Wikipedia:Wiki Ed/Montclair State University/LNGN 460 (Summer 2023)

LNGN 460: Special Topics in the Structure of a Selected Language

African American English is a variety of English (several varieties, in fact!) spoken by millions of Americans, including millions of New Jerseyans. As a linguistics student, you know that all language varieties are equally systematic and normal. You may also know that some varieties, including AAE, are often misrepresented and misunderstood.

In this class, we'll learn together about the structure of AAE--its phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics and pragmatics--and the ways in which it varies by region. Everyone is welcome. If you speak AAE, you're invited to share your experience. We will also examine speech from the Corpus of Regional African American Language and the Montclair Map Task Corpus.

The course is listed as asynchronous online (May 16 - Jun 23). We will, however, find a time for us to meet up on Zoom each week; you are encouraged, but not required, to attend. Coursework will include problem sets, reflections, and contributions to AAE Wikipedia articles.