Language, Health and Aging/U

 

Spring 2008            T 5.00-8.00    Fretwell 210  & CENTRA               Boyd Davis, boydhdavis@yahoo.com

http://www.english.uncc.edu/bdavis                                                       GRNT 4050/ENGL 4050

Campus Office 2.30-4.30 T and by appointment                                      Online Chat +/- audio by appointment           

http://library.uncc.edu/classes/name.php?l=Davis&f=Boyd&dept=library

           

Texts    Harwood, J. 2007. Understanding communication and aging. Sage

               deBot, K. & S. Makoni. 2005. Language and aging in multicultural contexts. Multilingua.

               Articles and chapters are accessible online, in the library, or through URLs

               Book chapters are on library electronic reserve; journals are available online (Novell)

               Microphone/earphone set (get USB if using a Lab for access) for CENTRA

               Nicenet membership:  http://www.nicenet.org  I will give you the KEY in class

 

Goals   Crosslisted as linguistics and gerontology, our class supports these goals: Define & understand interactions among language, health and aging across the lifespan; absorb international and transcultural perspectives on aging; explore and develop technology applications; apply major models for conversation, discourse, socioopragmatic and narrative analysis; identify socio-cultural aspects of cognitive/language development; explore ways to communicate across cognitive impairments; tailor individual project to personal objectives/interests.

 

Grades are based on:

30   3 short (45 min) tests: identification/short essay explaining term or concept

40   4 ‘e-labs’: email AND print versions. 3 of these will be keyed to transcripts/recordings from the

Carolinas Collection, sponsored by NLM/NIH and collected by UNCC students. Typically

            3 typed pages, tops (12 point, 1 inch margins, Times Roman); concepts previewed in class.

            Frames/positioning/involvement in transcript

            Conversation or discourse analysis of transcript  

            Narrative analysis of transcript

Photonovella Ppt Storyboard on some aspect of language interaction and aging or health

30    Weekly Nicenet postings: 1 posting about assigned reading, in response to question & 1 full response to a classmate

 

Policies

IRB Human Subjects Tutorial http://www.research.uncc.edu/tutorial/index3.cfm Either  furnish written evidence of having taken this or go online and take this by Week 3 (we work with some confidential and restricted material)

Multiculturalism We rejoice in variety and diversity

Plagiarism.  You are a professional. If you are concerned about how to research, create group reports, credit sources, annotate, observe copyright, and the like: please ask me to help.

Absence policy, or, What absences will do to you.  Each of our class meetings, whether face-to-face or on CENTRA, is the equivalent of a week’s daytime meetings. One absence from a night class is the equivalent of 3 daytime absences. More than that single absence, unexcused, from face-to-face meetings will result in the loss of 3 points per absence from your final grade. We will rotate speakers on CENTRA nights, and your full participation is expected.       

CENTRA policy: do at least one tutorial; join us for at least one practice session.  You’ll be mailed your logon. All CENTRA classes will be archived and saved for you to download. Go to  http://elearning.uncc.edu/Centra/ first, and browse links and tutorials, and then try http://centraone.uncc.edu/main/Tutorial/en/US/index.html for extra tutorials;

When-technology-fails policy: Chocolate helps. Email to tell me what is happening.

 

 

 

Calendar

You  will need microphone/earphones for Centra (USB is easiest to use in labs)

 

Date

Readings and due dates

Nice Net readings & tests

Jan 15

Overview; Harwood 1: Perspectives on Aging; CA tutorial (Antaki); highlights of language production

 

 

Jan 22

Harwood 2:  Communication Approach to Aging. Highlights, pragmatics: speech acts, positioning

 

Fought: Discourse features, pragmatics & ethnicity

Jan 29

Harwood 3: Stereotypes/Attitudes/Intergenerational. E-Lab 1: Frames/Position/Involvem’t in transcripts.

 

Norrick: Hunh-tags; Moore, Quilting narrative

Feb 5

Harwood 4: Aging/Identity/Attitudes in Inter-generational; highlights, discourse analysis

 

Pasupathi: Reflecting on life

Feb 12

Harwood 5: Intergenerational relationships, Harwood 6:  Intragenerational; highlights, politeness

 

Test 1

Feb 19

Harwood 7: Enhancing comm; highlights, metaphor

E-Lab 2: ConvAnal/DiscAnal of transcripts

 

Grundy-Henretta, Sandwich generation

Feb 26

Harwood 8: Mass Communication; Harwood 9: Media and the Adult

 

Norrick: Interactional remembering

Mar 11

Harwood 10: Culture/Communication/Aging; deBot 1; highlights Labov/Hymes on narrative analysis

 

Narrative ethics; Story formulations in talk

Mar 18

Harwood 11: Health/care; highlights, narr/discourse analysis; discourse markers. Preview, photonovelas

 

Test 2

Mar 25

deBot 4: Lang use/skills in healthy/impaired adults; highlights, pronouns and referentiality

 

Schiffrin, Language, experience, history: WWII

Apr 1

deBot 5: Resources, 6: multilingualism & dementia

E-Lab 3: Narrative analysis of transcripts

 

Presentation of self & symp-toms…non-English patients

Apr 8

deBot 7: Bilingual aging, African-Americans;

highlights, phonology/morphology and dialects

 

Study of doctors & patients

Apr 15

deBot 8: Age & education, Chinese in New York;

highlights, Cross-Cult anal; updates, photonovela

 

Test 3

Apr 22

deBot 9: epidemiology, North Manhattan aging study in NYC (and skim de Bot 10, conclusion)

 

Ryan, Communication beliefs about youth/old age

Apr 29

E-Lab 4: Photonovela: short version power point draft; Harwood 13 (conclusion & resources)

 

Nicenet forum closes.

May 6

Exam

 

Photonovela final version: Seminar; Test 4 as needed