Wikipedia:Wiki Ed/Bowling Green State University/LING 3800 Linguistics for English Teachers (Spring 2022)

Did you know that there are more than 7,000 languages in the world? Did you know that the easiest language for English speakers to learn is not Spanish, but Norwegian and Swedish? Or that the word “very” was borrowed into English from Old French, and the word “alcohol” is actually an Arabic word? In this class, we will learn even more fun facts like that! We will also explore the nature, components, and functions of language in human society, and see how languages teach us that our differences are variations on being the same – on being human. The first half of the course concentrates on the core subfields of linguistics: morphology, syntax, and phonetics. These topics will serve as a foundation for our second half of the semester when we will study relationships between language and behavior, language and society, and how language reflects social dynamics and our attitude to people around us.

Why should you bother with these topics anyway? The answer is two-fold. First, it’s an NCTE requirement. NCTE recommended linguistics for English teachers training in 1929, and since 1930 universities have been implementing it. Second, language is all around us, and as future English teachers and simply speakers of one of the most influential languages in the world, it is important to know about the effect language has on … pretty much everything!

As a part of your Honors Tutorial experience, you will choose an underdeveloped linguistics-related subject to research and write about on Wikipedia. You will perform a literature search on that subject and expand an existing article, following Wikipedia guidelines. During the active project phase, you will monitor and respond to feedback on your article. In the end, you will write a short reflection, summarizing your experience using Wikipedia.

Week 2
Welcome to your Wikipedia assignment's course timeline. This page guides you through the steps you'll need to complete for your Wikipedia assignment, with links to training modules.

Your course has been assigned a Wikipedia Expert. You can reach them through the Get Help button at the top of this page.

Please explore the following resources to get started:


 * Editing Wikipedia, pages 1–5
 * Evaluating Wikipedia
 * The State of Wikipedia

Week 3
Create an account and join this course page, using the enrollment link your instructor sent you. (Because of Wikipedia's technical restraints, you may receive a message that you cannot create an account. To resolve this, please try again off campus or the next day.)

This week you should have a Wikipedia account.

Week 4
Students sometimes struggle with what constitutes plagiarism on Wikipedia, so be sure to review this post that clarifies common points of confusion.

Week 5
For this project, we will focus on stubs: &quot;A very basic description of the topic. However, very bad quality articles will fall into this category. Provides very little meaningful content; may be little more than a dictionary definition. Any editing or additional material can be helpful. The provision of meaningful content should be a priority.&quot; In other words, stubs have the greatest need for editing and the biggest impact. They are also relatively easy to edit, because they’re so sparse that any addition is probably an improvement. And there are over 2000 linguistics stubs!

You will be able to choose any article from one of this lists to edit: linguistics stubs, phonetics stubs, phonology stubs, morphology stubs<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; color: #2d3b45;">, <span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">syntax stubs<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; color: #2d3b45;">, <span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">etc <span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; color: #2d3b45;">.

<span style="color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Georgia, serif;">Explore the topic area; List 3-5 articles you might work on.

We will have this discussion during our meeting on Friday.

Week 7
Linguistics

Finalize an article selection you want to work on for the project. Compile bibliography – a list of sources you would want to use in your project (Note: you will be able to change them later, too).

Week 8
Reach out to your Wikipedia Expert if you have questions using the Get Help button at the top of this page.

Resource: Editing Wikipedia, pages 7–9

You have begun writing your article drafts.

Week 9
You received some feedback from your instructor and possibly other Wikipedians. Consider their suggestions, decide whether it makes your work more accurate and complete, and edit your draft to make those changes.

Resources:


 * Editing Wikipedia, pages 12 and 14
 * Reach out to your Wikipedia Expert if you have any questions.

We will have this discussion during our meeting on Friday.

Week 10
Now that you've improved your draft based on others' feedback, it's time to move your work live - to the &quot;mainspace.&quot;

Resource: Editing Wikipedia, page 13

Now's the time to revisit your text and refine your work. You may do more research and find missing information; rewrite the lead section to represent all major points; reorganize the text to communicate the information better; or add images and other media.

Week 11
Continue to expand and improve your work, and format your article to match Wikipedia's tone and standards. Remember to contact your Wikipedia Expert at any time if you need further help!

Week 12
It's the final week to develop your article.


 * Read Editing Wikipedia page 15 to review a final check-list before completing your assignment.
 * Don't forget that you can ask for help from your Wikipedia Expert at any time!

Week 14
Congratulations! You should have finished all of the work you'll do on Wikipedia, and be ready for grading.