Language

This subject has the following teaching availabilities in 2016:

170 hours

For the purposes of considering request for Reasonable Adjustments under the Disability Standards for Education (Cwth 2005), and Student Support and Engagement Policy, academic requirements for this subject are articulated in the Subject Overview, Learning Outcomes, 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 Student Equity and Disability Support: http://services.unimelb.edu.au/disability

Language plays a central role in the central disciplinary areas in the humanities 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.

On successful completion of this subject, students should:

• have developed critical thinking and analysis through recommended reading, essay writing and tutorial discussion;
• be able to research through competent use of the library and other information sources, and the definition of areas of inquiry and methods of research;
• have engaged with the methodologies of the humanities and social sciences;
• have acquired critical self-awareness: being open to new ideas and possibilities through learning how to construct an argument;
• have communicated knowledge and arguments intelligibly and economically through essay writing and tutorial discussion;
• have demonstrated the ability to assess the strength of an argument through recommended reading, essay writing and tutorial discussion;
• have developed time management skills and planning through managing and organizing workloads for recommended reading, essay and assignment completion.

• A Bibliographic Exercise due in Week 5 (500 words) [15%]
• An Essay due in Week 9 (2000 words) [45%]
• A 1500 word take-home exam due during the examination period [40%]

Hurdle requirement: Students must attend a minimum of 75% of tutorials in order to pass this subject. All pieces of written work must be submitted to pass this subject.

Note: Assessment submitted late without an approved extension will be penalised at 10% per working day. In-class tasks missed without approval will not be marked.

A subject reader will be available.

This subject is not available as a breadth subject.