The Structure of English Words (LING150) is offered by the Linguistics Department at the University of Oregon in both a traditional classroom-based lecture course format and in an electronic version taught using the Internet and email. Students may enroll and receive credit for this course only one time. This blog describes the web-based version of the course.

In this course we will use linguistic principles to study English vocabulary. This involves studying the morphemes, or meaningful elements, in English words and examining how these elements combine to form words. We will also investigate the sounds of English and their pronunciation, and the historical development of English (both sound changes and meaning changes) and its relationship to other Indo-European languages.

This course is designed to teach you to approach English words in an analytical and historically-oriented way. This material provides the background for increasing your vocabulary, as well as improving spelling. More importantly, the techniques taught in our course can be used to efficiently increase your vocabulary for the rest of your life.

 

By the end of this course, you should

• be able to look at an English word that you have never seen before and have some idea of what it could mean;
• have the skills necessary for coping with the technical vocabulary in fields such as medicine, biology, geology, psychology, neurology, chemistry, anthropology, etc.;
• have a strong background for preparing for the vocabulary portions of standardized tests required for graduate school, law school, and so on. Our method of building vocabulary is similar to that taught in some GRE preparation manuals.

 

More specifically, at the end of this course you should

• know a large number of word roots from classical languages and be able to identify these roots in unfamiliar English words. These roots occur frequently in many English words, especially those words used in academic and technical vocabulary.
• understand the history of English and how these historical changes have affected the modern lexicon;
• understand the basic principles of language change, such as sound change and meaning change.

 

Prerequisites:

You do not need any previous linguistics courses.  You must be fluent in English at the level required for regular admittance by the University of Oregon.  Please see the current catalog for specific requirements.

 

• English Vocabulary Elements, 2^nd Edition Denning, Kessler and Leben, Oxford University Press, 2007 (available at the UO bookstore).
• There are 4 Study Units. Each unit covers approximately the same material that would be covered in two and one-half weeks during the regular classroom-based version of this course.

• A dictionary which gives etymologies, or word origins (a pocket dictionary is not suitable)

Acceptable dictionaries include:

• The American Heritage Dictionary
• Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary
• Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary
• See also Merriam-Webster online http://www.m-w.com/netdict.htm
• See also etymonline.com
• See also oed.com

There are 4 Study Units. Each unit covers approximately the same material that would be covered in two and one-half weeks during the regular classroom-based version of this course.

Topics covered in each Study Unit are as follows:

Unit 1 Basic Word Analysis

1. Historical sources of English words
2. Basic principles of word analysis (morphology)

Unit 2 Intermediate Word Analysis and Basic Phonetics

1. Alternations in morpheme forms (allomorphy)
2. Basic principles of English sounds (phonetics)

Unit 3 Advanced Word Analysis and Semantic Change

1. More alternations in morpheme forms (allomorphy rules)
2. Historical changes of meanings (semantic change)

 

Unit 4 – The Origins and History of English

1. Pre-history of English and Indo-European languages
2. English history

 

 

**All dates and times given above are with respect to local time in Eugene, OR, USA.

What about extensions?
The instructor reserves the right to discuss deadline extensions on a case-by-case basis. Extensions requested in advance of the deadline will receive the most consideration. Extensions requested at the end of the term and/or long past the deadline will most likely be rejected. Students must explicitly request and receive permission for extensions from the instructor in order to receive credit for the work.

Points for course
Four Written Assignments, 10 points each: 40
Four Exams, 50 points each: 200
Final Exam: 100
Total points for course: 340
(Not including extra credit points)

Extra credit points
Five extra credit quizzes (5 at 5 points each): 25
Four extra credit assignments (1 at 5 point, 3 at 10 points each): 35

Grade scale

335 – 340 A+
313 – 334 A
305 – 312 A-
298 – 304 B+
278 – 297 B
271 – 277 B-
264 – 270 C+
244 – 263 C
236 – 243 C-
203 – 235 D
0 – 202 F

Pass/Fail grade option
236 points are required to pass

Registration and Fee Information

The course is 4 credit hours. It is available with both Graded and Pass/No Pass options.

Regularly Admitted Students: To receive credit for this course, you must enroll using DuckWeb.

Non-admitted Students: To receive credit for this course, you must have completed a registration eligibility form and requested your personal access code from the University’s Community Education Program before you enroll using DuckWeb. Call (541) 346-5614 to enroll or visit their website for more information.

Testing Center Special Fee: There may be a fee for test taking/proctors administering the tests in non-classroom settings.

This course is graded based on the following criteria:

1. 4 written assignments;
2. 4 unit exams of approximately one hour each;
3. 1 final exam of approximately two hours.

All requirements must be completed by the deadlines given in the Calendar section of this document.

Written assignments must be submitted electronically through Canvas. Emailed assignments will not be accepted. Each assignment must be submitted on or before the listed deadline. Be sure to keep a copy of your assignment.

