| Professor: | Jonathan North Washington | |
| Office: | Pearson 105 | |
| Office phone: | x6134 | |
| Office hours: | W 13:30-15:00 & by appointment | |
| Email/messaging: | jwashin1@swarthno scrapers please...more.edu | |
| Meeting time: | TTh 13:15-14:30 | |
| Classroom: | Science Center 104 | |
| Course website: | https://jnw.domains.swarthmore.edu/ling045/ | |
| Course Moodle site: | S26 - LING045.01 | |
You can call me either Jonathan or Professor Washington, and refer to me using any pronoun. Please let me know how you'd like to be addressed and referred to in this space. Let's try to respect everyone's wishes in this regard—don't hesitate to correct me if I ever get any of it wrong!
This course is designed to give you an understanding of the main concepts in the fields of Phonetics and Phonology and impart the skills needed to solve basic types of problems encountered in these fields. Here's the official description:
Phonetics and phonology is an introduction to the study of speech sounds and the equivalent in signed languages. Phonetics investigates physical properties of language, including sounds and gestures, their acoustic and perceptual properties, how to categorize them, and how they pattern in human language. Phonology investigates cognitive properties of language, the mental system that organizes and represents sounds and signs, and how sounds and signs interact with one another. We will explore data from languages around the world, learn how to annotate and interpret the data, and practice developing analyses to account for patterns in linguistic data.
Students who complete this course will have gained the following knowledge and skills:
The following textbooks are required, and are available from the bookstore and will be on reserve at the library as well.
Besides these two books, some material may be taken from the following book, which is on reserve at the library. Any required reading from it will also be posted on Moodle.
For the most part, we will be using Reetz & Jongman up through the midterm, and Zsiga afterwards. Classroom discussion will often deal with content from the books, so please have the book we are currently working with available during class every day. Any other materials needed in class or for assignments will be provided by the professor.
Also, you'll need to be able to access Moodle (moodle.swarthmore.edu). This is where you'll take reading quizzes, submit assignments, and view your grades for the course, so make sure you can access it as soon as possible—especially if you're a BiCo student! If you have any trouble with it, let me know as soon as possible.
The course website (listed above, and linked to from the Moodle course) contains a constantly updated schedule for the semester. While each reading quiz on Moodle will list the required readings for that quiz, other information might be found only on the course website (such as resources discussed in class, the course structure and our progress in it, the presentation schedule, etc.). It's recommended to check the website at least a couple times per a week. I will make announcements about any major changes.
Additionally, everyone will need access to a computer with Praat installed. ITS maintained computers generally have Praat installed, and it should be straightforward to install on your own computer (although not on tablets, phones, Chromebooks, and the like). Computers with Praat are also available for use in the Phonetics Lab—please be in touch with the professor if you'd like to arrange to have access to a lab computer.
It would be good for everyone to bring a laptop or tablet to class every day, as you are able. You won't need it every day, but some days we might edit documents online collaboratively instead of using handouts. You may also prefer to take notes with a computer. See below for course policies related to electronic devices.
Please let me know if any of this might be a problem for you.
I hold regular office hours (listed above), and can be available at other times by appointment—just send me a message letting me know when you might prefer to meet.
If you are having any trouble with class, such as with understanding a concept or completing an assignment, please don't hesitate to ask me for help. I'm here to help you learn, so I encourage you to take advantage of my availability.
But even if you're not having trouble, it never hurts to come to office hours from time to time. We can discuss course content or whatever's on your mind in a more relaxed atmosphere.
I'm also happy to meet online instead of in person.
Show up on time and silence cell phones. Drinks are allowed as long as they are not disruptive. If you need to step out of the class for any reason (bathroom, emergency phone call, etc.), please do so with minimum disruption (i.e., don't ask for permission).
Please use electronic devices only for relevant classroom activities. In other words, please refrain from any sort of non-class-related activities, including messaging (e-mail, social media, etc.), homework for other courses, or even catching up on course reading. Even the best multitaskers are still not participating fully when they're engaging in unrelated endeavours. If it's too difficult to avoid the temptation of these other distractions, you may try strategies like using a filter for web usage or similar.
Pretty much every topic we cover will come up four to five times: in readings / reading quizzes, in homework assignments, in course discussion / activities, in the course project, and in an exam question. All of this contributes to your learning, and should be assumed to be required course content.
It is each student's responsibility to attend classes to learn the material covered—but please don't come if you are feeling sick. If you must miss a class, it is courteous to notify your professor ahead of time if at all possible. If you are feeling well enough to pay attention but not to attend in person, you are encouraged to contact me at least 15 minutes before class starts, as I may be able to set up a Zoom link for you to join class that way.
