Aims

To introduce the concepts and categories of syntax (constituent structure, hierarchy) and of semantics and pragmatics (meaning beyond the syntactic). This module will help establish a basic understanding of language structure and meaning with respect to developing the skills necessary for examining and describing linguistic data. This module will heighten metalinguistic awareness in a systematic way that will inform and enhance the sensitivity, accuracy, and clarity of the student's knowledge of language structure and meaning. The module will also help to develop students’ abilities to undertake syntactic, semantic and pragmatic analysis and argumentation. In developing students’ understanding of the applications of syntax, semantics and pragmatics in linguistic problem-solving, the module will provide a practical, analytical, and theoretical foundation for more advanced modules and independent study work handling these topics.

Outline Of Syllabus

The core of the module consists of laying out the foundations for the study of language, in particular syntax, semantics and pragmatics. Syntax concentrates on linguistic structure, in particular, the structure of phrases and sentences, which includes English sentence structure, involving syntactic structure, constituency, categories, displacement, complementation, etc. Semantics and pragmatics focus on meaning, such as those aspects of meaning that are determined by the syntax, as well as those aspects of meaning that go beyond the syntactic, including inference and conversational implicatures. This module will lay the foundations for more advanced modules such as sociolinguistic aspects of language and the acquisition of language.

Teaching Rationale And Relationship

Lectures deliver the basic concepts and principles involved, including their applications. All lectures deliver both analytical and practical tools for understanding language, its structure and its development. Small group seminars require the student to read ahead of the session and to undertake linguistic analysis of problem sets. These skills are also practised in advance of the seminar when data are examined and arguments are marshalled. The directed reading elements require the student to read the assigned materials carefully and to consider questions arising from the reading.

Assessment Rationale And Relationship

The assessment focuses on the student's ability to handle complex data sets and to argue for specific solutions to problems relating to language structure, including problems of an analytical and practical nature. The assessments also test the student's ability to write clearly, concisely and unambiguously in English of an appropriate style.