The instructor will *NOT* inform you via email that your assignment was received. Do contact your instructor if you don’t receive a score for your assignment 5 days after the deadline (scores will be posted in the gradebook, which can be accessed by clicking ‘Grades’ on the left).

No incompletes will be given for this course!

If you are taking the class for a grade:

If you are taking this class pass/no pass:

This course is not graded on a curve. However, extra credit points are offered as a way to improve your scores.

Reminder:  All students enrolled in this course are subject to the ASUO Student Code of Conduct and all work, both in required and extra credit assignments, is expected to conform to UO policies for Student Academic Integrity.

NOTE: The University of Oregon does not provide grades by mail. In order to find out your grade, you must use Duck Web. Information on using these options is available in the Schedule of Classes.

Exams are given electronically at proctored (physical) sites handled by Distance Education at SSIL. These are NOT web sites, they are physical locations you must visit in person to take the exams.

All visits to the proctored test sites must be scheduled at least 24 hours in advance. For best results, schedule your visit four to seven days in advance. Drop-in appointments are not offered at any time.

PLEASE NOTE: SSIL WILL allow you to sign up for exam time slots which occur after an exam deadline has already passed.  It is YOUR RESPONSIBILITY to make sure that the testing time slot you sign up for is before the deadlines listed above!!

Before you can sign up to take exams, you must create a test-taker ID. To do this, visit the FAQ page of the SSIL Distance Education site and click ‘Get a Test-Taker ID’ in the upper-left corner of that page.

Be sure to schedule yourself enough time to finish an exam. Budget extra time for possible software complications. Fifty minutes seems to be the average time needed to complete the unit exams, while the final exam will take about one and a half hours. To be thoroughly safe, give yourself twice the amount of time you think you will need.

All exams are cumulative. We are building vocabulary, so each new unit builds on previous units. Unit exams focus on the most recent work, but I assume that you know anything that was covered in previous units. The final covers all course materials equally.

All course study materials, including web “lectures,” assigned readings, and practice exercises are necessary for success on the exams. Questions may be based on any aspect of these materials.

Exam questions are multiple choice or short answer format.

Students who can take exams in Eugene

If you can come to the Eugene-Springfield area, then you will take your exams at the Social Sciences Instructional Lab (SSIL) on the fourth floor of McKenzie Hall. The phone number is (541) 346-2547. Check the SSIL Webpage for more information.

It is necessary to make an appointment at least 24 hours in advance to take your exams at SSIL. If you wish to take an exam on or near the deadline day, it is better to make your appointment 4-7 days in advance. It is not possible to drop in to SSIL to take an exam. Appointments can be made by visiting SSIL’s website and following the instructions there.

Information about the exams will be available through the SSIL’s Distance Education Website. From there, click on the links Testing, and then SSIL Site Testing Policies for more information. If you are interested, you can take a sample exam through SSIL in order to get comfortable with their examination process.

There may be an extra fee for this class, which must be paid prior to taking the first exam.

SSIL Policies and Hours of Operation (Eugene Campus).

SSIL is open through finals week of each quarter. SSIL is available to test takers only by appointment. Let me know if none of these hours are convenient for you. Appointments can be made by visiting SSIL’s website and following instructions.

If none of these hours are possible for you, either let me know so we can discuss alternatives or consider getting a proctor (see above).

Remote Site Testing Center Policies and Hours of Operation.

All visits to the proctored test sites must be scheduled in advance. You can get all necessary information about your testing site by contacting the testing site proctor or the Continuation Center’s Distance Education Program.

Testing Center Security Policies

For security reasons, the following class policies will be strictly enforced at both the SSIL testing center and the remote site testing centers. Students at the remote sites should be aware that each remote site may have additional policies.

1. Bring a picture ID with you to the lab. You will not be allowed to take an exam without it.
2. When using the lab to take an exam, leave any bags, books, papers or electronic devices with the person administering the exam.
3. While taking an exam, you will not be allowed to use any information resources such as books, notes, or computer files.
4. Do not hesitate to ask the person administering the exam for help with the testing software.
5. If you experience any problems with the software, notify the person administering the exam immediately. The person administering the exam will help you restart the software and contact the graduate assistant about the problem.
6. The rule to live by is this: do not engage in any activity that makes it appear that you are attempting to cheat. Keep in mind that if you think what you are doing may look like an attempt to cheat, the person administering the exam and the graduate assistant will probably come to the same conclusion.

 

Students who CANNOT take exams in Eugene

Students who cannot take the exams at SSIL need to locate a suitable proctor by the end of week 1.

To do this, go to SSIL’s Distance Education Website and click on “Off-Campus Students” (towards the bottom of the page) to learn more about locating a suitable proctor and completing SSIL’s proctor application.

Please note that this option applies equally to students who are taking the course from a geographically remote site as well as those in Eugene who are unable to take exams during SSIL’s regular hours due to conflicts with work or class schedules (this is most likely to be a problem during summer term when SSIL’s hours are more limited).