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DEGREE REGULATIONS & PROGRAMMES OF STUDY 2024/2025

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DRPS : Course Catalogue : School of Philosophy, Psychology and Language Sciences : Language Sciences

Undergraduate Course: Structure of a Language A (LASC10123)

Course Outline
SchoolSchool of Philosophy, Psychology and Language Sciences CollegeCollege of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences
Credit level (Normal year taken)SCQF Level 10 (Year 3 Undergraduate) AvailabilityAvailable to all students
SCQF Credits20 ECTS Credits10
SummaryThis course gives students the chance to acquire in-depth knowledge of the structure of a selected language, expanding their analytical skills and awareness of linguistic diversity. Students will be provided with the support necessary to undertake close grammatical analysis of a range of textual or other kind of material in an unfamiliar language.
Course description This course will give students the opportunity to acquire in-depth knowledge of the structure of a selected language and to build their skills in linguistic analysis and in communicating specialist information to a variety of audiences. Students will be provided with the support and resources that will enable them to engage in the analysis of textual or other kind of material in the target language. Students will be able to develop their understanding of the language's structure and relevant grammatical concepts, and to apply this knowledge as they engage with a varied set of data. Coupled with additional readings, this will enable them to gain an in-depth understanding of the language's structure, as well as to engage, as appropriate, with relevant sociolinguistic, historical, and cultural context as well as the diachronic development of the language.

The choice of language will vary from year to year: information will be provided in advance to allow students to make an informed choice.

The course will be focused primarily on developing structural understanding rather than practical mastery of the language; students will be required to engage closely with linguistic theory throughout the course. Students should expect a significant independent study component in preparation for the teaching sessions.

In any given term, Structure of a Language (B) is the same course as Structure of a Language (A), but students who have already taken (A) in another year are entitled to take it a second time by enrolling in (B). While every year the general learning outcomes are identical, they are applied to a different language, so taking it twice will effectively mean taking two very different courses.
Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
Pre-requisites Co-requisites
Prohibited Combinations Students MUST NOT also be taking Structure of a Language B (LASC10122)
Other requirements None
Information for Visiting Students
Pre-requisitesVisiting students should have a background in linguistic theory sufficient to take LEL Honours courses. Courses in the structure of a foreign language (including English) are unlikely to suffice, but this will depend on the circumstances; please consult the CO if unsure.
High Demand Course? Yes
Course Delivery Information
Academic year 2024/25, Available to all students (SV1) Quota:  0
Course Start Semester 1
Timetable Timetable
Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) Total Hours: 200 ( Seminar/Tutorial Hours 18, Supervised Practical/Workshop/Studio Hours 14, Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 4, Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours 164 )
Assessment (Further Info) Written Exam 0 %, Coursework 100 %, Practical Exam 0 %
Additional Information (Assessment) 1. Final project paper 60% (word count around 2,000)
2. Mid-term project paper 30% (word count around 1,000)
3. Participation in supervised practicals (10%)
Feedback For assessment 1, students will receive feedforward advice in a meeting with the course lecturer around week 6, and feedback as part of the evaluation.
For assessment 2, students will receive feedback as part of the evaluation.
For assessment 3, students will receive feedback during the practicals and in the class that follows the practical.
No Exam Information
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
  1. Carry out grammatical analysis of data from a previously unfamiliar language
  2. Demonstrate mastery of key linguistic concepts relevant to the structure of the language
  3. Effectively and accurately communicate information about the structural and/or sociohistorical aspects of an unfamiliar language to specialist and/or non-specialist audiences
  4. Formulate research questions to which data from the language is relevant, and demonstrate an understanding of how these questions can be addressed
Reading List
A Reading List, including links to appropriate resources, will be provided for each iteration of the course.
Additional Information
Graduate Attributes and Skills Students work with two types of data: a) existing linguistic analyses of the target language, which they access in publications and reflect on with support of the lecturer; and b) spontaneously uttered speech in the target language, which they analyse themselves with support from a native-speaker consultant. A) and b) are very different types of data, and through working with them students will develop very different skills: reflective, slow analysis in which reading plays an essential role through a), and on-the-spot hypothesis testing with the help of a speaker will challenge them to adopts new perspectives through b).

Core skills gained or developed on this course:
Adapting presentation or writing tone/style to audience; Being open to different perspectives; Challenging own perspectives and assumptions; Critical thinking; Data collection; Data analysis and evaluation; Academic reading skills; Report writing; Research skills; Resilience; Understanding broader perspectives; Written communication; Writing clearly and concisely.
Additional Class Delivery Information Learning and Teaching activities
Total Hours: 200 ( Seminar/Tutorial Hours 18; Supervised Practical/Workshop/Studio Hours 14; Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours 168)
KeywordsNot entered
Contacts
Course organiserDr Albert Remijsen
Tel: (0131 6)50 6657
Email: b.remijsen@ed.ac.uk
Course secretaryMs Susan Hermiston
Tel: (0131 6)50 3440
Email: Susan.Hermiston@ed.ac.uk
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