To make up missed material, please start by consulting with a classmate. I will be available to help fill in the gaps.
Reading quizzes are to be completed online by the beginning of the class they are due for, and Moodle will enforce this by deactivating the quiz then. If for some reason you won't be able to take an assigned quiz, please let me know ahead of time so an alternative can be arranged; however, because you will usually have at least a couple days to complete these quizzes and may do so at your convenience, you will have to have a pretty good excuse to be granted an alternative to a quiz.
Homework assignments will generally be assigned for online submission by the beginning of the class they are due for. Moodle won't shut the forum down, but will show you the deadline. We will discuss solutions to homework assignments in class, usually on the day they're due. After class discussion, if you didn't submit your assignment previously, you may write up the solution for half credit.
Project assignments will generally be assigned for times outside of class. If you anticipate a problem getting a project assignment in on time, please let me know ahead of time. Extensions are available, but you must ask. I only ask that you try not to get too far behind, so that you can have all the project assignments done by the end of the semester.
If you need to miss class for a medical or personal reason, I'd appreciate you letting me know as soon as you can. I don't need a note from a doctor, and I don't need details about why, just when. Please see the College Medical Note Policy (http://www.swarthmore.edu/student-health/medical-excuse-policy) for additional details.
Using words or ideas from another source without attribution constitutes plagiarism, and misrepresenting another student's work as your own (or allowing another student to misrepresent your work as their own) is cheating. Please see the student handbook for the College's policies on academic misconduct (http://www.swarthmore.edu/student-handbook/academic-policies#academic_misconduct). Suspected cases of academic misconduct will be pursued to the full extent of College policy, including referral to the College Judicial Committee.
You are always expected to write up your own assignments. However, you may (and are encouraged to) discuss assignments with one another, unless otherwise specified. Just be sure to cite others' ideas when you use them, and always write the name of anyone you worked with. You are also permitted to use the internet as a resource, unless otherwise specified—as long as you avoid resources that present answers or solutions outright, including large language models.
That said, please always cite any sources you use or other students you worked with on both homeworks and presentations. In the end, you must always do your own work—this means that you must state things in your own words and show that you understand any ideas that you got from another source (while acknowledging the other source).
In short, submitting work that is not your own or providing a classmate with a solution outright will be considered academic misconduct and will be addressed as such (see above-mentioned policies). If you have any questions about what's considered acceptable, ask me first.
It is up to you how you brainstorm and draft your responses on assignments. That said, I advise caution in the use of Large Language Models (LLMs). For one, they often give factually wrong or logically flawed answers, which will be graded as incorrect just as if you’d come up with them yourself. Second, copy-pasting output from an LLM and claiming it as your own work is the same as copy-pasting any other material you didn’t write: it is plagiarism and will be treated as such. Lastly, you’ll learn far more in this course if you do your own thinking and leave the automated mansplainer out of it. (I’m also happy to talk more about the ethical issues involved in generative AI, including its environmental impact — let me know if you want resources!)
That said, for this class, on assignments where it is not explicitly forbidden, you may decide to use LLMs to suggest sources or ways of approaching an issue you're having trouble with. But you must (1) invest your own energy into vetting the sources or suggested approaches yourself, (2) cite which tool you used to do what, and (3) present all your work in your own words.
There's a form listed on Moodle for anonymous feedback on the course. I encourage everyone to periodically consider what's going well and what they would like to see changed about the course and let me know via the form.
There is also an anonymous departmental feedback form that delivers anonymous feedback straight to the chairs of Linguistics at TriCo.
The grade in this course is broken down into the following components. Each component is expounded upon following the table.
| Reading quizzes: | 25% |
| Homeworks: | 25% |
| Project assignments: | 20% |
| Exams (2): | 15% |
| Final project presentation: | 5% |
| Engagement: | 10% |
One reading quiz will be assigned for almost every assigned reading, approximately once or twice per week. Each of these quizzes will cover material from the assigned reading.
The reading quizzes are meant to draw your attention to important areas of the reading and to reinforce your understanding of the content, as well as and provide you with materials from which to study. The quizzes will be accessible on Moodle and are to be completed outside of class by the beginning of class the day the reading is due; they will be deactivated automatically as class starts.
We will generally not go through the reading quizzes in class, but there will usually be an opportunity to discuss any questions you have about them. As with anything else, please contact me if you're unsure about something. If you find an issue that I should correct in one of the reading quizzes, I will add a small bonus to your reading quiz score.
You can take each quiz as many times as you want, and your highest score will be recorded; however, you will not be shown specifics of anything you got wrong. There will be no make-ups for quizzes without a valid excuse (see late assignment policy above).
Homeworks will be assigned on Moodle and will usually be due by the beginning of a class period. I will plan to announce upcoming assignments in class or by email, but it is not a bad idea to check Moodle for assignments due by the next class period.
