How did language come about? How many languages are there in the world? How do people co-exist in countries where there are two or more languages? How do babies develop language? Should all immigrants take a language test when applying for citizenship? Should English become an official language of the United States? In this course we will address these and many other questions, taking linguistic facts as a point of departure and considering their implications for our society. Through discussions and hands-on projects, students will learn how to collect, analyze, and interpret language data and how to make informed decisions about language and education policies as voters and community members.Note: This course fulfills the Human Behavior (GB) requirement for students under GenEd and Individual & Society (IN) for students under Core.
Students cannot receive credit for this course if they have successfully completed any of the following: Asian Studies 0815, Chinese 0815, EDUC 0815, English 0815, Italian 0815, PSYCH 0815, Russian 0815, Spanish 0815, or CSC+DIS 0815.