ENGL/LING 200 Introduction to Linguistics

 Next Taught: Spring 2027 (19 January-26 May, 2027)

This is an asynchronous course; there are no required regular class meetings. All of the work for the course will be done on Canvas. You must have reliable and regular access to the internet, and either the SMCCCD Canvas site. You must also check your my.smccd.edu email regularly, or forward it to one that you check regularly. If you need help with this, please go to Cañada's Virtual Campus website for a tutorial.

Note: There are no required class meetings...but I will be hosting a weekly Q&A session on Thursday mornings. Part of the participation grade for the course will involve regularly submitting questions and queries for these weekly Q&A sessions. The Zoom link will be posted in Canvas, and students are welcomed to join the sessions live--but they are not required!

ENGL 200 and LING 200 are the same course, but cross-listed; there is no difference between the two. (This is our only linguistics course, so it has to be housed in a department--the English department was kind enough to take us in!) English majors may want to take the course as ENGL 200, while social science majors may want to take it as LING 200; all other students should sign up for whichever section they wish.

 Course Outcomes and Topics Covered

The course has a series of modules that cover the following topics:

• Phonetics and Phonology

• Morphology and Word Formation

• Syntax

• Semantics and Pragmatics

• Sociolinguistics

• Historical Linguistics

• Cognitive Linguistics

• Language Acquisition

Upon completion of the course, students should expect to be able to do the following:

• Analyze language data and generalize language rules/description about the way languages work;

• Apply linguistic field methods to the collection and analysis of language data from native speakers; and,

• Examine language universals and their variations by language, social class, gender, age, ethnicity, geographic area, time and idiosyncratic usage.

Course Materials

This course is a Zero Textbook Cost course, as we use Open Educational Resource (OER) materials. The textbook is a remix of Essentials of Linguistics by Catherine Anderson (eCampus Ontario/LibreTexts), and will be supported with various articles, videos, and my own lecture materials. You can see the text for yourself, as it's freely available at LibreTexts: Essentials of Linguistics Remix 2.0. These will be incorporated into the Canvas course shell for the course. That means that you won't pay anything to access your course materials, no matter who you are nor where you live! All materials can be printed off, if needed, but they are designed to work seamlessly on Canvas. 

Syllabus

If you're curious about the course, please check out the syllabus below, which was last updated on 8 August 2025. While there will be changes in some key areas and updates in others, you can get a sense of what my syllabus for the course looks like from the previous one, which is below. If you have any questions, please email me directly.

Honors Contracts Available

Students in ENGL/LING are eligible to do an honors contract for the course. You do not have to be a Cañada student; the honors contract can be used for any community college's honors program. If interested, you must sign up for this by the second week of class via the Honors Intent Survey on Canvas.

Social Justice Themes

Throughout this course we will discuss aspects of social relevance in a variety of linguistic communities, including but not limited to social norms, political entities, socio-economic realities and social justice and injustice in language policies. You will be asked questions during class discussions when applicable, as well as in various assignment topics; you can include these items in your work throughout the semester. Due to the sensitivity of these topics, it is expected that you will conduct your discussions with respect and an open mind.

What Is an Asynchronous Course?

This course will be delivered in asynchronous modality; that means that there are no required class meetings. Canvas will be the main platform for communication and engagement for all asynchronous components of the course, including homework problem sets, discussions, writing assignments, and presentational videos. We'll also use LibreTexts' ADAPT platform to do some assignments, but you'll see those links in our Canvas course shell. Additionally, course materials are housed on LibreTexts, and will be provided via Canvas; if you wish to have a print copy of the text, you can either purchase it through LibreTexts or our Bookstore. 

Please remember that completing online work is scheduled throughout each week, and every week has required assignments. Thus, you are expected to review the course site regularly in order to check due dates and stay on top of course-related communications. These are some ways in which I will help make our Canvas site easy to navigate:

• There is an initial ‘In the beginning…’ module that has a variety of tools and explanations on how to do assignments;

• All assignments have clear descriptions with links to how-to guides and videos for more information on how to use the tools; and,

• I will have a Pronto ‘group chat’ for the class, where anyone can post questions to the entire class, and folks should help each other out with questions.