These assignments are meant to give you a chance to try your hand at a new skill, usually before we have a chance to go over it in class. As such, they will be graded based on whether you show that you understood the problem, provided adequate support for your response, and made an honest and coherent effort to work through it with the background you have gained to that point in the class. Roughly speaking, this means that lack of coherency, consistency, completion, effort, support/reasoning, application of previously learned material, etc., will result in a lower grade—roughly one letter grade lower for each major missing component.
These assignments will be posted in a forum environment, where you will be able to see your classmates' responses after submitting your own. For this reason, please submit your response directly and not a link to, e.g., a Google Doc or similar. You are encouraged to interact with your classmates' responses after posting—e.g., if there's an insight presented that affects your thinking, or if you have any suggestions for anyone; engagement here can count towards the engagement portion of your grade. If you have any concerns about your classmates seeing your work, let me know—but rest assured that only you will be able to see your grade.
We will go through these problems in class on the day they are due, so you will get feedback in the form of some discussion of submitted approaches and a thorough walk-through demonstrating the received approach.
You may collaborate on the problem-solving portions of homeworks, but you must write up your own responses, unique from other students'. I suggest you only take notes when working with friends and then write up your responses alone, in your own words. Work identical to another student's, even partially, will be investigated for plagiarism.
If you do not submit a given homework assignment by class time, you will be allowed to submit a write-up for up to half credit. In the late assignements your grade will additionally take into account whether you used the "correct" approach and results as discussed in class. Please let me know about late assignments; otherwise I might not notice that one has been submitted.
You will conduct a project over the course of the semester where you will work with a speaker or signer of a language other than English that you're not yet familiar with to study aspects of the phonetics and phonology of that language.
You may work on your own or in groups of up to 3 people for these assignments. If you work in a group, only one assignment submission is required per group.
Assignments related to the project will be due periodically throughout the semester. They will be assigned at least a week in advance, and some of them will require that you meet with the speaker of the language to record their language. Due dates are on the syllabus and specific times will be available on Moodle. Short extensions are available upon request; if you anticipate needing to submit a project assignment a little bit later than the due date, just let me know, ideally ahead of time.
The assignments will all be posted to the course wiki, where they will be visible to your classmates. This is so that we may all learn about each language. Let me know as soon as possible if you have any concerns about your classmates being able to see your work—but rest assured that only you will be able to see your grade.
There will be two exams: a midterm exam covering phonetics and a final exam covering phonology.
These will be open-book, open-notes take-home exams, but unlike the homeworks, you are not allowed to work together on the exams. No early or make-up exams will be given except in extreme circumstances. Further details, including the due date of the final, will be provided later in the semester.
You will pr presentation of your findings to the class during our assigned finals period. More details will be provided later in the semester.
I do not grade on attendance, but you will be graded on engagement in the class, and this requires attendance. Beyond simply showing up and participating, you're encouraged to contribute to discussions by asking questions, answering prompts, making relevant comments, working with classmates on in-class activities, etc. You will not be ridiculed for asking even simple questions—I want to make sure everyone grasps the concepts, and many are not as straightforward as they may first seem (or as I think they are).
You are also expected to come to class prepared for discussion; this includes having completed readings and assignments due by class.
Reading quizzes, exams, and some assignments will be assigned an arbitrary number of points. Your score will be calculated as the percentage of the number of points gained out of the total number of points possible, and weighted equally with assignments of the same type.
Other assignments, especially your homeworks and project assignments, will be graded with a somewhat coaser measure of completion and correctness based on normal letters grades and grade points (A = 4.0, B = 3.0, C = 2.0, D = 1.0, and F = 0.0), with the standard modifiers + (one-third of a grade point higher) and - (one-third of a grade point lower). In addition, intermediate grades using parentheses or a slash may be used, giving the following correspondence between letter grade and grade points:
| A+ | 4.33 |
| A(+) | 4.17 |
| A | 4.00 |
| A(-) | 3.83 |
| A- | 3.67 |
| A/B | 3.50 |
| B+ | 3.33 |
| B(+) | 3.17 |
| B | 3.00 |
| B(-) | 2.83 |
| B- | 2.67 |
| B/C | 2.50 |
| C+ | 2.33 |
| C(+) | 2.17 |
| C | 2.00 |
| C(-) | 1.83 |
| C- | 1.67 |
| C/D | 1.50 |
| D+ | 1.33 |
| D(+) | 1.17 |
| D | 1.00 |
| D(-) | 0.83 |
| D- | 0.67 |
| D/F | 0.50 |
If you believe you need accommodations for a disability or a chronic medical condition, please visit the Student Disability Services website for details about the accommodations process. Since accommodations require early planning and are not retroactive, contact Student Disability Services as soon as possible. You are also welcome to contact me privately to discuss your academic needs. However, all disability-related accommodations must be arranged, in advance, through Student Disability Services.
