Re: What good is linguistics?

[Libby Miles <emc@omni.cc.purdue.edu>]

Sara --

An introductory (502) linguistics course was required for my MA in English
within the rhet/comp program.  I took the course my first semester of
graduate school, and I can honestly say I used it throughout my work for
the MA and the PhD.  Would I have taken it if it were'nt required?
Probably not.  I'm very glad I did.

The course was taught as a survey of the different types of linguistics,
and the professor encouraged all of us to make links to our own fields of
study whenever possible.  She taught it with both practical applications
and theoretical grounding (for example, we read Saussure in the early
weeks, and built on his structuralist/semiotic stances throughout the
term).  We talked about epistemology (esp. Sapir/Whorf) and about metaphor
(esp. Lakoff).  There was a heavy dose of sociolinguistics, and plenty of
diagramming.  It was a good mix.

I found the material on metaphor particularly helpful when I was teaching
first year comp, since I started to pay attention to the ways students'
attitudes toward their topics shifted when they changed metaphorical
constructions as an invention exercise (in fact, my final paper in that
course was an analysis of my students' use of metaphor and how their
approaches seemed impacted by their choice of metaphor).  

After that course, I followed up with four other linguistics courses
specific to ESL.  Somewhere along the way, I picked up the "endorsement"
in ESL ... not something I had planned to do when I started graduate
school, but something I'm very glad I did.

As for recommendations, I can't stress enough how important it was for
this professor to encourage us to make links to our own work.  Some of the
lit students in the class had terrific final projects relating to their
own areas of interest (one I remember was African-American literature).
The mix of theoretical approaches was terrific, as was the "survey"
approach she took.

I hope this is helpful.

Libby Miles
Rhetoric & Composition Program
Purdue University


On Sat, 1 Nov 1997, Sara Kimball wrote:

> This question is directed to those of you with degrees from English
> departments in non-linguistic concentrations (literature, rhet-comp.,
> medieval studies .... etc.) who may have taken linguistics courses either
> because they were required or because you thought they would be useful.
> What did you think of the courses?  Were they useful in teaching
> composition?  Were they useful to you in other areas?  Do you have
> suggestions for people teaching linguistics courses within English
> departments to undergrad and grad majors?
> 
> Thanks in advance.
> Sara Kimball
> 
>