Module Code and Title:         AFD104 Language and Culture

Programme:                          BA in Anthropology

Credit:                                   12

Module Tutor:                       New Tutor #1

General objective: This module explores the relationship between language and culture. Students will learn theoretical concepts and practical methods that will allow them to document and analyse real-world instances of language use from an anthropological perspective. The module will use case studies from a wide range of cultural, geographical and historical settings in order to help students gain a better appreciation for linguistic and cultural diversity.

Learning outcomes – On completion of this module, students will be able to:

1. Define linguistic anthropology.
2. Define linguistic relativism.
3. Explain what it means for language to be a form of social action using real world examples.
4. Discuss the relationships between language and other aspects of culture.
5. Transcribe linguistic data using a consistent system.
6. Analyse linguistic data using key concepts from the anthropology of language.
7. Summarize key research on language classification and language conservation in Bhutan.
8. Apply concepts (e.g., codeswitching) from sociolinguistics to Bhutanese languages and culture.

Learning and Teaching Approach:

Assessment Approach:

A. Transcription of language and place interview: Portion of Final Mark: 15%

Students will individually conduct an interview about a place and transcribe that interview systematically. The interview will be about the origins of a place name in Bhutan and the stories attached to that place name. The instructor will guide students in picking their topics, recording their interviews, and in the basics of transcription. Students will briefly describe the system they used for transcribing their data at the beginning of the transcription. Transcriptions will be marked based on:

5%       Description of the system of transcription

10%     Consistency and accuracy with which system of transcription is used

B. Ethnolinguistic essay about language and place: Portion of Final Mark: 15%

Students will individually write an essay on a place name in Bhutan. This will be original research using interviews. Students will individually collect a direct account of a place name from somewhere in Bhutan. Before writing their essay, they will turn in a transcription of their data (see above), this will give the tutor an opportunity to provide feedback and also teach about transcription methods. Though the transcriptions may vary in length, the essay will be 500-650 words in length and include an introduction to the place and the person they are interviewing, a brief selection from the place-name narrative, and an analysis using class concepts. The essay will be graded on the following:

2%       Draft

2%       Clarity of introduction (intended to inform the reader of the topic)

5%       Appropriate use of examples from their data to demonstrate their interpretation

2%       Accurate and insightful use of materials from class to analyse their narrative

1%       Organization

1%       Language and Referencing

2%       Improvement (in comparison to the draft, with particular emphasis on consideration and incorporation of feedback provided)

C. Ethnolinguistic presentation on complaints: Portion of Final Mark: 10%

Students will work in small groups to present for 15-20 minutes on original research on complaints or trouble narratives in Bhutan. Students will collect 5-6 complaints about a particular topic. These may be written, recorded, or come from participant observation. Students will turn in documentation of the complaints and a short description of how they obtained them to the instructor before the presentation. This will allow the instructor to provide feedback and guidance to the students as they prepare to analyse their findings. The presentation will introduce the audience to the context of complaints or trouble narratives they collected, explain how they collected their information including the language(s) used, present selections from their data, and offer an interpretation of their data using class concepts.

2%       Pre-presentation documentation of data

4%       Content (how well does the presentation address specified criteria, quality of overall narrative, all claims relevant and well-supported)

1%       Organization and Structure

1%       Delivery (volume, pace, efforts to engage audience) and Language use

1%       Quality of team work and Time management

1%       Individual contribution (process)

D. Class participation and preparedness: Portion of Final Mark: 5%

Students will be expected to participate substantially in class discussions, with contributions reflecting adequate preparation for topics under discussion. 2.5% of class participation and preparedness will be assessed before midterm, and the remaining 2.5% post midterm.

E. Midterm Examination: Portion of Final Mark: 15%

Students will take a written exam of 1.5 hr duration covering topics up to the mid-point of the semester.

