The target audience for this essay is people who do not have much experience with languag
Response Paper 1 Guidelines
Dr. Colley
NAS/SOAN 331
Due 2-3-2021
Summary: The first part of this course focuses on the question of What is at stake? with respect to major issues that arise in the context of language endangerment. As part of this query, we have read and talked about scientific, cultural, ecological, political, and other concerns associated with the current trend of global language shift. This assignment is intended to help you think through these issues, to aid you in identifying common themes and differences among the readings, and to give you practice in relating the issues to others. Your task for this assignment is to answer the question What is at stake? in the form of an essay. How you do this is up to you, but you’re encouraged to think about the main points of each reading in order to plan your arguments. The target audience for this essay is people who do not have much experience with language endangerment or revitalization.
Point value: 15 points (15% of course grade; see syllabus for policy on late submissions) Length: This assignment entails writing a unified essay (not a list of points) of 1000-1500
words of the main text – i.e., not including your name, the date, and bibliography (Chicago/MLA/or APA citations) Format: Please double-space the main text.
Integration of readings: A major goal of this assignment is for you to show mastery of the concepts in the course readings and to demonstrate an ability to connect those readings to each other. Your essay thus must include explicit integration, with citations, of at least four of the readings from the first part of the class. “Integration” entails using information, insights, or specific examples from reading to make your own points. When referencing specific readings, be sure to include citations, and if you’re referencing a quotation or specific fact, the page number(s).
Regarding general issues that have arisen in similar classes in the past:
Book titles are italicized, but titles of individually-authored chapters in edited volumes and journal article titles go in quotation marks (without italics) – e.g.: When Languages Die (Harrison, 2007) vs. “What my Hualapai language means to me” (Clarke, 1996). However, the author’s last name plus the year of publication is plenty; it is normally redundant to list full titles. Here is an example of what you might write: Harrison (2007) highlights concerns about the loss of scientific knowledge …
Please exclude extraneous commentary about the class or the readings (e.g., I was sitting in a café when I read Hinton (2011) – unless it’s relevant to your arguments.
Do not misspell authors’ names (check each one carefully), and on a related note,
Your essay is intended to be a final draft, so it should be carefully revised and edited.
