I found issues surrounding gender biases within East Asian languages particularly interesting throughout the course because  learning about how language has the potential to influence the beliefs and perceptions of females within East Asian societies has also taught me that language could be used as a powerful tool against certain groups of people. I had been aware of the difference in grammar between female and male Japanese speakers, and how most Japanese women typically spoke in a higher pitch than Western women prior to taking the course, but I was not fully aware of the social implications these language differences had on female Japanese speakers living in Japan. I also didn’t know about the gender biases rooted in Chinese language. I was surprised to learn from Kristof’s article that in Japan, women were pressured to raise their vocal pitch by both males and females. I was also surprised to learn about the underlying meaning about the use of the character ren (人) and female radical (女) from Moser’s article and class lectures.

While taking this course, I learned mostly through readings and quizzes, which was supplemented by information from class lectures and discussions. Currently, I wouldn’t say that I have a specific preferred learning style, but I found the course structure to be quite helpful toward my comprehension and retention of the material. This course has changed my sense of linguistics as a field because I now understand that both quantitative research data and qualitative research data are equally valued, through doing the research report assignments and reading about the different perspectives of linguistic experts, as well as thoroughly research experiments and articles

Open Topic: Nisbett and Coordinate Learners

While I’ve grown up somewhat in-between cultures, I’m definitively more American than I am Japanese. This last article, by Nisbett gave me a framework with which to describe my placement on the American-Japanese spectrum, as well as explaining some interesting phenomena I deal with as a heritage learner with intermittent Japanese exposure in my childhood. Nisbett described a difference between individuals who learned an L2 later in life as coordinate learners and those who learned roughly at the same time as their L1 as compound learners. While Nisbett’s discussion focuses more on differences between coordinate and compound learns for cognition, what I found to be the most interesting was that coordinate learners appear to process information notably differently depending on which language in which it is presented. This is definitely something I have experienced, although it’s very fluid for me. There are something that transfer across very easily and something that I process more distinctly in one language as compared to the other.

I’ve spoken with my other half-Japanese friends at length on this topic, so it was nice to see it in literature.

Final Reflection

This course has greatly helped with JPN 410 (grammar), which I taking concurrently, as there is a degree of topic overlap. EALL presents these ideas in basic structure, where JPN 410 – at least for the subject matter that overlaps –  elaborates on it in great detail. As I have never taken linguistics before and have no formal background in the subject, this overlap during my first quarter at the University of Oregon was greatly beneficial, as it helped me build some foundations.

I really appreciate how often previous concepts are brought back into class and elicited from students. My psychology professor in Community College stressed how important it was to do elicitation tasks for memory recall for studying to improve connectivity to memories, and it was nice to see that put into practice in a teaching setting.

Getting to practice the basics of linguistic data analysis and writing in a relatively low-stakes setting was also very helpful. I found the background research I did for my papers actually increased my interest in those subjects.

On study tasks, I realized that I recall readings in much more detail if I read them the day before, within a few hours of going to bed, rather than trying to pre-study and cramming them into the weekend.

So far I have really enjoyed the class! I honestly feel as if I have learned new concepts from taking a linguistics class that I wasn’t really aware of going into the class. Though what I really enjoy talking most about is the research that is done in this field, more specifically, the few recent classes we have had towards the end of term. Topics that can be argued from either side are interesting because I have never realized how differently languages can influence people to process the same situation or concepts. I also think its fascinating to compare myself and my understandings of things to what researchers have found in the past. From my brief exposure to these concepts, it seems I align more with East Asian tendencies then I do European American tendencies which raises several questions.

Mostly I wonder what or when in my life I have learned East Asian tendencies and if there was ever a point in my life where I aligned more with European American tendencies? Because I really don’t have any relatives in my family that are from East Asia, nor was he town that I have spent nearly my entire life in really all that diverse so I can’t imagine there was a major influence of their culture in my life. Though ever since taking Japanese Language courses in high school I was then exposed to it much more then I ever have been so maybe that’s when it started? Was I already born with it? Or was I influenced by my parents to learn those East Asian tendencies over European American tendencies conscientiously?  In which case am I pretty evenly split between the two?

So then I wonder how my brother or sister compares to me in terms of which tendency they processes situations more in?  Because arguably despite growing up in close quarters and living conditions,  we are all very different people and its very evident we process situations and concepts differently than each other so I wonder if we think the same way and just end up on different preference conclusions, or its because we tend to compute experiences to either an american standard or an Asian standard?