How Should I Prepare for This Course?

Because of the online nature of this course, all of the learning is done throughout the week with specific due dates—meaning that you have have a plan that you stick to each week. Online courses require students to put in much more time for this course than perhaps for in-person courses. Here are some strong suggestions to ensure your success in this course:

• To the best of your ability, try to work on the class in some way every day, or every-other day, for 1-2 hours per day. This includes reading the textbook, completing the exercises, and working on the other assignments on Canvas. 

• Make sure to stay prepared. That means that you need to read the required sections of the textbook, do the assignments, and bring your questions to class.

If you feel overwhelmed, please talk to me! Don’t just give up—online-only courses are difficult, and asynchronous courses sometimes feel like you are on your own. But that's not the case! We have a full array of student services available to you online and over the phone, including tutoring, academic counseling, personal counseling, and much more. Check out the list on the Virtual Campus site for more links to these services.

What Technology Do I Need for This Course? 

All students are expected to have consistent access to a working laptop or desktop computer and good internet connections, along with a working webcam on their laptop/desktop. This is part of preparing for class, and it includes using Canvas, reading material online, and communicating with class colleagues and instructors. While you can use a smartphone or a tablet to do some work and to read the textbook, it is not recommended to do so regularly.

Another part is to regularly check your my.smccd.edu email—at least once a day. If you need help learning how to use these tools, please let me know, or let the folks in the Library and/or Learning Center know.

If you do not have a laptop or desktop computer or a good high-speed Internet connection, then please go to our Library's Technology Services page and sign up for the Technology Loan Program. It's free!

This course will be asking students to use many apps and software—some of these may be familiar to you, but others may not be. Canvas will be where you can access these apps, although some may be easier accessed through an app on your smartphone. Please be advised that we will be using the following sites, software, and apps on a regular basis:

• ADAPT: This is the homework platform for LibreTexts. All activities that we do on there will be linked in our Canvas shell. Typically the weekly journal and self-check exercises will be done on ADAPT.

• Panopto: an enhanced video platform that works with the Zoom recordings to make them more dynamic and more accessible. We can also use Panopto to record videos for class assignments.

• Pronto: This instant messaging app is integrated through Canvas, meaning that you can send instant messages, group messages, and even set up video conferences to folks you are connected to through your courses. You can use the link in Canvas, or you can use the app on your smartphone.

• YouTube: used for various videos on grammar; there are links in our Canvas shell.

• Zoom: For those who are attending the Q&A sessions, this is how we will do it. There are links in our Canvas shell.

 Accessibility and Students Who Need Accommodations

To the best of my ability, all course materials and documents are created with accessibility in mind. If there is an issue, please let me know as soon as you can, and I will happily work with you and our Disability Resource Center (DRC) to address your concerns.

Students with accommodations should email their DRC Accommodation Memo to me (harmons@smccd.edu) at their earliest convenience. Once I receive your memo, I will ask to meet with you to walk through any concerns that you may have. Communication is key!

If you do not yet have an accommodation letter, or if you think you may need an accommodation but do not know the next steps, please contact the DRC Office at (650) 306-3259, or go to the DRC website for more information. If you typically take your courses at CSM or Skyline, or at any other college, please make sure you register your information with the Cañada DRC; your accommodations won't automatically transfer over unless you go through the DRC Office first.

How do I enroll in the course?

For those who are students at Cañada College, College of San Mateo or Skyline College, use WebSMART to register for either ENGL 200 (49290) or LING 200 (49291), whichever section is better for your educational plan.

Are you new to Cañada College? Then go to Cañada College's Apply and Enroll page to learn how to apply to the college and the steps you need to take to enroll in the course.