The internet has completely changed the way we live our lives. More than ever before, we are able to connect with people from around the world from the comfort of our phone screens. As you might expect, this has changed the way we talk–a lot. In this class, we will explore the relatively young field of internet linguistics as well as explain linguistics topics through analyzing phenomena in internet communication that you may already be familiar with. How does the introduction of the internet support or contradict existing linguistic theories? What is a meme, and what insights can they provide into our language and culture? What is “gen-Z slang,” and why is it like that? Why is my American child speaking with an Australian accent? We will look for answers to these questions and more by reading contemporary research articles as well as gathering primary data from your very own social media feeds. No background in linguistics is necessary for success in this class, but it will be useful!

Course Expectations and Grade Breakdown:

● Attendance (5 points per meeting * 13 meetings = 65 points or 43% of total)
○ We like having you around. Please come to class. If you miss a class,
include a short summary of the lecture based on the slides (or ask a
friend!) at the top of the adjoining assignment to get attendance points back.

We care a lot about your (and our) mental and physical health - if you cannot physically come into class on a given day, we can accommodate joining via Zoom! If you join online, we ask that you still include a short summary of the lecture at the top of the adjoining assignment.

● Assignments (5 points each * 10 assignments = 50 points or 33% of total)
○ Assignments consist of finding and performing a short (2-3 sentence) analysis on a piece of internet culture or language–found either “in the wild” or made by you–based on what was learned in the lecture and readings in the previous week.

● Readings
○ Readings consist of a weekly text, podcast, or video that will prepare you to understand and analyze the material we discuss in the next class.

● Final Project (35 points or 23% of total)
○ The final project is a two page writeup that takes a piece of internet language and analyzes it through a linguistics lens with the techniques learned in the class.

● Final Presentation (Optional)
○ We encourage, but do not require, everyone to present their analyses of their chosen internet language item to their classmates at the end of the course.

There is an application to enroll in the DeCal. The application is due on January 21, 2024 at 11:59 pm.