Language Autobiography Final Project Description
As mentioned on the syllabus your final paper projects are language autobiographies, investigations of your own personal experiences with language over the course of your lives. The kinds of topics and themes you will explore will vary depending upon your specific background and experiences. It does not matter whether you are bilingual, multilingual, or consider yourself a monolingual speaker of English.
You might explore:
– How you acquired each of the language varieties in your repertoire
– Describe the characteristic features of each variety you use
– Explain when you use each of them in your daily life.
These projects could also involve a detailed examination of your family’s linguistic
heritage, including answering such questions as:
– Where are your ancestors from? I am an African American Female born and raised in the South
– What languages did they speak?
You might explore your feelings about the language varieties you speak, or if you do not speak a heritage language how you feel about that. You also might consider questions such as:
– What speech community/communities do you feel you belong to and
why?
– Are there issues in your family regarding who speaks what language?
– Are you proud or embarrassed about your native language variety?
– Do you ever change your pronunciation, or choice of words when talking
to certain other speakers?
Papers should be between 4-6 pages in length, and include references to AT LEAST four sources from the course syllabus, and AT LEAST two external sources relating to your focal topic/speech community/language(s). All citations and bibliographies should be in APA format.
(https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/apa_style/apa_formatting_and
_style_guide/general_format.html)
Effective papers will include a careful definition of key concepts used (e.g. speech community, lingua franca, hegemony, metalinguistic awareness), and will substantively engage with materials from the course in the discussion of the social group/community being considered. Substantive engagement means the use of illustrative quotes, or provocative examples, the identification of links between the various course readings drawn on, and/or divergences and contradictions that
emerge in these comparisons. Those interested may conduct interviews or observations for their project, but should come and talk to me if they plan to do so.
Students should use 12-point, serif fonts. Examples of acceptable fonts include Times New Roman, Garamond, and Palatino. Assignments should be double-spaced. Margins should be 1” wide. Spell-check and proofread all assignments for errors. Failure to do so will negatively affect your grade. Have a classmate peer-review your paper before submitting. Write your name, course number, the date, and my name
in the top left corner of all assignments. Rough drafts and final drafts should be submitted to the appropriate assignment folders on CourseDen in PDF format.
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