Spanish 4412: Spanish in Contact
Meets: Fall 2014, Tuesdays 2:30 – 4:30, Thursdays 3:30 -4:30, UCC 59.
Pre-requisites: Spanish 3303
Instructor: Dr. Silvia Perpiñán, [email protected]
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Course Description
This course is an introduction to the fundamental issues in the study of language contact,
with a special emphasis on the situation of Spanish in bilingual and multilingual contexts.
As a result of its history and development, Spanish is nowadays in contact with several
languages throughout its territorial extension. We will explore Spanish in both situations,
as a minority language and a majority language, and we will consider the linguistic and
sociolinguistic consequences of these contacts. We will discuss issues such as
crosslinguistic influence, identity, bilingualism, language policy, language power,
linguistic prestige, and education.
Tuesday classes will be more theoretically oriented, with introductory explanations and
technical data, and the class will be delivered in a lecture form. Thursday meetings, on
the other hand, will be discussion sessions for which students need to come prepared to
class, with all the readings done, and ready to actively participate in class, in Spanish!
Course Aims:
The course aims to achieve the following:
• Introduce students to the linguistic atlas of Spanish and its neighbor languages
• Reflect on the linguistic and sociolinguistic consequences of language contact
• Understand the main issues related to Spanish bilingualism
• Get a deeper understanding about the linguistic processes that occur in language
contact situations.
Learning Outcomes:
It is expected that, upon the successful completion of this course, the students will have
the ability to accomplish the following:
• Be able to localize where Spanish is spoken and where it is in contact with other
languages.
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•
•
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Be able to name and basically describe the languages that are in contact with
Spanish.
Have the main concepts of contact linguistics applied to Spanish.
Have a deep knowledge of the linguistic and sociolinguistic processes that
Spanish undergoes in contact situations.
Understand how two or more languages interact when they share the same
territory.
Course Materials
Required Book
Klee, C. and Lynch, A. 2009. El español en contacto con otras lenguas. Washington
D.C: Georgetwon University Press.
Required Readings (Available on Sakai)
Lipski, J. 2008. Varieties of Spanish in the United States. Washington D.C: Georgetown
University Press. (Chapter 3)
Poplack, S. 1980. Sometimes I’ll start a sentence in Spanish y termino en español: toward
a typology of code-switching. Linguistics 18, 581-618.
Silva-Corvalán, C. (Ed.). (1995). Spanish in Four Continents: Studies in Language
Contact and Bilingualism. Georgetown University Press.
Silva-Corvalán, C. (1995). The study of language contact: an overview of the issues. In
C. Silva-Corvalán (Ed.), Spanish in four continents: studies in language contact
& bilingualism (pp. 3-14). Washington: Georgetown Univ Press.
Thomason, S. G. (1995). Language mixture: ordinary processes, extraoridnary results. In
C. Silva-Corvalán (Ed.), Spanish in four continents: studies in language contact
& bilingualism (pp. 15-33). Washington: Georgetown Univ Press.
Evaluation
Exams: 50% (midterm = 20% + final = 30%)
Weekly questions: 15%
Assignments (2): 20%
Attendance and Participation: 15%
Weekly Questions
Every Wednesday by 5:00 pm all students need to send me a question or comment
about the obligatory readings for that week. These questions need to be at least 150
words-long and written in Spanish. The purpose of this question is twofold: on the one
hand, it will serve to prove that you have done the appropriate readings for that week, and
that you are able to connect them with the previous lectures in class. On the other hand, it
will show your critical skills and argumentation regarding the topics at hand. One-hour
classes will be devoted to discuss and answer all these questions. All of you are required
to come prepared to class and ready to answer and discuss your classmate’s
questions/comments. Participation in the discussion sessions is extremely important, so
please take it seriously.
The questions will be evaluated in the following manner:
0 – No question is sent, or the comment/question demonstrates that the obligatory
readings have not been done.
5- The obligatory readings are done but minimal effort is taken into writing/thinking
about the issue raised.
10- The question is smart, brings several issues together and promotes intelligent
discussion for the discussion session. Student demonstrates critical thinking and clear
argumentation.
Assignments
Two practical assignments will be given during the course. These assignments will
require the students to analyze some linguistic data and explain them according to the
theoretical issues covered in class.
Other Academic Matters: UWO Academic Calendar (Academic Policies/Regulations).
Plagiarism
Plagiarism is a major academic offense (see Scholastic Offense Policy in the Western
Academic Calendar). Plagiarism is the inclusion of someone else's verbatim or
paraphrased text in one's own written work without immediate reference. Verbatim text
must be surrounded by quotation marks or indented if it is longer than four lines. A
reference must follow right after borrowed material (usually the author's name and page
number). Without immediate reference to borrowed material, a list of sources at the end
of a written assignment does not protect a writer against a possible charge of plagiarism.