Pre-requisites:AFD101 Introduction to Anthropology

Subject matter:

1. Unit I: The Basics of Linguistic Anthropology
   • Defining linguistic anthropology
   • A brief overview of the history of linguistic anthropology
   • Key terms in linguistic anthropology
   • What makes language different from communication used by other animals
   • The earliest examples of human language
   • Overview of methods in linguistic anthropology
   • Basic overview of morphology and phonology
2. Unit II: Language, Thought and Culture
   • Definitions and examples of signifiers, signified, and signs
   • What it means for language to be a “symbolic system”
   • Linguistic relativity and Sapir-Whorf hypothesis
   • The relationship between discourse, power, and thought
   • Language acquisition and socialization: definitions and examples
   • Narratives as part of culture
3. Unit III: Language Communities and Hierarchies
   • Definition and examples of speech communities
   • Accents, dialects, languages: forms and classifications of linguistic diversity
   • Multilingualism and debates about language and identity
   • Examples of language as cultural capital
   • Language in social context: hidden transcripts and code switching
4. Unit IV: Performativity
   • Introduction to understanding language as social action
   • Definitions and examples of locution, perlocution, illocution
   • Complaints, insults, magic spells and other examples of speech acts
   • Voice, sound, and non-verbal communication
   • Gendered ways of speaking and using language
5. Unit V: Literacy
   • A brief overview of the history of writing
   • Debates about the social and cultural effects of literacy
   • Degrees and types of literacy
   • Autonomous vs. situated approaches to literacy
   • The interaction between language and social media
6. Unit VI: Language Practices in Bhutan
   • Etiquette, honorifics, and other examples of language and culture in Bhutan
   • Discourses about the link between language and values in Bhutan
   • Policies and challenges of language conservation

Reading List:

1. Essential Reading
   • Dorji, J. (2011). Hen Kha: A dialect of Mangde Valley in Bhutan. Journal of Bhutan Studies, 24, 69-86.
   • Hyslop, G. (2008). Kurtöp and the classification of the languages of Bhutan. Proceedings from the Annual Meeting of the Chicago Linguistic Society,44(1), 141-152.
   • Ottenheimer, H. J. (2008). The anthropology of language: An introduction to linguistic anthropology. Boston: Cengage Learning.
   • Phuntsho, K. (2004). Echoes of ancient ethos: Reflections on some popular Bhutanese social themes. In K. Ura & S. Kinga (Eds.), The spider and the piglet: Proceedings from the first international seminar on Bhutan studies (pp. 364-80). Thimphu: Centre for Bhutan Studies.
   • Wilce, J. M. (1998). Eloquence in trouble: The poetics and politics of complaint in rural Bangladesh (No. 21). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
2. Additional Reading
   • Abu-Lughod, L. (1999). Veiled sentiments: Honor and poetry in a Bedouin society. Berkeley: University of California Press.
   • Ahearn, L. M. (2001). Invitations to love: Literacy, love letters, and social change in Nepal. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.
   • Ahearn, L. M. (2016). Living language: An introduction to linguistic anthropology. Malden, MA: John Wiley & Sons.
   • Basso, K. H. (1996). Wisdom sits in places: Landscape and language among the Western Apache. Albuquerque, NM: University of New Mexico Press.
   • Basso, K. H. (1979). Portraits of the whiteman: Linguistic play and cultural symbols among the Western Apache. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
   • Duranti, A. (2009). Linguistic anthropology: A reader(Vol. 1). Malden, MA: John Wiley & Sons.
   • Goody, J. (1975). Literacy in traditional societies. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
   • Lakoff, G., & Johnson, M. (2008). Metaphors we live by. Chicago: University of Chicago press.
   • Mendoza-Denton, N. (2014). Homegirls: Language and cultural practice among Latina youth gangs. Malden, MA: John Wiley & Sons.
   • Rosaldo, M. Z. (1982). The things we do with words: Ilongot speech acts and speech act theory in philosophy. Language in Society, 11(02), 203-237.
   • Thinley, D. (2005). The boneless tongue: Figurative proverbs, wise sayings and incidental remarks that articulate a people’s way of life, cultural experience and accumulated wisdom. Thimphu: KMT Publishers.

Date: March 15, 2018