Joshua Astill

Professor Kathleen Johnston

ENG 1200

Class Reflection Paper

This class was a very interesting view into how we speak languages. It was also interesting to go

back and get a refresher course on what we learned growing up during our elementary school

years. This class was nothing like I thought it was going to be. I thought it was going to be

another English class full of lectures and writing papers, but it was quite the opposite. I didnt

know that this class offered so much more than that.

Linguistics was a whole new concept to many of us that were taking this course. I

thought that linguistics was a course where I would be learning different languages and how

these langauges worked. For a small part it was like that, but mostly it was about how our

English language worked. What made the English language so unique. I loved learning about

semantics and phonology. I also thought it was interesting that English had so many different

unique sounds. We use every part of our mouth to speak our language and this is something that

is amazing to me.

I plan on teaching high school history, and studying linguistics was kind of a unique view

into how everything fits together. Learning about linguistics is important, because I can have a

small understanding about our language and how it makes us who we are as individuals. This is

an important aspect of our lives. Without our language, we would be dead inside. We would

have no identity or purpose. Our language is what defines us and this is important because we

can focus our energy and talent into learning our language and what it means to us.