Success in this course depends heavily on your personal health and wellbeing. Recognise that stress is an expected part of the college experience, and it often can be compounded by unexpected setbacks or life changes outside the classroom. Your other instructors and I strongly encourage you to reframe challenges as an unavoidable pathway to success. Reflect on your role in taking care of yourself throughout the term, before the demands of exams and projects reach their peak. Please feel free to reach out to me about any difficulty you may be having that may impact your performance in this course as soon as it occurs and before it becomes unmanageable. In addition to your academic advisor, I strongly encourage you to contact the many other support services on campus that stand ready to assist you.
The Writing Center (Trotter 120) is available to you as an additional out-of-class resource for developing any aspect of your writing, in any discipline—from brainstorming a topic, organizing a draft, to polishing a final submission. Writing Associates hold conferences in-person or through Zoom and can offer you a thoughtful reading of your document and talk with you about next steps. Speaking Associates can also help you prepare to give a presentation or lead seminar discussion. The Center is open Sunday through Thursday evenings and Monday through Thursday afternoons, starting the third week of classes. To set up your WCOnline account and schedule an appointment, sign in here: bit.ly/swatwritingcenter. You can also drop in during open hours. Want to know who is working when? See the Writing Center Schedule. Questions? Check the Writing Center Policies or email writing@swarthmore.edu.
For Multilingual Writers: Students for whom English is an additional language can drop by multilingual office hours or schedule individual consultations with Multilingual Writing Specialist Professor Mera Ford (Trotter 104, nford1). Students can also join monthly Multilingual Writers’ Forums to share experiences, discuss academic resources, and enjoy affirming community. For further information, see the Multilingual Writing Specialist webpage.
| week | date | topic | reading (+quiz) (by class) | assigned (by class) | project |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 20 Jan | Introductions, syllabus What/why are Phonetics and Phonology Oscillogram representations of speech | |||
| 22 Jan | Segmentation: sounds, words | HW1 | |||
| 2 | 27 Jan | Categorisation in oscillograms | HW2 | Part 1 | |
| 29 Jan | Meet in lab! (Pearson 111) Speech sound articulation | ||||
| 3 | 3 Feb | Vocal tract anatomy, midsagittal view | HW3 | ||
| 5 Feb | Consonant categorisation Consonant sounds of English (+IPA) | ||||
| 4 | 10 Feb | Vowel categorisation Vowel sounds of English (+IPA) | |||
| 12 Feb | Phonetic transcription | HW4 | |||
| 5 | 17 Feb | The entire IPA chart(s) Non-English speech sounds | HW5 | Part 3 | |
| 19 Feb | Vowel acoustics Consonant acoustics | Reetz & Jongman - Ch. 11.4-11.4.1, Course packet 2.4 [ course packet, §II | quiz ] | |||
| 6 | 24 Feb | Spectrogram reading | Course packet 2.5 (all), 2.6 (just pp. 35-37) [ quiz ] | HW6 | |
| 26 Feb | Airstream mechanisms | ||||
| 7 | 3 Mar | Phonotactics | |||
| 5 Mar | Syllable structure and sonority | (Hayes - Ch. 4.4, Zsiga - Ch. 15.1.3) | |||
| 10 Mar | Spring break! | ||||
| 12 Mar | Spring break! | ||||
| 8 | 17 Mar | Phonological distribution Phonemic analysis | midterm HW8 | Part 5 |
|
| 19 Mar | Phonological alternations | ||||
| 9 | 24 Mar | Theories of phonology Morphophonemic analysis (FIXME) | Special assignment | ||
| 26 Mar | Distinctive features, natural classes | HW9 | Part 6 | ||
| 10 | 31 Mar | Morphophonemic analysis Phonological rules | HW10 | ||
| 2 Apr | Rule ordering typology, opacity | HW11 | |||
| 11 | 7 Apr | Autosegmental phonology: vowel harmony | HW12 | Part 7 |
|
| 9 Apr | Autosegmental phonology: tone, templatic morphology | HW13 | |||
| 12 | 14 Apr | Conspiracies and constraints Intro to Optimality Theory | HW14 | ||
| 16 Apr | Optimality Theory | ||||
| 13 | 21 Apr | Metrical phonology | |||
| 23 Apr | TBA (Sociophonetics?) | ||||
| 14 | 28 Apr | TBA (Sign language phonetics and phonology?) | |||
| 30 Apr | TBA | ||||
| TBA | (time TBA) Presentations | ||||
| TBA |