And then relate that to our family and friends furthermore onto larger populations of peoples. There is a lot that can go into concepts like these which I think makes for the most interesting conversation because each individual person can relate differently to the results. Whether that be in opposition to each other or in agreeance with each other, I think it’s a great way to learn about  a topic like these cause we can personalize it better rather then just memorizing information.

I have really been interested in the topics we have recently started to cover like the differences in parenting between East Asia and the US, and also if speakers of different languages think differently. I remember that one slide said UO researchers do not believe in the universalist view of thought process, so I was wondering what research they have done to prove there are differences in thinking. I enjoyed reading about the differences in parenting between western and East Asian parents because I had never read about the differences between the two. American parents put an emphasis on treating others the way you want to be treated, independence, and sharing. This type of parenting sounds very similar to how I was raised. On the other hand, C/J/K parents put an emphasis on being in a group and knowing your place within the group, showing respect to elders, and reading the emotions of others. The one thing both parenting styles have in common is that children are socialized through language, to use language appropriately.  

This class has not been too different from previous classes I’ve taken when it comes to studying. I pay attention and take notes during the lectures, complete the readings online and then take the quizzes. I also like the iClicker questions in class because it’s another way for me to track what I need to study. Overall I’ve really enjoyed this class even though it can be difficult at times. I never thought I would be taking a linguistics class, but I’m extremely glad I did. Thanks for a great term!

One of the biggest positives in this class was that none or close to none of the topics presented were boring to me. I enjoyed most of them, some more than others, but I think this class helped solidify some of my understandings about linguistics in East Asian languages. I already had some idea about them because I have a South East Asian background, so this class was pretty helpful. There were even a few things I learned about linguistics that I found neat, such as the connections between the three languages presented in the class (Korean, Japanese, and Chinese). I learned about their history and even the differences in structure and speaking habits, which was also cool. But the coolest thing was learning about how language affects the way one thinks, because it ties in with a lot of cultural and social stuff that I don’t often think about.

I’m not particularly a big fan of readings, and that applied for the readings in this class as well. I’m more of a hands-on learner, but despite that I actually enjoyed going to lecture because the topics were still interesting and the guest lecturers were great. Learning in this course was mostly through going to class and doing the readings, so it wasn’t too stressful. Because of this, the class wasn’t super challenging in the sense that I didn’t have to memorize a ton of material like a math or science course. I enjoyed that aspect of the class quite a bit.

Lastly, I’d say that the class didn’t really change my understanding of linguistics too much. Nothing drastic, at least. It was a fun class, and I liked most (if not all) of the topics in the class, and some even were surprising. It was cool to see the history behind each language, and then connect the languages and see how they interacted (or didn’t). Alongside the history part, we also covered modern and contemporary topics such as the use of “Oppa”. Covering such a large timeline kind of completed the whole picture, which doesn’t happen often in most classes, as they tend to focus on only one tense of time, like the past. Overall, I enjoyed the class, and it helped me to understand and clear up some notions/ideas I had about East Asian Languages, and I also learned a few things along the way.

Thanks!

Before taking this class, I had assumed most of the study done in the linguist field was about grammar, vocabulary, and origins. While taking the course, I find these are only a part of the field, and culture, history, living habits, and social situations also play an important role. It’s a fresh idea to think that language can affect how people think. As an international student, I realized that people from different countries have different thinking logic. I attributed this phenomenon to different cultural backgrounds, and people received different primary education. Now I know it’s language itself impacts us. So do that mean linguists change the thinking pattern of people? If so, I will be surprised by the power of linguistic.

As a native Chinese speaker, I have to say that some of the readings related to Chinese language or culture cannot reflect the contemporary situation in China. For example, we don’t have as many “tiger mothers” as the reading said. I believed it happened in the last generation. Now parents become pay more attention to children’s mental health and do not want to stress children too much anymore.

I think the most intriguing topics that we have covered are about the current trends in East Asia, such as the uprising of metrosexual men and the usage of the word Oppa. Some of these things are pretty surprising to me because it feels like there are Western equivalents to these trends in East Asia, like the idea of an e-boy. It feels like the world is unifying together because of the changes people go through, even if there is still much political divide. Even just changing how a word is used feels like there is a lot of impact on culture and perception, which to me, makes linguistics much more important than what I thought before. Language is so important, not only because it is how humans communicate with each other, but each language is tied to a culture that has their own interpretations and thoughts and etc. This course definitely made linguistics much more appealing to me, and I may consider taking another course similar.

My approach to learning the course material for this class is the same as any class. Do the reading and then follow along in class. If I have questions, they are usually answered by going through the reading again.

-Jackson