Your finished essay will be between 2 – 3 pages long, double-spaced, with 10-12
Your finished essay will be between 2 – 3 pages long, double-spaced, with 10-12 pt font and 1″ margins.
For THIS essay you will be asked to give a list of references (or the sources you consulted) at the end of your essay. You do not need to use in-text citation as this well become very cumbersome. You may use whichever style for your references you are most familiar with as I have no preference, just as long as you are consistent. If you’ve never had to list references before, then I suggest you use a readily available style for which there are lots of online tools, for example APA (American Psychological Association). However, please bear in mind that only a small portion of your grade will hinge on how perfectly you list your references. It’s good to do these properly but over-emphasis detracts from the ACTUAL TASK at hand, which is to give an account of language and culture, not to show off your reference skills.
The second assignment will draw mostly on insights from the text and lecture on
WEEK 5: CULTURE, THOUGHT AND HUMAN LANGUAGE
WEEK 6: THE SOCIAL LIFE OF LANGUAGE
WEEK 7: LANGUAGE THROUGH TIME (a small amount)
You will write an essay focusing on language in a community of practice.
Preparing your essay:
Over the course of a few days, write down words and phrases that are associated with a SEMANTIC DOMAIN (Clothing) that you choose. You may choose a hobby or pastime you enjoy (sewing/baseball/playing video games). You may also choose a domain like health or clothing, something where you have a solid vocabulary but where there may be other terms with which you are less familiar.
Add to this a survey of news sources and social media to see if there are additional words to add to the ones you thought of. Look at at least threedistinct sources. Include here any technical and or health vocabulary that you encounter. Were there any words in these sources that you missed or was your own list the same as the variety of works being circulated in public media?
Make a note of where you came across these additional words and phrases – these will go in your list of references when you write up your findings.
Try to find out if the terminology in this domain has changed. If you chose clothing, for example, are there words for clothing that are no longer in use? What new ones are there. Do this for your domain, again using internet sources.
Think about Ahearn’s definition of a community of practice and as you track down vocabulary, think of the contexts in which these words are encountered and used.
Writing the essay – answer all questions. You can organize the material into sections or just write a sequence of paragraphs.
**PLEASE WRITE THIS ON THE SEMANTIC DOMAIN OF CLOTHING, also this should be from the perspective of a 22 year old female college student**
PART A.
What are the most important words and phrases that you would want to include in the “semantic domain” that chose?
Has the domain changed much over time? How much time?
PART B.
Can you map specific words and phrases on to communities of practice? Think here of how many words are widely understood and how many are only known by a few people who are immersed in the domain.