Overview

This module will introduce students who have covered little or no linguistics before to the core elements involved in the scientific study of language namely, structure, meaning and sound. Each of these three broad topics will be covered by four two-hour lectures plus two one hour seminar.

Although the topics will be introduced at an introductory level, the sessions will also include specifc studies illustrating how linguists think and undertake linguistic research, teaching you not only what is studied in linguistics but how to think like a linguist.

Students in this module, depending on assessment topics, research question(s) and methodologies will have to opportunity to utilize the department labs, specialized software and resources, when carry out their assessments. This can include access to and the use of; a professional grade sound isolation booth and high-end recording equipment setup, high-level statistical modelling and analysis software, acoustic and phonetic analysis software and a wide range of concordance software and specialised corpora for many languages.

Lectures are organized into three broad units: structure (i.e morphology and syntax); meaning (i.e semantics and pragmatics); and sound (i.e. phonetics, phonology). These units introduce students to the study of how sounds, words and sentences are made, produced, comprehended, categorized and understood. Students will also learn how they are discussed theoretically and presented/ described in the field of modern linguistics.

In terms of phonetics it will concentrate on some of the general principles involved in speech production and how to articulate and transcribe the sounds in the IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) chart. With respect to phonology it will look at how sound systems are structured (alternations and phonotactics) and how speakers’ phonological knowledge can be described and represented. With respect to morphology, it will provide students with the core descriptive terminology and with some of the analytical tools and diagramming techniques that are used in the investigation of morphology (the structure of words). It will also look at a range of different morphological systems across languages. For syntax, the unit will provide students with the core descriptive terminology and with some of the analytical tools and diagramming techniques that are used in the investigation of the structure of sentences and the different types of sentence constructions and functions. It will also make students aware of some of the main theoretical differences that currently underlie studies of sentence level grammar. With respect to semantics, the unit will explore how meaning is created and described. The unit will first examine words and concepts, including how words and concepts relate to each other via relations such as synonymy, antonymy, hyponymy. Secondly the unit will examine sentence meaning and relations between sentences such as entailment and contradiction. Finally, the pragmatics unit will examine the role of context with respect to how people make sense of each other linguistically. The topics covered will include the following; examining the interface between semantics, and pragmatics, deixis, presupposition, conversational implicature, speech acts and speech act classification, politeness. The module concludes with a brief discussion of how some of these topics relate to issues in bilinguialism.

The module will take a broadly consensual perspective, but will address, where relevant, controversies and points of contention in the study of language. The module will provide hands on training in conducting linguistic analysis of language data.

Students in this module, depending on assessment topics, research question(s) and methodologies will have to opportunity to utilize the department labs, specialized software and resources, when carry out their assessments. This can include access to and the use of; a professional grade sound isolation booth and high-end recording equipment setup, high-level statistical modelling and analysis software, acoustic and phonetic analysis software and a wide range of concordance software and specialised corpora for many languages.

Assessment Strategy

-threshold -C (50 - 59%): The answer must address the question. The answer must show a basic knowledge and understanding of the relevant key areas and principles of the foundational theories, constructs and methodologies of Linguistics. The student must show evidence of being able to apply the principles to the analysis of language and linguistic examples and/or data. The answer must show evidence of some background study. -good -B (60 -73%): The answer must be focussed and structured. The answer must show a better-than-average standard of knowledge and understanding of the foundational theories, constructs and methodologies of Linguistics. The linguistic examples used in the answer may be based upon examples from the literature but must also include original examples. The answer must show evidence of background study with at least some from primary sources. -excellent -A (74 - 100%): The answer must be highly focused and well-structured, free from irrelevant material and errors of spelling and punctuation.The answer must show comprehensive knowledge and detailed understanding, and demonstrate the ability to apply concepts clearly, accurately and in depth.The answer must show advanced ability in all of the learning outcomes. The answer must show substantial evidence of detailed interpretation and critical thinking, and the ability to make new links between topics and/or a new approach to a problem. The answer must show evidence of extensive background study beyond basic texts.

Learning Outcomes

• Analyse natural language data in the core areas of phonetics, phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics and pragmatics using the appropriate technical terminology.

• Engage with, compare and criticise key theoretical underpinnings and controversies relating to natural language analysis, including issues surrounding multi/bilingualism

• Identify and evaluate primary and advanced level sources relating to natural language analysis.