Linguistics 20: Hints on how to study
Bruce Hayes
Department of Linguistics
UCLA
People sometimes ask advice on how to study for Linguistics 20. Here are my suggestions.
Show up to class. Yes indeed, the text often matches the class pretty closely. But here is my own perspective: I find that I understand academic journal articles more easily if I've already heard the author give the same paper orally at a conference. The same principle might work for you, too.
Read the text. It is more complete and carefully done than the lectures.
Print out the text chapters don't try to read them on screen. There's now quite a bit of research that supports this recommendation; see in particular this nice article from Scientific American . I also think you should print the chapters in full size, not two sides to a page.
The text is filled with Socratic questions (a Socratic question is named after Socrates, the ancient Greek philosopher who famously tried to get his students to arrive at the answer themselves). When you read, answer all the Socratic questions yourself, on your yellow pad. Avoid the temptation to look ahead to the answer.
Scribble comments and questions in the margins of the readings. Then bring these questions to class or to office hours.
Study the derivations (places where rules are applied to forms) with
particular care. This can be done at various levels; the most intensive
approach is this:
Find friends to study with. Don't do all your studying in groups, since you have to prove to yourself that you know the material. But talking it over with friends is often quite helpful. Note: be very careful that you don't copy each other's homework, even by accident; the Ling. 20 staff will prosecute all such cases. For safety in this matter, do your write-up alone.
Visit tomb-like, serious places when you study the hardest material. UCLA's big library, the Young Research Library (YRL), is good for this. Try the upper floors, or the Reference Area (glassed off region on your left as you come in.)
Earplugs. Quiet is hard to find these days, and yelling at those rude cell phone users can be counterproductive. Not to endorse a product or anything, but I find that the cylinder-shaped 3MTekk earplugs are very quiet and comfortable. Look for them in hardware stores or on line.
Further suggestions for this page are welcome; send them to me at bhayes@humnet.ucla.edu.
Link: my web page of scientific articles about learning
Last modified October 16, 2018