)
2.1 Introduction to phonology (How pronunciations vary)
2.2 Japanese sound system (How pronunciations change in Japanese)(Shibatani, 2018, section 4) /A typological view (Steinbergs & O’Grady, 2016, Ch8, on phonology)
Wk2b Changing word and sentences structures (M 9/22)
2.3 Introduction to morpho-syntax (How grammar structures vary)
2.4 Japanese grammatical system (Shibatani, 2018, section 5)(How grammar structures change in Japanese)/ A typological view (Steinbergs & O’Grady, 2016, Ch8, on morphology and syntax)
Week 3 Japanese as Icons and Symbols
Wk3a Lexicon and Symbolism (M 9/27)
3.1 Japanese Lexicon
3.2 Words as feelings (online article, optional & as a sample essay)
Wk3b Discussion(W 9/29): Descriptivism, cross-linguistic variation and linguistic equality
3.3 Debunking Language Myths and Linguistic Equality
– Myth 7 “Some languages are harder than others.”
– Myth 10 “Some languages have no grammar.”
– Myth 11 “Italian is beautiful, German is ugly.”
Unit 2 Social meanings and indexicality
Week 4 Meanings, nuances and settings
Wk 4a Nuances and Settings (M 10/4)
4.1 Social meanings and nuances: Indexicality
4.2 Linguistic variation and social variation
Wk 4b Discussion: Language of Japanese pop culture (W 10/6)
4.3 Genres and settings: Japanese ads and signs (loanwords, etc.)
Week 5 Languages and identity
Wk5a Region, gender, age (M 10/11)
5.1 Dialects
5.2 Styles and Levels of Speech
Wk5b Power, proximity and formality (W 10/13)
5.3 Identity, Japanese media and J-pop
Moody, A. J. (2006). English in Japanese popular culture and J-Pop music. World Englishes, 25(2), 209–222.
Week 6
Wk 6a Midterm Recess (M 10/18)
(No class)
Wk 6b Discussion: How gender, age, dialect, politeness, etc. intersect in language (W 10/20)
6.1 Language and Gender
6.2 Intersecting factors and indexicality: Gender and age
Okamoto, S. (1995). “Tasteless” Japanese: Less feminine speech among young Japanese women. In K. Hall & M. Bucholz (Eds.), Gender articulated: Language and the socially constructed self, pp. 297-325. London: Routledge.
UNIT 3 How How meanings shift
Week 7 Fluidity of word meanings
Wk 7a How we categorize the world (M 10/25)
7.1 Word meaning and categorization
Read: Bonvillain (2014), Ch3
Wk7b Figurative meanings (W 10/27)
7.2 Figurative meanings: Metaphor and metonymy
Read: Bonvillain (2014), Ch3, pp.61-68
7.3 Semantic differences across languages : “power”
Wetzel, P. (1988). Are “powerless” communication strategies the Japanese norm?: Parallel between female communication in the West and Japanese. Language in Society 17, 555-564.
Week 8 Implications and interpretations
Wk 8a Literal and intended meanings (M 11/1)
8.1 Grice’s Maxims (and revisiting non-literal/figurative meanings)
Bonvillain (2015), Ch5, pp. 107-108
Wk8b Discussion: Cultural meanings (W 11/3)
8.2 Polysemy and culture: Silence
Lebra, T. S. (1987). The cultural significance of silence in Japanese communication. Multilingua 6(4), 343-357.
8.3 Acquiring culture-appropriate usage: Affect
Clancy, p. (1999). The socialization of affect in Japanese mother-child conversation. Journal of Pragmatics 31, 1397-1421.
Week 9 Shifting messages
Wk9a Sentence meanings and intended meaning (M 11/8)
8.1 Directives
Bonvillain (2014), Ch5, pp. 109-115
8.2 Theories of politeness
Bonvillain (2014), Ch5, pp. 115-125
Wk9b Discussion: Indexicality and Ideology (W 11/10)
8.3 Beyond power and solidarity
Okamoto, S. (2011). The use and interpretation of addressee honorifics and plain forms in Japanese: Diversity, multiplicity, and ambiguity. Journal of Pragmatics, 43(15), 3673–3688. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pragma.2011.06.012
Let’s dig into data: Using primary sources and deciding on variables to look at
UNIT4 Language change, societal change and Ideology
Week 10 Making sense of language change
Wk10a (M 11/15)
10.1 Japanese from past to present to future:
How do languages change? (Trask, 2010, ch1)
10.2 Mechanisms and motivations of change:
Why are languages always changing? (Trask, 2010, ch2)
Wk10b (W 11/17) Discussion
Kavanagh, B. (2016). Emoticons as a medium for channeling politeness within American and Japanese online blogging communities. Language & Communication, 48, 53-65.
Discussing research results: Incorporating （macro)sociolinguistics using secondary sources
Week 11 Accessible and inclusive language
Wk11a (M 11/22) Discussion
11.1 Making language accessible through modification
Iori, I. (2016). The Enterprise of Yasashii Nihongo: For a Sustainable Multicultural Society in Japan. Jinbun Shizen Kenkyu 10, 4-19.
11.2 Making language accessible through multilingualism
Backhaus, P. (2010). Multilingualism in Japanese Public Space – Reading the Signs. Japanese Studies,30(3).
Wk11b Thanksgiving break (W 11/24)
No class
Week 12 Emerging ideas and movements
Wk12a Bi/multi-/pluri-/metrolingualism (M 11/29)
12.1 Revisiting descriptivism and prescriptivism
12.2 Critical language awareness (CLA)
Wk12b Educational linguistics (W 12/1)
Kubota, R. (2008). Critical approaches to teaching Japanese language and culture. Japanese Applied linguistics: Discourse and Social Perspectives. London: Bloomsbury.
Otsuji, E., & Pennycook, A. (2010). Metrolingualism: Fixity, Fluidity and Language in Flux. International Journal of Multilingualism, 7(3), 240-254.
Week 13 Wrapping up and Reflection
Wk 13a Presentations (M 12/6)
Discussion/
Wk 13b Presentations (W 12/8)
Presentation & Discussion
