Associate Professor of English
Ferrum College
English 336 Home Page
English 336 Schedule
College
Spring Schedule, Registrar's Office
It is your responsibility to check these pages regularly for updates and new materials.
The primary purpose of the course is to familiarize you with the formal study of language. As language is one of the most basic of human abilities and activities, the study of language overlaps with many other disciplines and areas of human interaction. The course includes general introductions to the fields of morphology, syntax, semantics, phonology, historical and comparative linguistics, sociolinguistics, and psycholinguistics. Additional applications relating to speech, writing, teaching, literature, foreign languages, second language learning, computers and other topics will be introduced as time and student interest allow.
Your final grade for the course will be determined according to the following percentages:
| Quizzes/Graded Exercises | 10 % |
| Two Tests (15% and 20%) | 35 % |
| Two short papers (1-2 pages each) | 10 % |
| Project | 10 % |
| Daily work | 10 % |
| Final exam | 25 % |
Quizzes, tests, and the final exam will consist primarily of objective questions: matching, fill-in-the-blank, identification, short answer questions, and other exercises depending on the nature of material covered. Doing homework exercises should help you do well on these questions and study guides will be availables before tests. There will also be one or more essay questions on the tests and final exam.
See the college catalog for more information on writing requirements and the grading system. Be sure you are familiar with the Ferrum College Foundation Standards.
Attendance at all classes is necessary for satisfactory progress
in the work of the course. Accumulating more than five unexcused absences may
lower your final grade by as much as one letter grade. Ferrum College policy
mandates that anyone who misses one-fourth of the class meetings (i.e., 11 MWF
classes) cannot receive credit for a course. (See the college catalog, pp. 41-42.)
Anyone who needs to withdraw from the course with a WP between Feb, 5 and the
10th week must be in good standing, with all course work completed to that date.
Anyone who withdraws then while not in good standing (with excessive absences,
failing grades, or incomplete assignments) will receive a grade of WF, or F
after the 10th week. It is your responsibility to inform the professor (preferably
in advance) and arrange for make-up work if you have a legitimate reason for
missing a class. Make-up tests will be given only in the case of extreme emergency
and may be different in format from the test the rest of the class takes.
Arriving late is discourteous to other class members and could result in your
being marked absent for the day. You are encouraged to participate in class
discussion and ask questions at any time during class, but you are expected
to respect the needs and rights of others by not talking while others are talking
or distracting others in the class in any way.
The daily work grade will be based primarily on the amount of homework you turn in promptly. You will receive an A if you do all the homework when required, attend regularly and participate in class frequently. This 10% of the final grade will be lowered below an A if there are deficiencies in any of these requirements. Homework assignments will be announced in class; there will be some flexibility in deadlines and some recommended (not required) homework. It is to your advantage to do as much as you can as quickly as you can (and to redo required exercises you have trouble with). Answering any of the study questions in the reader or doing any other unassigned exercises will count as extra credit in the daily work grade (but don’t skip any required exercises).
If you find that you are unfamiliar with how to identify parts of speech and types of sentences, it will be to your advantage to do some or all of the Pretest on Sentence Structure as soon as possible (especially before we start the chapter on syntax). These exercises will be counted as extra credit and will help you with basic concepts we cover in this course.
Our Honor Code applies to all work submitted for credit in this course. Plagiarism or any other form of cheating on papers, reports, homework, or tests will result in severe penalties, which may include failure of the course. You are responsible for reading and understanding the Ferrum College Honor Policy, and for avoiding the undocumented use of the words or ideas of others in your assignments. You should be familiar with the Ferrum College Foundation Standards.
You are encouraged to discuss questions, problems and ideas with me at any time in individual conferences, especially if you have trouble with any of the homework or tests. The Composition Center in the basement of the library, which is available to students working on any writing project, is staffed by English faculty members in the afternoons and by student tutors at other times. You may drop by the center on your own for assistance with any aspect of your work, or you may want to make an appointment with a student tutor. Other staff members in the Academic Resources Center are available to help with a variety of student needs relating to reading, language skills, test-taking and other study skills.
Reasonable accommodations and auxiliary aids will be available for any qualified student with a disability in accordance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). As early in the semester as possible, you are encouraged to notify the instructor and Ms. Nancy Beach, Director of Disability Services in ARC 111. Instructors are not allowed to discuss individual accommodations in public or ask individual students to make use of them. Qualified students may request these services and must follow the reasonable guidelines required by the school (such as arranging at least 48 hours in advance for any special accommodations for a scheduled test), or you will lose your right to take advantage of these services.
Top of Page
January 9, 2005 5:02 PM