About ELL 1O1

Instructor: Inés Vañó García
Class schedule: Tuesday 11:45-12:45 and Thursday 11:45-2
Email: ivano-garcia@lagcc.cuny.edu / ivanogarcia@gradcenter.cuny.edu
Office hours: I am available before & after class, please email me!

Because things improve only when people like you take action.
Because each student has the power to make a difference.
And because apathy, in some ways, is as dangerous as hate.
https://www.tolerance.org/
Course description
You are here white neon sign
John Baker
  • Does the way that we speak influence the way we interact with people?
  • How does the language or languages that we speak relate to our role in society?
  • How is language represented in the public sphere we live in?

In this class, “Introduction to Language,” we will explore how our languages and language practices influence the way we interact with people and how language relates to our role in society. We will learn about the linguistic diversity in the daily spaces we live in and how languages shape these public spheres: from a visual/written perspective (public road signs, advertising billboards, street names, place names, commercial shop signs, among other public signs) as well as from a speaking/aural one (interviews, music, background conversations). We will be critical researchers and creators of a digital storytelling that will investigate the multilingual and multiliterate sociolinguistic ecology of Queens.

Objectives:
  • Engage students in inquiry, research, writing, and reflection (individual and collaboratively)
  • Promote language skills, as well as visual and media literacy
  • Foster connections between curriculum content (inside the classroom) and students’ lived experiences (outside the classroom)
By the end of the semester, students are expected to be able to
  • Critically explain what it means to know a language
  • Explain ways in which language and society are related
  • Question how linguistic practices influence current socio-political issues
  • Develop and strengthen technology/computer skills using software that combines text, images, audio, and other media