UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA

Department of Linguistics
Course Number: Ling 115
Title: Language and Society
Semester: Spring 2021
Lecture: Tue and Thu, 9.30-10.50 Online
Discussion sections: Fridays online
9.00-9.50 Samir Alam 38844R
10.00-10.50 Samir Alam 38846R
10.00-10.50 Lucy Kim 38850R
11.00-11.50 Lucy Kim 38833R
11.00-11.50 Andrés Benitez Pozo 38932R
12.00-12.50 Andrés Benitez Pozo 38848R

Professor: Andrew Simpson

Office: GFS 333
Office hours: By appointment (Zoom, online) – Please just email me to arrange a
time to meet online.
e-mail: andrew.simpson@usc.edu
homepage: www.usc.edu/schools/college/ling/people/faculty
Teaching Assistants: Andrés Benitez Pozo benitezp@usc.edu
Lucy Kim lucykimusc@gmail.com
Samir Alam samirala@usc.edu

COURSE DESCRIPTION
This course examines the various ways that language and society interact with and
influence each other. We consider why people speak in different ways, and how the
language we make use of has important consequences for the projection of identity and
self-image in society. Specific topics studied in the course will include the following:
● Language and Dialects
● Languages with Special Roles: National and Official Languages
● Languages under Pressure: Minority Groups and Language Loss
● Diglossia and Code-Switching
● Pidgins and Creoles: the Birth and Development of New Languages
● The Globalization of English
● Language(s) in the United States
● Bilingualism
● Language and Thought: the Linguistic Relativity Controversy
● Language and Gender
● Language Variation and Change

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REQUIRED COURSE READING:
A. TEXTBOOK
The required textbook reading for this course is:
Language and Society. 2019. Andrew Simpson, Oxford University Press
Chapter 1 of this book will be distributed via email and posted in the Content section of
Blackboard. From week 2 on, you will need to have your own access to the textbook, for
the rest of the course.

B. ON BLACKBOARD
Certain additional readings will be posted as pdf files on Blackboard.

LECTURES AND DISCUSSION SECTIONS

Lectures and discussions sections are all online, delivered via Zoom. Both the lectures
and the discussion sections will be recorded and the recordings made available. To login
to the Zoom lectures, go to Blackboard and the link USC Zoom Pro Meeting in the
column on the left side. The regular meeting ID is 963 4856 7238 (Join
URL: https://usc.zoom.us/j/96348567238), and the Passcode is: S9d7mAo2h5.

Attendance in the lectures and discussion sections is not taken and is not mandatory.
However, in all past years, students who regularly attended both lectures and discussion
sections tended to score higher in the course and received better grades.
Lectures will mostly be presented using Powerpoint. At least one day before each class, I
will distribute a shortened set of the text in the powerpoint slides to help reduce the notes
you will need to take during the lectures.

COURSE REQUIREMENTS
In addition to the readings, the requirements for this course include:
● Two mid-term exams (each 20% of final grade)
● One final exam (20% of final grade)
● Assignment 1: Language planning in Africa (9% of final grade)
● Assignment 2: Investigation of an ethno-linguistic group (5% of final grade)
● Assignment 3: Bilingual education and language laws (14% of final grade)
● In-class pop quizzes (10% of final grade)
● One film commentary: American Tongues (2% of final grade)

POP QUIZZES
There will be a total of 12 pop/film quizzes, each worth one point, and a maximum of 10
points can be scored in total for the pop quizzes (so, if you pass all of the 12 quizzes, you
will still receive 10 points). NO MAKE-UPS FOR THE ONLINE POP QUIZZES WILL BE
POSSIBLE (even for necessary/unavoidable absences – sorry..). There are two kinds of pop

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quiz: (a) regular pop quizzes, and (b) movie quizzes. Regular pop quizzes are all taken
on Blackboard and will be posted in the Content section of Blackboard. The pop quizzes
can be completed online through Blackboard at any time up to 15 hours after the end of
the live lecture (up to 2.00 a.m. Los Angeles time = 5.00 p.m. Beijing, 2.30 p.m. Delhi,
10.00 a.m. London time). The pop quizzes are timed on Blackboard, so you have 15
minutes from when you start the quiz to when you must complete it. If you have
followed the lecture well, the pop quizzes can normally be completed in 5 minutes.
Please note that the questions in pop quizzes will be displayed one at a time. When you
have answered a question, the next question will appear. You will not be able to return to
a previous question, so please be sure you answer each question before you go on to the
next question. The pop quizzes are all open-book – you can make use of your notes (or
the textbook) when taking the quizzes.
Movie quizzes involve watching a movie in class (or the recording of class) and
answering a set of questions. The questions for each movie quiz will be distributed the
day before the class when the movie is shown. Please print the questions out, so you can
note down your answers as you watch the movie. Afterwards, you will need to input
your answers to the movie quiz in Blackboard (Content folder). The period available for
you to input movie quiz answers will be the same as for regular pop quizzes – any time
up to 15 hours after the end of the live lecture.
Announcements will be made in advance (1-2 days before) letting you know when there
will be either a regular pop quiz or a movie quiz.

MID-TERM AND FINAL EXAMS

The mid-term and final exam are not open book, and we will be using lockdown browser
for the exams – more information will be provided on this later.

LATE-SUBMITTED WORK:
A 10% deduction will apply to any late submissions of assignments up until one week
after the due date. Assignments will NOT be accepted later than one week after the due
date. Exception: Assignment 3 must be submitted by the due date, no extensions
possible.

