Module LING3251: CROSS-LINGUISTIC SYNTAX

Department: LINGUISTICS AND ENGLISH LANGUAGE

LING3251: CROSS-LINGUISTIC SYNTAX

Prerequisites

• Syntax 2 (LING2161).

Corequisites

• None.

Excluded Combination of Modules

• None.

Aims

• To extend the student's knowledge of syntactic theory from that attained in Level 2.
• to examine current issues in syntactic theory, with emphasis on empirical problems of a cross-linguistic nature.
• to develop the students' knowledge of methods and forms of argumentation characteristic of the comparative approach to syntactic theory.
• to develop the students' knowledge of grammar of a language or a group of languages other than English.
• to accustom the students' to reading primary literature on syntactic theory as it relates to cross-linguistic issues.
• to prepare students for research in syntactic theory, with a particular emphasis on a comparative approach.

Content

• The comparative study of more than one language or language family offers insights that are typically not available from the study of one language only.
• The course will take a set of languages, for example a language family such as Celtic or Romance, and examine recent developments in its syntactic analysis.
• Students will be expected to familiarise themselves with the data of the language(s) under discussion to some degree, and should be prepared for readings to come from the primary literature.

Learning Outcomes

• At the end of this module, students will be familiar with: a set of issues at the forefront of research within syntactic theory.
• syntactic facts and problems in a set of languages other than English.
• methods and practices within comparative syntax.
• In addition, students will have gained experience in: dealing with problems, theoretical and empirical, relating to a language or group of languages they do not speak.
• reading primary research literature in syntactic theory.
• debating theoretical issues.

Modes of Teaching, Learning and Assessment and how these contribute to the learning outcomes of the module

• Teaching: Teaching is mainly in seminar format.
• Initially, material is presented via two lectures, thus introducing students to the module content and the literature and issues to be considered.
• For seminars, students are required to read primary literature for class discussion each week.
• Each student is expected to lead the discussion on at least one occasion.
• Tutorials support student learning and in particular enable students to discuss the development of their own research.
• This format is chosen for the following reasons: i) high-level scientific discussion in a seminar enables students to develop their critical abilities and argumentation skills.
• ii) active participation is ensured by the small seminar format.
• Assessment: One 5,000 word essay which gives the students the opportunity to show that they are capable of dealing with a research problem within syntactic theory in a coherent manner, that they are familiar with methods and practices of comparative syntax and the primary literature relating to the areas under consideration, and that they can deal with data from languages with which they are initially unfamiliar.

Teaching Methods and Learning Hours

Summative Assessment

Formative Assessment:

Class presentation including production of handout.

■ Attendance at all activities marked with this symbol will be monitored. Students who fail to attend these activities, or to complete the summative or formative assessment specified above, will be subject to the procedures defined in the University's General Regulation V, and may be required to leave the University