Undergraduate Course: Syntactic Theory and English Syntax (LASC10065)
Course Outline
School |
School of Philosophy, Psychology and Language Sciences |
College |
College of Humanities and Social Science |
Course type |
Standard |
Availability |
Available to all students |
Credit level (Normal year taken) |
SCQF Level 10 (Year 3 Undergraduate) |
Credits |
20 |
Home subject area |
Language Sciences |
Other subject area |
None |
Course website |
None |
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Course description |
This course offers an integrated approach to the theoretical and descriptive study of the English language. It deals mostly with syntax, touching on morphological and semantic issues as necessary.
Students are expected to have a mature attitude toward language and toward academic work, but very little specific prior knowledge is assumed. The primary aim of the course is to offer a broad survey of the syntactic constructions of Standard English in a mode that is very largely neutral between different theories of syntax. The secondary aim is to discuss some of the issues in syntactic theory that hinge on particular points -- in other words, to consider what the constructions found in Standard English might tell us about human language more generally. In addition, the course offers occasional discussion of the failings of traditional analyses of English grammar, and of some of the flagrantly unreasonable prescriptive claims that have marred traditional presentations of English grammar over the past 250 years. |
Information for Visiting Students
Pre-requisites |
Visiting students should have at least 3 Linguistics/Language Sciences courses at grade B or above (or be predicted to obtain this). We will only consider University/College level courses. |
Prospectus website |
http://www.ed.ac.uk/studying/visiting-exchange/courses |
Course Delivery Information
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Delivery period: 2010/11 Semester 1, Available to all students (SV1)
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WebCT enabled: Yes |
Quota: None |
Location |
Activity |
Description |
Weeks |
Monday |
Tuesday |
Wednesday |
Thursday |
Friday |
Central | Lecture | | 1-11 | | | | | 15:00 - 15:50 | Central | Lecture | | 1-11 | | | | 15:00 - 15:50 | | Central | Lecture | | 1-11 | | 15:00 - 15:50 | | | |
First Class |
Week 1, Tuesday, 15:00 - 15:50, Zone: Central. Lecture Theatre 4, Appleton Tower |
Additional information |
Class location: Lecture Theatre 4, Appleton Tower |
Summary of Intended Learning Outcomes
On completion of the course, students will be able to:
- accurately describe and analyse primary data from English
- relate data explicitly to principles of syntax
- independently formulate and test hypotheses
- construct and evaluate syntactic argumentation |
Assessment Information
Coursework (30%)
1 two hour written examination (70%) |
Please see Visiting Student Prospectus website for Visiting Student Assessment information |
Special Arrangements
Not entered |
Contacts
Course organiser |
Mr Geoffrey Pullum
Tel:
Email: gpullum@ling.ed.ac.uk |
Course secretary |
Ms Stephanie Fong
Tel:
Email: S.Fong@ed.ac.uk |
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copyright 2010 The University of Edinburgh -
1 September 2010 6:12 am
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