Unit name | Introduction to Linguistics |
---|---|
Unit code | MODL23013 |
Credit points | 20 |
Level of study | I/5 |
Teaching block(s) |
Teaching Block 1 (weeks 1 - 12) |
Unit director | Dr. James Hawkey |
Open unit status | Not open |
Pre-requisites |
This unit cannot be taken by students who are studying GERM29004 The Structure of German |
Co-requisites |
None |
School/department | School of Modern Languages |
Faculty | Faculty of Arts |
The field of Linguistics studies human languages with an aim to understand its underlying structures and principles, both within any given language and comparatively across related and unrelated languages. In this unit we will study Language, i.e. the cognitive system steering the processing of linguistic in- and outputs of our native and any foreign languages we use, by learning about principal analytical tools in the fields of phonology, morphology, and syntax. We will draw from examples from a wide range of languages though principally from European ones, including English. Students will learn how do analyse complex utterances and divide them up into meaningful units, and compare similarities and differences across languages
Aims:
The unit aims to introduce students to the formal aspects of the linguistic description and analysis develop an understanding of the differences between language as a means of communication and a formal system of interacting components gain an overview of the field of systemic linguistics and its practical applications inspire students to work further, and independently, in this and other fields enhance students’ foreign language skills, close reading skills and powers of analysis, research and presentation.
The unit will develop:
2 weekly seminars.
one 2000 word essay and one 2 hour exam (50%/50%)
Poole, Stuart. 1999. An Introduction to Linguistics. Basingstoke: Macmillan.
Fromkin, Victoria et al. 2007. An Introduction to Language. Boston: Wadsworth.