Learning Objectives

Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to:

• Demonstrate understanding of fundamental perspectives on language in communication; use theories and concepts to analyze human behavior.
• Identify and appraise various approaches to language, their methodologies, and implications.
• Analyze features of conversational organization, such as turns and action sequences.
• Analyze how we accomplish basic everyday activities in conversation (e.g., story-telling, complaining, and blaming) and their implications for interpersonal relationships.
• Analyze how nonverbal behaviors contribute to communication.
• Demonstrate proficiency in using evidence to study and understand everyday communication processes.
• Create detailed transcriptions from tapes of ordinary talk.
• Analyze recordings and transcripts of ordinary talk in order to describe how conversational activities are accomplished.