THIS COURSE WILL BE OFFERED IN SPRING 2009.

Some good links:

How Chinese characters evolved, work, and are misunderstood

EAL&L 683 SCRIPTS OF EAST ASIA

Call No. 02598-7

Time: MW 1:30–3:18

Classroom:  HH 046

1. Overview

This goal of this interdisciplinary course is to provide a critical response to well-known claims about the uniqueness of Chinese characters.  It begins with a consideration of the relationship between writing and language in general, emphasizing the primacy of speech in linguistic behavior.  Against this background, students learn about the history, structure, and use of the Chinese and “Sino-Xenic” (i.e. Japanese, Korean, and Vietnamese) writing systems.  These facts show that writing systems all over the world have more in common than the superficial differences among graphic form would lead one to think.   Despite this, however, false claims about Chinese characters have been highly influential in many different fields, including linguistics, psychology, pedagogical theory, literary and esthetic criticism, information technology, and public policy.  The remainder of the course is devoted to charting those influences and seeing how a correct understanding of East Asian writing systems helps to overcome the misunderstandings they cause. 

This course is aimed at students majoring in Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Linguistics, Comparative Studies, and disciplines in which semiology (semiotics) is central issue (e.g. Philosophy, Computer Science). Because of the heterogeneous background of students taking the course, it will be sufficiently general to accommodate undergraduates approaching graduation but demanding enough for graduate students.  It will consist of lectures and discussions that either clarify the operation of writing systems, both in general and in East Asia, or deal with the claims of uniqueness referred to above.  There are two required texts and on-line materials (see below), but students are expected read additional materials, which will be the basis for a research paper (in lieu of a final exam) of approximately 10 to 15 pages.  In this paper, the student will define a limited topic related to one the general themes of the course, and offers original comments based on research in documented sources.

Grades will be determined by class participation (35%), and the final paper (65%).  Final grades will be assigned to convey the instructor’s assessment of the student’s success and readiness to proceed to the next higher level of study:  D or E means the student is unready to take a more advanced course in the same subject, the difference being that a D recognizes effort by conferring credit; higher grades show that a student is qualified for more advanced study, and that the instructor believes s/he will easily excel (A), do well with effort (B), or experience considerable difficulty (C) if s/he chooses to do so.  Grades and quantitative evaluations of performance correspond as follows:

 

Points         Grade                    Points              Grade

92–100      A                           76–79              C+

89–91        A–                         72–75              C

86–88        B+                         69–71              C–

82–85        B                            66–67              D+

79–81        B–                          62–65              D

2. Syllabus

3/30

M

Introductory discussion

4/1

W

DeFrancis, Introduction and chs. 1–3

4/6

M

DeFrancis, 4–7; Supplement #13

4/8

W

DeFrancis chs. 8–9

4/13

M

Supplement ##0, 5 (skim)

4/15

W

DeFrancis ch. 10

4/20

M

Supplement #14

4/23

W

DeFrancis chs. 11–13; Supplement #10

4/27

M

DeFrancis chs. 14–15; Supplement #12

4/29

W

The Medium is the Massage side A

5/4

M

The Medium is the Massage side B

5/6

W

Unger chs. 1–2

5/11

M

Unger chs. 3–4

5/13

W

Supplement ##6–7

5/18

M

Supplement ##4, 8, 9

5/21

W

Unger chs. 5–6; Supplement #11

5/25

M

MEMORIAL DAY—NO CLASS

5/27

W

Unger chs. 7–8; Supplement ##1–3

6/1

M

Unger ch. 9

6/3

W

Review

3. Required materials

J. Marshall Unger, Ideogram:  Chinese characters and the myth of disembodied meaning (Honolulu:  University of Hawai'i Press, 2004). 

John DeFrancis, The Chinese language:  fact and fantasy (Honolulu:  University of Hawai'i Press, 1984).

            (Both ordered at SBX.)

Supplement to Ideogram (available on-line through CARMEN); selections number 0 to 14.

