Studying Language in Vivo:
Russian Linguistic and Cultural Heritage in Alaska
Instructor: Mira Bergelson
Course description:
Language, as seen by modern linguistic approaches, is a multifaceted phenomenon
belonging to the three realms of human existence: biological, psychological, and social. If
we want to understand how it functions, we need to view it not as an object, but as an
activity. The activity that brings together all the three mentioned constituents is
communication. The central concept in studying communication is “context”, as most if
not all features of the communication process are determined by various contexts in
which it occurs. In order to construct and reconstruct meanings as it happens in
communication, in order to be able to describe the language as means of this
communication process, we need to be able to fill out all the contextual gaps: who, when,
where, why or what for, and how.
In this course we will answer these questions within a specific case study that
demonstrates various directions of linguistic research when studying language ‘in vivo’.
The case study deals with a project to compile a dictionary of an endangered language
dialect - Alaskan Russian – and is aimed at preserving cultural and linguistic heritage of
the Russian America.
It is based on fieldwork and demonstrates how culture and physical context (history of
the region) may shape linguistic form and influence the lexicon via borrowings and other
processes.
The course can be seen as an ‘alternative introduction to multidisciplinary studies of
Language’ and aims at providing information on both linguistic and intercultural
communication data and methods. To that end, an Intercultural Collaboration Project
aimed at solving a linguistic problem is introduced in this course.
1. Requirements: Motivation to learn about verbal communication functions, good
knowledge of English.
2. Course activities: Lectures, individual and group research projects, selected readings,
presentations of research project findings.
3. Evaluation: participation in the course activities (ongoing), analytical summary of the
assigned readings, presentations of the research projects, final exam.
4. Course structure: The course consists of three logical parts: Introduction (lectures),
Projects (lectures and seminars), Individual and group research.
5. Literature:
5.1. Assigned Reading:
Scollon, R. and Scollon, S. B. K. (2001). Intercultural communication : a discourse
approach. Malden, Mass., Blackwell Publishers. (selected chapters available
electronically)
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8.
What is a Discourse Approach
How, When, and Where to Do Things with Language
Interpersonal Politeness and Power
Conversational Inference: Interpretation in Spoken Discourse
Topic and Face: Inductive and Deductive Patterns in Discourse
Ideologies of Discourse
What is Culture? Intercultural Communication and Stereotyping.
Using a Discourse Approach to Intercultural Communication
5.2. Additional:
Agar, Michael. (1996). Language Shock: Understanding the Culture of Conversation.
Harper Paperbacks. 288 p. (selected chapters available from the instructor)
Bergelson, Mira and Kibrik, Andrej. The Ninilchik variety of Russian: Linguistic heritage
of Alaska. Slavica Helsingiensia 40: Instrumentarium of Linguistics. Sociolinguistic
Approaches to Non-Standard Russian, Helsinki 2010, p. 299-313
Беликов В.И., Крысин Л.П. (2001). Социолингвистика. Учебник для вузов. Москва:
Рос. гос. гуманит. ун-тю 2001. 439 с.
Перехвальская Е.В. Русские пиджины. СПб.: Алетейя, 2008.
6. Course schedule:
6.1. Lecture topics:
January 21 – February 4: Introduction to the Course
February 18 – March 11: Ninilchik Russian project
April 1 – April 22: Cross-cultural Analysis of Narratives
May 13 – June 3: Russian Stories Project
6.2. Intercultural Collaboration Project Borrowed Words Reflect Culture
(see another file)
January 28 – April 29 – including assignments
6.3. Research project Ninilchik Russian
May 13 – June 10
7. Grading:
7.1. Participation in the course activities -- 15%
Includes assigned readings and taking part in the video conferences
7.2. Research projects – 60 %
7.2.1. Borrowed Words Reflect Culture – 30 %
7.2.2. Ninilchik Russian Transcription and Analysis– 30 %
7.3. Final exam – 25 %
- Home essay on the topic from the assigned readings
- Presentation of the results from the Ninilchik Russian Transcription and
Analysis project