Student-built Theory, or You Only Really Learn What You Figure Out For Yourself
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.3765/amp.v9i0.5188Keywords:
pedagogy, formalism, teachingAbstract
It can be difficult to get students to engage with questions of phonological theory. Students generally find it hard to understand how a new piece of formalism improves the model unless they are invested in building a better theory. A way to get students deeply invested is to put the advancements into their hands. Not only does it require real understanding to be able to propose new pieces of theory, it facilitates truly caring about the state of the formalism. Having students make the observations and proposals that move the class forward, where feasible, has a number of additional benefits, including verifying that they understand the model and giving them the satisfaction that comes with shaping what we as a class do. In this article I discuss strategies and specific examples from my undergraduate phonology class to lead students up to the point where something new is needed and then support them in stretching to make the proposals that move the theory, and the class, forward.Downloads
Published
2022-08-05
Issue
Section
Proceedings
License
Published by the LSA with permission of the author(s) under a CC BY 3.0 license.