Blogs for Discussion
I have found course blogs very useful, particularly in sociolinguistics which requires students to evaluate subconscious assumptions about language versus what linguistic theory may posulates about language. Blogs are also a good way for students to share information about their experiences in context of a particular concept.
Some assignments I have found useful include
- Report a linguistic observation over Thanksgiving or Spring Break. Depending on the course, it could be a pronunciation observation or a pattern of language usage.
- Describe which disource strategies you might use to determine who ate your fudge stored in a communal fridge.
- Comments on various readings.
I also sometimes ask assignments which require students to link to videos, Web sites or images as examples of a particular assignments and I have found this useful for both adding to my repertoire of linguistic examples and for learning more about student life.
Puzzles
I have always tried to include active activities in all linguistic class meetings, but in Spring 2013, I added an element in which I began the lecture with a "puzzle". Here’s a common puzzle I use below:
The puzzles can be a good way to help students work through linguistic reasononing techniques, often without formal instruction. Having it be a puzzle also makes it low-stakes which can encourage students to participate without fear of being penalized in terms of grades.
Archaic -th Nouns
For each –th noun, identify the base adjective.
Note: The use of –th to turn adjectives to nouns is an archaic rule, but all adjectives exist in Modern English.
Easy
- Width (from wide)
- Warmth, truth, depth
- Strength, length, breadth
- Height (or "heighth")
Tricky
- Sloth
- Wealth
- Filth
- Sleight