LING 1
Introduction to Study of Language
Description: Lecture, three hours; discussion, one hour. Summary for general undergraduates of what is known about human language; biological basis of language, scientific study of language and human cognition; uniqueness of human language, its structure, universality, its diversity; language in social and cultural setting; language in relation to other aspects of human inquiry and knowledge. P/NP or letter grading.
Units: 5.0
Units: 5.0
2 of 3
Most Helpful Review
I really enjoyed her as a professor. Class was a little dull at times because the material was so easy, but she was extremely clear and made sure everyone understood everything. The midterm and final were multiple choice, and weekly assignments were pretty easy. I feel like I learned a lot in the class, and it made me really interested in Linguistics. If you're going to take Ling 1, I suggest taking it with Lee!
I really enjoyed her as a professor. Class was a little dull at times because the material was so easy, but she was extremely clear and made sure everyone understood everything. The midterm and final were multiple choice, and weekly assignments were pretty easy. I feel like I learned a lot in the class, and it made me really interested in Linguistics. If you're going to take Ling 1, I suggest taking it with Lee!
AD
AD
Most Helpful Review
I mostly agree with the other evaluations about Schuh. Most of the content is found in the course reader, and even the videos are transcribed. In lecture, Schuh provides more examples of the topics covered in the reader, so if you have time you should attend lectures. The average attendance is about 50%. I reviewed the content after each lecture and it made studying for the final much easier. I only spent about 8 hours studying for the final. There were some references to Pinker in the homework (probably 4-5 questions) and one or two exam questions. You should purchase or borrow it, but you don't need to read every page of it to get a good grade. The written homeworks were challenging, but somehow the medians were nearly perfect score. Either students were copying from previous homework solutions or they were going to office hours to ask the TA for answers. The web assignments were tricky and sometimes difficult, but you have an unlimited amount of submissions. The paper should take you only one night to do since no research is involved. The mean for the multiple choice final exam was 66%, which was not very difficult as long as you understand the general concepts. As for grading, it will depend on your TA. I had a TA who was great at reviewing the course topics covered in the past lectures and providing relevant examples. However, she was a tough grader on the homeworks. Overall, not an easy GE in the sense where you can get an A with minimal effort. There are easier GEs I have taken. Schuh tries to make lectures interesting with his powerpoint animations and sounds, but half the students don't care. It's not his fault, it's just that the subject is very dry. You can get a B easily in this class without doing much, but to earn an A, you need to work for it and stay ahead of the curve. The material you learn is this class is minimal, since most of the content is "common sense" and just trivial facts (at least to me).
I mostly agree with the other evaluations about Schuh. Most of the content is found in the course reader, and even the videos are transcribed. In lecture, Schuh provides more examples of the topics covered in the reader, so if you have time you should attend lectures. The average attendance is about 50%. I reviewed the content after each lecture and it made studying for the final much easier. I only spent about 8 hours studying for the final. There were some references to Pinker in the homework (probably 4-5 questions) and one or two exam questions. You should purchase or borrow it, but you don't need to read every page of it to get a good grade. The written homeworks were challenging, but somehow the medians were nearly perfect score. Either students were copying from previous homework solutions or they were going to office hours to ask the TA for answers. The web assignments were tricky and sometimes difficult, but you have an unlimited amount of submissions. The paper should take you only one night to do since no research is involved. The mean for the multiple choice final exam was 66%, which was not very difficult as long as you understand the general concepts. As for grading, it will depend on your TA. I had a TA who was great at reviewing the course topics covered in the past lectures and providing relevant examples. However, she was a tough grader on the homeworks. Overall, not an easy GE in the sense where you can get an A with minimal effort. There are easier GEs I have taken. Schuh tries to make lectures interesting with his powerpoint animations and sounds, but half the students don't care. It's not his fault, it's just that the subject is very dry. You can get a B easily in this class without doing much, but to earn an A, you need to work for it and stay ahead of the curve. The material you learn is this class is minimal, since most of the content is "common sense" and just trivial facts (at least to me).
Most Helpful Review
Fall 2020 - So I took this class during online learning. While Prof. Silvestri is the actual professor, the class is almost entirely taught through recorded Harold Torrence lectures. Torrence is a great lecturer and the material isn't super difficult and is generally replicated in the reading. I have trouble paying attention to recorded lectures, so I primarily read the textbook instead. Grades are composed of participation (discussion section and a once a week mandatory attendance lecture w Silvestri); homework; two easy papers; midterm and final. Overall not super interesting in my opinion, but a pretty easy A.
Fall 2020 - So I took this class during online learning. While Prof. Silvestri is the actual professor, the class is almost entirely taught through recorded Harold Torrence lectures. Torrence is a great lecturer and the material isn't super difficult and is generally replicated in the reading. I have trouble paying attention to recorded lectures, so I primarily read the textbook instead. Grades are composed of participation (discussion section and a once a week mandatory attendance lecture w Silvestri); homework; two easy papers; midterm and final. Overall not super interesting in my opinion, but a pretty easy A.
AD
2 of 3
