Project 2

Stories of Englishes with and in Communities Links to an external site.

Each group will choose a specific linguistic lens to do community-engaged research into the language practices of a specific community (from the UW campus, Seattle, online, etc). The language lenses are:  Phonology, Morphology, Grammar , Syntax, Semantics, Language Acquisition , Embodiment and animacy , and Linguistic landscapes. 

To do that, we must ground the research in the specific realities of language communities, such as “Tik Tok Gen Z users”, “Latinx/Chicanx speakers in the Seattle area”, international students at UW, speakers of Black English, Asian Americans, LGBTQI+ groups, researchers of a specific field, speakers of other Englishes, speakers of Chinglish, etc. Basically, any community that has claimed a specific linguistic identity for themselves, with expressions, grammars, etc. that define them. We must consider researching in responsible and accountable rather than extractive ways.  

You will work on investigating what language is like in that community and how the community relates to English. For your research, you will:

1. Focus on a research topic covered by the linguistic area you selected. For example, if it is morphology, you might want to focus on answering the following question: what are the most common morphological processes of derivation in Chicanx language and how do they support the linguistic identity of the community? Or, if it is semantics, you might investigate “what are the conceptual metaphors most commonly used in Tik Tok communication and how do they function? 
2. Collect data from at least 2 different situations or contexts to make sure you have, at least, 4 examples to talk about. Some ways of collecting data include:

• Finding language/writing samples online or in spaces open to the public (stores, train stations, on the street, museums, educational materials, textbooks, literature, music, news media, magazines, recipes, grocery lists, menus, class notes, podcasts, movies, documentaries, etc.) 
• Interviewing /surveying people who belong to that community about their language experiences 

The project will involve presenting your research in class on the day when the readings for that topic are due. Your presentation will last 30-40 mins, and in it you will:

1. Introduce the linguistics area as well as the main concepts that are relevant to your project, referencing the readings and giving examples. 
2. Define and explain the central question/topic you have investigated 
3. Explain how you all went about investigating such a topic: what community or group of people did you choose and why? How does each one of you come to the project and what is your relationship to the community? Why did you choose this language community? How did you approach them ethically to avoid extractive research? Did you get consent? How? What data did you collect? From where? What examples did you identify from the data? 
4. Walk us through the examples and how they help you to understand the language of the community;
5. A wrap up section about what you learned about Englishes by doing this research and the implications of this research for your future careers;

Try to engage the audience throughout your presentation as much as possible, for example, by embedding an activity in your presentation. 

We will also do a short Q&A after your presentation. 

Deliverables

1. Class presentation (the slides) - one per group
2. A one page (single spaced) memo where each person talks about their contributions to the project: how did your positionality and experiences inform your work, personally? What tasks did you complete? What did you learn by doing this project? 

Due dates: please check the calendar to know when your presentation is due. The memos are due on Canvas at 2 pm the day of your presentation. 

Assessment: 20 points

1. Do you show a clear understanding of the area of research? Did it come across clearly in the presentation? 3 points 
2. Did you identify a central question or topic to investigate? Did you explain it clearly? 4 points 
3. Did you collect data from at least 2 situations and used at least 3 examples in your presentation? Did those examples illustrate your understanding of the topic? 5 points 
4. Did you keep in mind how to conduct research in ethical ways rather than in an extractive manner? 3 points 
5. Did your memo speak about your personal contributions and independent learning experiences? 5 points