This also applies to work facilitated or written for students by third parties. The
University of Western Ontario uses a plagiarism- checking site called Turnitin.com.
Absenteeism:
Students seeking academic accommodation on medical grounds for any missed tests,
exams, participation components and/or assignments must apply to the Academic
Counselling office of their home Faculty and provide documentation. Academic
accommodation cannot be granted by the instructor or department, please refer to
Accommodation for Medical Illness here
https://studentservices.uwo.ca/secure/index.cfm.
Students are allowed to miss classes without penalty for legitimate reasons (medical
issues, family emergencies etc.). Documentation for legitimately missed classes is
required at the Dean's Office for Academic Accommodation. Students who miss classes
or parts of classes are responsible for the material they have missed. Students who miss
classes with no legitimate reason will get a zero in participation grade that day.
Instructors are not obliged to review the contents of lectures, repeat announcements or
retain notes, handouts or overheads.
Any student who, in the opinion of the instructor, is absent too frequently from class
(lectures and / or homework days), will be reported to the Dean of the Faculty offering
the course (after due warning has been given). On the recommendation of the department
concerned, and with the permission of the Dean of that Faculty, the student will be
debarred from taking the regular examination in the course. The Dean of the Faculty
offering the course will communicate that decision to the Dean of the Faculty of
Registration.” (http://www.uwo.ca/univsec/handbook/exam/attendance.pdf)
Electronic Devices
The use of cell phones is completely forbidden in class. If you text, check facebook,
twitter, etc during class, you will be asked to leave the classroom immediately, and will
get a zero in participation for that week. You can use laptops for academic purposes, but
it you use them to check your email, facebook, etc, you will be asked to leave the
classroom as well. This is consider an scholastic offence. Scholastic offences are taken
seriously and students are directed to read the appropriate policy, specifically, the
definition of what constitutes a Scholastic Offence, at the following Web site:
http://www.uwo.ca/univsec/handbook/appeals/scholastic_discipline_undergrad.pdf .
“Students who are in emotional/mental distress should refer to Mental
Health@Western http://www.uwo.ca/uwocom/mentalhealth/ for a complete list of
options about how to obtain help.”
The Department of Modern Languages and Literatures Policies which govern the
conduct, standards, and expectations for student participation in Modern Languages and
Literatures courses is available in the Undergraduate section of the Department of
Modern Languages and Literatures website at
http://www.uwo.ca/modlang/undergraduate/policies.html.
It is your responsibility to understand the policies set out by the Senate and the
Department of Modern Languages and Literatures, and thus ignorance of these policies
cannot be used as grounds of appeal.
DÍA
Week 1
Week 2
Week 3
Week 4
TEMARIO
Presentación del curso. Requisitos.
Encuesta sobre conocimientos previos.
Introducción a las zonas del español en
contacto.
Bases teóricas.
Procesos lingüísticos en la lingüística de
contacto.
Ejemplos de procesos lingüísticos
Sesión de Discusión
Del castellano al español. La expansión
territorial.
Contacto lingüístico con el vasco o euskera
LECTURA OBLIGATORIA
Klee & Lynch Capítulo 1
Silva-Corvalán (1995, pp. 3-14)
Thomason (1995, pp. 15-33)
Pregunta / comentario
Klee & Lynch (Cap. 2, pp. 27-56)
Sesión de discusión
Contacto lingüístico con el catalán y el
gallego
Pregunta/ comentario
Sesión de discusión
Pregunta/ comentario
Klee & Lynch (Cap.2, pp. 56-77)
Week 5
Week 8
Contacto del español con lenguas africanas
Sesión de discusión
El español bozal. El contacto del español en
las Filipinas: el chabacano y el español de
cocina.
Sesión de discusión / Repaso
Examen Parcial (Midterm)
Comentarios a los exámenes
Winter Break
Week 9
El contacto con lenguas amerindias
Week 6
Week 7
Week 10
Week 12
Week 13
Week 14
Sesión de discusión
Contacto del español con otras lenguas
europeas en el Cono Sur
Sesión de discusión
Contacto lingüístico en EEUU
Sesión de discusión
Spanglish
Sesión de discusión
Alternancia de códigos
Sesión de discusión
Conclusiones. Repaso para examen final.
Klee & Lynch Capítulo 3
Pregunta/ comentario
Cap 3 y Lipski
Pregunta/ comentario
Tarea 1
Klee & Lynch, Capítulo 4
Pregunta/ comentario
Klee & Lynch, Capítulo 5
Pregunta/ comentario
Klee & Lynch, Cap. 6 (193-219)
Pregunta/ comentario
Lipski (2008, pp. 38-74)
Pregunta/ comentario
Poplack (1980)
Pregunta/ comentario
Tarea 2
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