Our Youngest Guest Speaker Returns!

My son came in five months after his first appearance in Linguistics class so that we could discuss his growth during his "language explosion" period.  Ben was told that he would be coming in to teach the students about baseball.

Our Linguistics class was in the newspaper!

"MPS teacher's linguistics class an example of valuable, enterprising course" by Alan J. Borsuk

http://www.jsonline.com/news/education/mps-teachers-linguistics-class-an-example-of-valuable-enterprising-course-nc9qlkg-206114351.html

Research Project Presentation Rubric

Linguistics Research Presentation Rubric

(5 minute presentation, 25 points)

 

5 pts. for Delivery (eye contact, organization, professional appearance, support for partner)

 

15 pts. for Content (background info, hypothesis, experiment, results, analysis)

 

5 pts. for Visual (hand-out, poster, powerpoint/prezi, graph, chart)

 

 

Research Project Requirements

Linguistics Research Project

Spring 2013

• You may work with one partner.
• Remember that linguists are scientists.  You will use the scientific method for your project.

The steps of the scientific method are to:

1.    Ask a Question

2.    Do Background Research

3.    Construct a Hypothesis

4.    Test Your Hypothesis by Doing an Experiment

5.    Analyze Your Data and Draw a Conclusion

6.    Communicate Your Results

Here’s how we’ll do that:

1.  Ask a Question   Picking your topic is a very important part of the process.  Start by asking a question that you have related to language.  Think about what you’ve written about in your Daily Language Observations as a starting point.  Select a question/ topic that is narrow enough so that you can say something significant about what you learn.  For example, “Sociolinguistics” is not an appropriate topic; it is a vast field about which hundreds of books have been written.  “How Often Spontaneous Conversations Happen in Elevators at West Allis Memorial Hospital on May 8, 2013” is a more manageable topic.

2. Do Background Research Look up your topic online and in books.  Have other linguists written about your topic?  Take notes on what you find, keeping careful track of your sources.

3.    Construct a Hypothesis What do YOU expect to find as the answer to your initial question?

4.    Test Your Hypothesis by Doing an Experiment  How will you test your hypothesis?  Through observation?  Through a survey?  By eliciting data similar to how William Labov did as he studied the relationship between social class and r-lessness in the three stores in New York City?

5.    Analyze Your Data and Draw a Conclusion  What have you learned?  What does your data show? 

6.    Communicate Your Results  What does your study teach us as linguists and as people?  What are the more far-reaching implications of your study?  

 

How to Present Your Research:

·       Write a 4-6 page essay in MLA format with in-text citations and a Works Cited page.   It would be appropriate to use headings to break up your essay to show the different parts of your study.

·       Plan a five minute presentation to the class with the assistance of a visual aide (ex:  poster, graph, hand-out, Power Point, Prezi).