Undergraduate Course: Language Variation and Change (LASC10102)
Course Outline
| School | School of Philosophy, Psychology and Language Sciences |
College | College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 10 (Year 3 Undergraduate) |
Availability | Available to all students |
| SCQF Credits | 20 |
ECTS Credits | 10 |
| Summary | This course will approach the topic of language variation and change. The course content will focus on language internal factors on variation, as well as providing practical experience in doing quantitative variation analysis in R, which should prove useful for many students' dissertations. |
| Course description |
Just like every other area of linguistics you study, speakers' knowledge of linguistic variation is complex, and structured. In this course, you'll learn about how quantitative probabilities can be combined with linguistic theories in order to understand language variation, with a focus on language internal factors.
Specifically you will learn
- how researchers model linguistic variation using variable rules,
- the basics of how probabilities are calculated and combined,
- how to use the statistical package R to do these analyses.
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Information for Visiting Students
| Pre-requisites | Visiting students should have completed at least 3 Linguistics/Language Sciences courses at grade B or above. We will only consider University/College level courses. Visiting Students should have a solid basis in linguistics, as well as phonological and sociolinguistic theory. Very basic knowledge of quantitative, or statistical analysis is recommended. |
| High Demand Course? |
Yes |
Course Delivery Information
|
| Academic year 2019/20, Available to all students (SV1)
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Quota: None |
| Course Start |
Semester 2 |
Timetable |
Timetable |
| Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) |
Total Hours:
200
(
Lecture Hours 18,
Supervised Practical/Workshop/Studio Hours 9,
Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 4,
Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours
169 )
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| Assessment (Further Info) |
Written Exam
0 %,
Coursework
100 %,
Practical Exam
0 %
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| Feedback |
Mandatory one-on-one meetings scheduled during Week 5 and Innovative Learning week to discuss students' final project plans.
Recommended follow-up meetings during weeks 9 and 10.
|
| No Exam Information |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- Students will develop an understanding of the continuing development of variation theory.
- Students will acquire a basic understanding of probability theory, and how it can be applied to linguistic phenomena.
- Students will acquire foundational understanding of how language internal factors on variation can be accounted for within linguistic theory.
- Students will load, organise, summarise and visualise data using R.
- Students will apply these aspects of variation theory and method to a phenomenon of their own choosing.
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Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
- Application of linguistic theory to the phenomenon of linguistic variation.
- Execution of a research project.
- Development of quantitative reasoning skills.
- Practical experience in using R. |
| Keywords | Not entered |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Dr Josef Fruehwald
Tel: (0131 6)50 3983
Email: Josef.Frueh@ed.ac.uk |
Course secretary | Ms Lynne Robertson
Tel: (0131 6)50 9870
Email: Lynne.Robertson@ed.ac.uk |
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