Marshall McLuhan, The Medium is the Massage (audio recording available on-line through CARMEN)

4. Recommended titles

Peter T. Daniels,  William Bright

The world's writing systems

P211 .W714 1996

John DeFrancis

Visible speech: the diverse oneness of writing systems

P211 .D36 1989

John DeFrancis

Colonialism and language policy in Viet Nam

JQ820.L3 D43 1977

Hubert L. Dreyfus

What computers still can't do: a critique of artificial reason

Q335 .D74 1992

Umberto Eco

The search for the perfect language

P106 .E2813 1995

Mary S. Erbaugh (ed.)

Difficult characters:  interdisciplinary studies  of Chinese and Japanese writing

Available in pbk at Foreign Language Publications, Hagerty Hall

Nanette [Twine] Gottlieb

Kanji politics: language policy and Japanese script

BL524.73 .G68 1995

Nanette [Twine] Gottlieb

Word-processing technology in Japan: kanji and the keyboard

Z52.4 .G68 2000

Wm. C. Hannas

Asia's orthographic dilemma

PL1171 .H37 1997

Roy Harris

Signs, language, and communication: integrational and segregational approaches

P90 .H384 1996

Roy Harris

Signs of writing

P211 .H353 1995

Joseph F. Kess,  Tadao Miyamoto

The Japanese mental lexicon: psycholinguistic studies of kana and kanji processing

PL513 .K46 1999

Young-Key Kim-Renaud

The Korean alphabet: its history and structure

PL918 .K67 1997

Robert K. Logan

The alphabet effect: the impact of the phonetic alphabet on the development of Western civilization

P211 .L73 1986

Ken Lunde

CJKV [Chinese-Japanese- Korean-Vietnamese] information processing

PL1074.5 .L86 1999

Victor H. Mair,  Yongquan Liu (eds.)

Characters and computers

PL1074.5 .C372 1991

Jerome L. Packard

The morphology of Chinese: a linguistic and cognitive approach

P1230 .P34 2000

Michel Paradis, Hiroko Hagiwara, Nancy Hildebrandt

Neurolinguistic aspects of the Japanese writing system

RC394.W6 P37 1985

Geoffrey Sampson

Writing systems: a linguistic introduction

P211 .S36

Christopher Seeley

A history of writing in Japan

PL545 .S35 1991

Richard Sproat

A computational theory of writing systems

P211.4 .S67 2000

Insup Taylor, David R. Olson (eds.)

Scripts and literacy: reading and learning to read alphabets, syllabaries, and characters

P211 .S42 1995

Insup Taylor,

M. Martin Taylor

Writing and literacy in Chinese, Korean and Japanese

PL1171 .T37 1995

Michael Toolan

Total speech:  an integrational linguistic approach to language

P106 .T666 1996

Nanette Twine

Language and the modern state: the reform of written Japanese

PL525.6 .T95 1991

J. Marshall Unger

The fifth generation fallacy: why Japan is betting its future on artificial intelligence

QA76.85 .U54 1987

J. Marshall Unger

Literacy and script reform in occupation Japan: reading between the lines

PL549 .U45 1996

 

5. General Reminders 

Disability Services

Students with disabilities that have been certified by the Office for Disability Services will be appropriately accommodated, and should inform the instructor as soon as possible of their needs. The Office for Disability Services is located in 150 Pomerene Hall, 1760 Neil Avenue (telephone 292-3307, TDD 292-0901). For additional information, access

http://www.ods.ohio-state.edu

 

 

Academic Misconduct

“It is the responsibility of the Committee on Academic Misconduct to investigate or establish procedures for the investigation of all reported cases of student academic misconduct. The term ‘academic misconduct’ includes all forms of student academic misconduct wherever committed; illustrated by, but not limited to, cases of plagiarism and dishonest practices in connection with examinations. Instructors shall report all instances of alleged academic misconduct to the committee.”  (Faculty Rule 3335-5-487) For additional information, access the Code of Student Conduct at

http://studentaffairs.osu.edu/resource_csc.asp

 
 

Last Updated 10 April 2009 by J. Marshall Unger