SPN 676 - Hispanic Linguistics

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This course offers a foundation in the core areas and methodologies of Hispanic linguistics. The primary goal is to provide students with opportunities to learn the tools of analysis in linguistics and apply them to the study and teaching of Spanish. The course begins with an introduction to the scientific study of language and the unique capacity of human communication, followed by attention to the acquisition of Spanish as a second language. We will continue with analysis of the sound system of the Spanish (phonetics and phonology) and the structure of words and sentences (morphology and syntax). We will examine the variations that exist in Spanish in the world and we will explore a brief treatment of meaning in linguistics (semantics and pragmatics). We will end the semester with an introduction to evaluating study abroad programs from the perspective of applied linguistics.