Answer these questions and receive the reward! As an alternative to
providing the answers, you may also provide direct reference to where
the answers can be found.
1. Outline four reasons that have been offered as justification for
saving a given (endangered,moribund, or extinct) language.
2. Outline the essential characteristics of the Hawaiian language
program sponsored by Aha Punano Leo ?language nest?, as discussed in
Hotz 2000 (?The Struggle to Save Dying Languages?).
3. What does the term English only mean? Detail two arguments that
have been given for and two arguments that have given against English
only, making reference to Napoli 2003 ?Should the United States Adopt
English as the Official Language and Overhaul the Educational System
Accordingly?, Wheeler 1999 ?Home Speech as Springboard to School
Speech: Oakland?s Commendable Work on Ebonics?, Hinton 1994 ?The
Native American Languages Act and Language Action in California and
Rebuilding the Fire?
4. Explain what problems ? if any ? you think a student who has not
mastered ?standard? English might face in an educational setting in
the United States. In answering this question, keep in mind that the
relevant student might be a native speaker of a ?non-standard? dialect
of English, or a speaker of a language other than English (e.g.,
Spanish, Arabic, Cambodian), or a speaker of a signed language (e.g.,
ASL). You should discuss only one type of student, so be sure to
clearly identify which type you are focusing on.
5. Bunte and Franklin 1992 ?Southern Paiute: You Can?t Get There from
Here? identify a series of problems that arose during the taking of
depositions (from 1984 to 1990) in the so-called Hopi-Navajo land
claim case, and argue that these problems resulted from cultural,
linguistic, and communicative style differences between the deposers
(lawyers and court personnel) and the deposed (Native American
elders). Explain two of these problems, providing as much detail as
you deem necessary.
6. Define the term isogloss and explain the role that isoglosses have
played in the field of forensic dialectology, as discussed in Chambers
1990 ?Forensic Dialectology and the Bear Island Land Claim.?
7. The Whorfian hypothesis claims that the language you speak can
determine the way in which you perceive the world and the way in which
you categorize elements in the world. Explain how authors such as
Orwell and Vance have made use of this hypothesis in their works of
science fiction (1984 and The Languages of Pao, respectively).
8. Assume you have decided to invent a hitherto completely unattested
language which could be used as a means of communication for humans or
human-like creatures. Detail the linguistic and cultural factors you
might need to consider as you begin to construct this language. (Refer
to the material in Rosenfelder?s ?The Language Construction Kit?
http://www.zompist.com/kit.html ) |
