Troi Carleton

Troi seemed more concerned with herself than how the students were doing. I got an A but it wasn't from what she taught, it was from what I entered the class already knowing. If I hadn't had an advanced background going in I would have been lost. I think there are better options out there, you can learn more with less pointless busy work, and certainly with less anxiety. Troi is anxious and conveys this condition to her students.

Eng. 425 taught by Troi was a nightmare. She wanted us to come up with topics for our research assignment but offered little guidance and tools for the process. She was often moody and dare I say scaathing to certain "ethnicities" in the class- watch out, if you are a minority in class let this be a reminder to stay away and take someone else!!! When I asked her for help on narrowing my research topis she ddin't offer any guidance!! and yet she kept emphasizing on how we should email and talk to her. She contradicts herself a lot of times, she plays a certain role in class but out of class she is a b&^%$ from Hell and will offer little to no help or advice when asked of her!!! This class was one of those mental masturbation courses; full of jargon and lacking in substance. So there are stereotypes attached to accents and dialects; we can be hypocrites and talk about how it's wrong, but when the prof. actually succumbs to these stereotypes, what does it say about the class and the materials that she's presenting?? It's absolutely useless,, it's one of those pat yourself in the backs I think I'm empowering myself bullshit by saying how things are wrong but not really correcting or DELVING into the subject matter!! Once everyone walks out the door the stereotypes continue and pple such as this professor continue to perpetrate and label stereotypes and project certain attitudes on certain groups. What a joke. This class is not about solving or looking at issues, and frankly if this is socio-lllinguistics then it's just another one of those useless observations that someone tried to make out for their tenure-ship. Please, if you want to learn about how cultures interact, then you have to look at yourself and your attitudes towards EVERYONE YOU ENCOUNTER AND ASK YOURSELF WHY YOU THINK THE WAY YOU DO ABOUT THE PPLE YOU MEET. IT CAN GET UGLY BUT THIS IS WHAT SOCIOLINGUISITICS SHOULD BE ABOUT!~

It's true that professor Carleton has high expectations, and if you aren't up for a heavy load of readings each week (and homework, in the case of ENG422) don't take her class. If you do make it through her courses, however, you will be rewarded: I feel that I have a real command over the material she has taught me, and that I am prepared to do original research in those areas as a result. I probably would not recommend her to undergrads just looking for an elective (unless you take it CR/NC), but if you're a student of language studies/linguistics, and/or if you feel like you belong at a better, more demanding school than SFSU, you'll get a lot from taking her classes!

When you take any of Prof. Carleton's classes, you will learn a lot. She might be a little tough, or when you first attend one of her classes, the assignments might sound crazy, but don't worry. She'll help you. Of course, as a student you need to pay attention to her lectures, take good notes, and do homework. And if you do all that, you'll be fine. You will end your semester knowing that you've actually learned something. She is one of the best instructors at SF State. One more thing, if you are having problems with her class(es), go talk to her. She'll help you.

Dear fellow student, Dr Carleton has high standards for you and for herself. She is knowledgable but be prepared for mood swings. When follow Dr. Miguel Ruiz four agreements; Don't take anything personally Be impeccable with you mouth Don't make assumptions, Communicate clearly Always do your best You'll be fine. And you'll learn a lot!

Prof. Carleton appears to be a nice person and she may have been very stressed last semester but the course was an absolute nightmare from the beginning. The homework took up to 10-15 hours per week and she gave limited guidance on the assignments. At times it appeared she did not know the material herself. The final was insane in the sense that what she told the class to concentrate on was not what was actually on the test. When she had to leave the course early she appeared to have no empathy for students they were having difficulty and provided no way of discussing these difficulties with the exception that she stated we could read more from a collection of books in the library. I would not take a class from Prof. Carleton again.

Prof. Carleton is said to be an excellent teacher in her linguistics seminars and sociolinguistics classes, but do NOT take her for History of English unless you are prepared for a potential nightmare. The text is often ambiguous and confusing, yet it is the primary basis for homework assignments which on average take a minimum of 10-15 hours per week to complete. Homework makes up a large proportion of your grade, so this groundwork is very important. Class content focuses mostly on technical aspects of language change in English and does not draw much from literature as a primary source, which is unfortunate (especially for the literature majors who make up a majority of the class). The only students who seemed to fare well were the ones who already had a strong linguistics background, particularly in phonology (Eng 424). The prof. was difficult to get ahold of, and her office hours were frequently booked several weeks in advance, so it was hard for students who needed individual help to get it. Proceed with caution!

Carleton's Sociolinguistics class is excellent. She packs an enormous amount of material into her lectures, and her presentations are clear, informative, and interesting. She has high standards for students, but is also kind and realistic and will go the extra mile to help students who are having trouble in class if they seek her out for help. Besides the midterm and final, the major assignment is an original research project--not library research, real field research--she shows you, step by step, how to do this. Her section is more academically and linguistically oriented than some others; if you plan to go on in linguistics, I recommend you take hers. The course reader can be difficult at times because it is full of articles from professional journals (not watered down textbook language -- real work by real linguists): Be sure to do the readings as scheduled so you can ask questions about them in class. If you go to class regularly, take good notes, and do all the background readings, the exams are not difficult. You will work hard in her class, but you will learn a lot!