De-centering English with “language of the day” in undergraduate linguistics

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.3765/plsa.v9i3.5850

Keywords:

undergraduate teaching, linguistic diversity, active learning, skills-based grading

Abstract

Undergraduate linguistics courses often prioritize data from prestige varieties of English. This limits student learning to test cases of English and centers prestige varieties in the linguistics educational experience. We developed a method for de-centering English by exposing students to many languages in “language of the day” (LotD) activities. These activities broadened student knowledge of the world’s languages and improved student achievement on core analytical skills. This paper covers our implementation of LotD across two undergraduate phonetics and phonology courses, student and instructor reception, and suggestions for adaptation across subfields and course types.

Downloads

Published

2024-10-30

How to Cite

Hauser, Ivy, Erica Dagar, and Emily Graham. 2024. “De-Centering English With ‘language of the day’ in Undergraduate Linguistics”. Proceedings of the Linguistic Society of America 9 (3): 5850. https://doi.org/10.3765/plsa.v9i3.5850.