LCS 121

Language & Communication Studies 121 lays the foundation for linguistic inquiry into the structure of human language, and comprises two modules: Design Features (DF) is taught in the 3rd term, and Language Learning (LL) in the fourth.

Course structure

DF is an introduction to phonetics, phonology, morphology, and syntax, and LL is an introduction to theories of language acquisition and various types of language learning (e.g. first language acquisition, second language acquisition, etc.).

Student numbers on this course are staggeringly high (around = 750), necessitating a large lecturing and tutoring team. I teach DF in the 3rd term each year, and typically also function as the coordinator for that section of the course.

Orientation_LCS121_2023

The course's iKamva page is set out with the content of each "lecture" on a separate lesson page. Each lessons page contains several sections: slides, lecture videos, (links to) any additional resources, and a practical exercise that students should complete before coming to class. Finally, there is a short weekly quiz that students take as a way to check their progress.

Course outline

DF Course Outline.docx

Course materials

When running a flipped classroom setup, I believe it is important to provide students with a rich selection of high quality course materials, so that they have access to whatever they may need learn the relevant primary content. For this reason, I make a point of creating lecture videos that reference the slides, but are stand-alone videos in the sense that they are not narrated powerpoints.

Slides

Lecture 2_LCS121_Slides.pptx

Accompanying videos

Unit 2_LCS121_a.mp4

Practical exercises

Each lesson page has a practical exercise with questions for the student to attempt by themselves after engaging with the learning materials. Students are encouraged to complete the exercises before coming to class. The face-to-face lecture is then dedicated to working through the relevant lesson's practical exercise. This is guided by the students. In other words, I have no agenda other than to model the process of answering each question, and to pause as long as students require me to in order to address areas that they found challenging or problematic. Frequently, they will request that I do a similar problem with them for additional practice. I love the freedom that this teaching mode offers!

Practical 2b_2023

Tutorials

Tutors are required to participate in each face-to-face 'lecture' because it is essentially functions as the tutorial briefing. Tutors are encouraged to either work through the same exercise again in their tutorial classes, or to design their own, based closely on the exercise that the lecturer worked through in class. This depends on the tutor's preferences and the students' needs.

Student & tutor feedback

To see how students and tutors experience this mode of teaching, please visit the flipped classroom page.

Report abuse