My TA comment: While this is an interesting topic, I think it falls outside the scope of the class. You need to be looking at a speech community and the resources you cite are looking at different aspects of the interaction between music and language. Crucially, all of the music perspectives reflect groups of people that do not necessarily share a linguistic dialect or register. Perhaps refocus to an ethnolect associated with a music genre (i.e. AAVE and Hip Hop). The question perhaps you can think about is whether Hip Hop is redefining language, or if the language usage in the African American community as well as their tradition of linguistic creativity filters into Hip Hop. you may address include: What languages are now used in your chosen area? What educational opportunities are there (e.g., dual immersion, classes to support English language learning)? Are there language revitalization/maintenance efforts underway? What U.S. policies or cultural patterns have had a hand in the current state of the speech community? TOPPIC: Languages and Cultures of America Field Research Project: local communities and their language practices For this assignment,1 you will leave the UCSD area to learn more about one of the topics or speech communities we’ve talked about in this class. This is a two-part research paper which will involve performing some research on your field visit (i.e., your visit to some area outside of the UCSD campus) as well as further research into the speech community you have chosen. In our class, the focus is language and culture. The field visit will give you further insight into cultural and historical dimensions of an American community. The goal is to allow you to perform an in-depth exploration of a speech community that is of particular interest to you. By exploring San Diego County, you can situate the experiences we discuss in class within a more local perspective. Your additional research will then complement this with information on the sociolinguistic context of the community you have chosen. Some questions you may address include: What languages are now used in your chosen area? What educational opportunities are there (e.g., dual immersion, classes to support English language learning)? Are there language revitalization/maintenance efforts underway? What U.S. policies or cultural patterns have had a hand in the current state of the speech community? For this assignment, you will need to do the following: 1. Visit a relevant place of interest (the topic of your paper should be tied to an American context; for a non-exhaustive list of places you could visit, see page 3 of this document) 
 2. Write a short research paper in which you: a. Describe the location of your visit in detail (i.e. park, museum, etc.) 
 b. Discuss what you learned by visiting. 
 c. Explain how the place you visited is relevant to a course topic (incorporate course concepts) 
 d. Complement what you learned on your visit with further re ...

1. My TA comment:
While this is an interesting topic, I think it falls outside the
scope of the class. You need to be looking at a speech
community and the resources you cite are looking at different
aspects of the interaction between music and language.
Crucially, all of the music perspectives reflect groups of people
that do not necessarily share a linguistic dialect or register.
Perhaps refocus to an ethnolect associated with a music genre
(i.e. AAVE and Hip Hop). The question perhaps you can think
about is whether Hip Hop is redefining language, or if the
language usage in the African American community as well as
their tradition of linguistic creativity filters into Hip Hop.
you may address include: What languages are now used in your
chosen area? What educational opportunities are there (e.g.,
dual immersion, classes to support English language learning)?
Are there language revitalization/maintenance efforts
underway? What U.S. policies or cultural patterns have had a
hand in the current state of the speech community?
TOPPIC:
Languages and Cultures of America Field Research Project:
local communities and their language practices
For this assignment,1 you will leave the UCSD area to learn
more about one of the topics or speech communities we’ve
talked about in this class. This is a two-part research paper
which will involve performing some research on your field visit
(i.e., your visit to some area outside of the UCSD campus) as
well as further research into the speech community you have
chosen.
In our class, the focus is language and culture. The field visit
will give you further insight into cultural and historical
dimensions of an American community. The goal is to allow

2. you to perform an in-depth exploration of a speech community
that is of particular interest to you. By exploring San Diego
County, you can situate the experiences we discuss in class
within a more local perspective. Your additional research will
then complement this with information on the sociolinguistic
context of the community you have chosen. Some questions you
may address include: What languages are now used in your
chosen area? What educational opportunities are there (e.g.,
dual immersion, classes to support English language learning)?
Are there language revitalization/maintenance efforts
underway? What U.S. policies or cultural patterns have had a
hand in the current state of the speech community?
For this assignment, you will need to do the following:
1. Visit a relevant place of interest (the topic of your paper
should be tied to an American context; for a non-exhaustive list
of places you could visit, see page 3 of this document)
2. Write a short research paper in which you:
a. Describe the location of your visit in detail (i.e. park,
museum, etc.)
b. Discuss what you learned by visiting.
c. Explain how the place you visited is relevant to a course
topic (incorporate course concepts)
d. Complement what you learned on your visit with further
research (minimally 2 sources) on the sociolinguistic context
of the speech community.
Your report should consist of approximately 550-700 words (~ 2
double-spaced pages with 1-inch margins; 12-point font). This
word count does not include the appendix. The report will be
evaluated along the following dimensions (The remainder of
your grade will be based on the submission itself: whether you
submitted a report of the appropriate length, whether you
submitted all the required components, etc.)
3. Essay structure, grammar, and style. Introduction, body,
conclusion. Grammar and style should be formal and coherent.
4. Evidence of field-visit and field notes. Provide

3. photographic evidence of visit, and a scan of your field notes as
an appendix.
5. Information learned in the field. Describe the location.
Explore information and insights gathered on-site.
6. Incorporation of Course Concepts. Explain how the place
you visited is relevant to concepts covered in the course (lecture
material and class readings).
7. Sociolinguistic Research. Discuss relevant information on
the current sociolinguistic situation of the speech community.
8. Synthesis. Synthesize the information gathered: avoid lists
that hit each point above. Instead, tie these elements into a
larger cohesive narrative that draw connections between course
concepts, and information from your field research visit and
independent sources.
Some possibsle places to visit, though there are many, many
more places you can visit
On local Native American Communities: Museum of Man
http://www.museumofman.org/exhibits/kumeyaay-native-
californians/
Kumeyaay-Ipai Interpretive Center
http://www.friendsofthekumeyaay.org
Cupa Cultural Center & San Antonio de Pala mission &
Museum
http://www.palatribe.com/cupa-cultural-center
http://www.missionsanantonio.org Barona Cultural Center &
Museum https://www.baronamuseum.com/
Rincon Band of Luiseño Indians Museum
http://www.rincontribe.org/culture-history
On African Americans: San Diego History Center
http://www.sandiegohistory.org/exhibition/part-of-the-
patchwork/
On Asian American Experiences: San Diego Chinese
Historical Museum https://www.sdchm.org/ San Diego History
Center http://sandiegohistory.org/exhibition/letseat/
http://jahssd.org

4. On race and ethnicity:
Museum of Man
https://www.museumofman.org/exhibits/race-are-we-so-
different/
On Mexican American/[email protected] experiences: Chicano
Park
http://chicano-park.com/cpmap.html
http://www.chicanoparksandiego.com/
http://www.chicanoparkmuseum.org
Centro Cultural de la Raza
http://centroculturaldelaraza.com/
On Immigrant Experiences
New Americans Museum
http://newamericansmuseum.org/
Balboa Park International Cottages & Programs
http://www.sdhpr.org/