Language

This subject is not offered in 2014.

Total expected time commitment is 102-hours across the semester, including class time

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For the purposes of considering request for Reasonable Adjustments under the Disability Standards for Education (Cwth 2005), and Students Experiencing Academic Disadvantage Policy, academic requirements for this subject are articulated in the Subject Overview, Objectives, Assessment and Generic Skills sections of this entry.

It is University policy to take all reasonable steps to minimise the impact of disability upon academic study, and reasonable adjustments will be made to enhance a student's participation in the University's programs. Students who feel their disability may impact on meeting the requirements of this subject are encouraged to discuss this matter with a Faculty Student Adviser and the Disability Liaison Unit: http://www.services.unimelb.edu.au/disability/

Language plays a central role in the central disciplanary areas in the humanties and social sciences. This subject gives students tools for thinking about language in a range of disciplines, including linguistics, history, sociology, politics, literary studies, anthropology, language studies, psychology and psychoanalytic theory. It shows how language can be analysed as a system, but also how language features centrally in politcal and social contexts: for example, in the processing of the claims of asylum seekers, in developing views of ethnicity, race and nation, and in colonialism; and in the construction of gendered and sexual identity. The role of language in the psyche, and the process of acquisition of languages in children and in adults, are also important topics. Knowing how to think about language, and familiarity with the main thinkers who have discussed language in a range of humanities and social science disciplines, provide an indispensable basis for study in any area of the Arts degree.

• Develop a general understanding of the nature of human language;
• Have begun to develop skills for describing and analyzing languages;
• Have gained a conceptual framework for thinking about and discussing language and its intricacies within different cultures and societies.

A Bibliographic Exercise due in Week 5 (500 words, 15%), an Essay due in Week 9 (2000 words, 45%) and a 1500 word take-home exam (40%) due during the examination period.

This subject has an attendance hurdle requirement of 75% tutorial attendance (9 out of 12 tutorials) and 75% skills workshop attendance (5 out of 6 skills workshops)

A subject reader will be available.

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This subject is not available as a breadth subject.

• Critical thinking and analysis through recommended reading, essay writing and tutorial discussion.
• Research through competent use of the library and other information sources, and the definition of areas of inquiry and methods of research.
• Engagement with the methodologies of the humanities and social sciences.
• Critical self-awareness, being open to new ideas and possibilities through learning how to construct an argument.
• Communicating knowledge and arguments intelligibly and economically through essay writing and tutorial discussion.
• Ability to assess the strength of an argument through recommended reading, essay writing and tutorial discussion.
• Time management and planning through managing and organising workloads for recommended reading, essay and assignment completion.