MID-TERM/ASSIGNMENT/POP-QUIZ SCORES POSTED ON BLACKBOARD

All mid-term, assignment and pop quiz scores will be posted on Blackboard. If you think
that any of your mid-term, assignment or pop quiz scores have NOT been posted
correctly, you must contact your TA about this no later than two weeks after the mid-
term, assignment or pop quiz. Please monitor your scores on Blackboard regularly
through the semester. There will be no correction of scores for mid-term exams,
assignments or ‘missing’ pop quizzes made at the end of the semester.

EXTRA CREDIT: It is not possible to offer extra credit opportunities for this course, so
please do not expect or ask for extra credit assignments.

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HOW TO ASK QUESTIONS DURING THE LECTURES
When you would like to ask questions during the lectures, please type your questions into
the chat function in Zoom. Zoom does have a ‘raise hand’ function, but as the class is
large, it will not be easy to see raised hands on the screen display. Please use the chat
function instead. Either I or the TAs will try to answer questions in the chat periodically
during the lecture, or at the end of the lecture. Sometimes the chat will contain a lot of
messages and it may not be easy to see which questions have not been answered. If there
are questions in the chat which have not been answered in class (or at the end of class), I
will try to answer these via email after class.

WHAT TO DO IF THE ZOOM CONNECTION IS LOST DURING A LECTURE

Zoom is sometimes a bit unpredictable. If the lecture is interrupted because my Zoom

connection is lost, please wait for some more minutes for me to restore my connection or
switch to another computer.

STATEMENT ON ACADEMIC INTEGRITY AND PLAGIARISM

USC seeks to maintain an optimal learning environment. General principles of academic
honesty include the concept of respect for the intellectual property of others, the
expectation that individual work will be submitted unless otherwise allowed by an
instructor, and the obligations both to protect one’s own academic work from misuse by
others as well as to avoid using another’s work as one’s own. All students are expected to
understand and abide by these principles. Scampus, the Student Guidebook, contains the
Student Code of Conduct in Section 11.00, while the sanctions are located in Appendix
A:
https://policy.usc.edu/student/scampus/

Students will be referred to the Office of Student Judicial Affairs and Community
Standards for further review, should there be any suspicion of academic dishonesty.

USC Policy on Acts of Plagiarism (abbreviated)

http://scampus.usc.edu/files/2009/08/appendix_a.pdf
1. Copying answers from other students on any course work.
Penalty: F for course.
2. One person allowing another to cheat from his/her exam or assignment.
Penalty: F for course for both persons.
3. Possessing or using material during exam (crib sheets, notes, books, etc.) which is not
expressly permitted by the instructor.
Penalty: F for course.
4. Having someone else complete course work for oneself. Suspension or expulsion from
the university for both students.
5. Plagiarism — Submitting other’s work as one’s own or giving an improper citation.
Penalty: F for course.
6. Submission of purchased term papers or papers done by others.
Penalty: F for course and recommendation for further disciplinary action 

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(possible suspension).
STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES
Any student requesting academic accommodations based on a disability is required to
register with Disability Services and Programs (DSP). A letter of verification for
approved accommodations can be obtained from DSP. Please be sure the letter is emailed
to me as early in the semester as possible. The phone number for DSP is (213) 740-0776.

SYLLABUS SCHEDULE
JANUARY
19 and 21: Languages and Dialects: How do we distinguish languages from dialects
and other forms of speech?

26 and 28: Languages with Special Roles: National and Official Languages: the rise
of official and national languages, and the structured manipulation of language habits
FEBRUARY
2 and 4: Languages under Pressure: Minority Groups and Language Loss:
how patterns of language use undergo change and lead to the local and global loss of
languages.

9: Film: ‘The Linguists’.

11 and 16: Diglossia and Code-Switching: the use of different varieties of language in
different areas of life, and the mixing of more than one language in a single act of
speaking.

18: (Extra) Wellness day: NO CLASS

23: First mid-term exam

25: Pidgins and Creoles (Part I) the birth and development of new languages in contact
situations

MARCH

2: Pidgins and Creoles (Part II) the birth and development of new languages in contact
situations

4: The Globalization of English (Part I): the spread of English throughout the world
and its many social and linguistic consequences.

7: Assignment 1 (Language planning in Africa) due

4: The Globalization of English (Part II): the spread of English throughout the world
and its many social and linguistic consequences.

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11 and 16: Language(s) in the USA: issues relating to the promotion and support of
language in the USA and official policies and public attitudes towards minority
languages.

18: Movie: American Tongues

23: Wellness day: NO CLASS

25: Second mid-term exam

30: Bilingualism (Part I): social, cognitive and educational issues relating to the
acquisition of two or more languages.

APRIL
1: Bilingualism (Part II): social, cognitive and educational issues relating to the
acquisition of two or more languages.

5: Assignment 2 due: Investigation of the language habits of an ethno-linguistic group

in the Los Angeles area

6 and 8: Language and Thought: the Linguistic Relativity Controversy: how

language use may influence and structure our perception of the world.

13 and 15: Language and Gender: the existence and significance of differences between
male and female ways of speaking.

20: Film: War of the Sexes: Language

22: Wellness day: NO CLASS

27 and 29: Language Variation and Change: social causes and consequences of
innovations in speech among individuals and communities.

MAY
1-4 Study days

8 Assignment 3 due: Bilingual education and language laws

11 Final Exam