Course Title: Foundations of Language and Linguistics Course No. : Eng. Ed. 416 Ful...
Course Title: Foundations of Language and Linguistics
Course No. : Eng. Ed. 416 Full marks: 80 T+20 P
Nature of course: Theory and Practical Pass marks: 28T+
8P
Level: B. Ed. Four Year Periods per week: 6
Year: First Total periods: 150
Time per period: 55 minutes
1.
Course
Description
This is a foundation
course on language and linguistics to orient the students with the basic
knowledge of language and linguistic. It deals with different concepts and dichotomies
related to linguistics. It also introduces different levels and areas of
language and linguistics such as phonetics and phonology, morphology and
syntax, semantics, pragmatics and discourse analysis. It further includes the
applications of linguistic knowledge into language teaching. The students will
demonstrate their skills in applying linguistic theories in their practical
fields.
2.
General
Objectives
The general objectives of the course are as follows:
·
To
acquaint the students with the basic concepts of the English language and
linguistics.
·
To make
the students able to analyse speech sounds on articulatory terms i.e. to
identify, describe and classify them.
·
To introduce
the students to the sound system of the English language.
·
To
provide the students with an overview of morphology and syntax.
·
To
acquaint the students with the key concepts of semantics, pragmatics and
discourse analysis.
·
To
familiarize the students with the language history, change and variations.
·
To develop
in students the ability to apply the knowledge of linguistics to language
teaching.
3.
Specific Objectives and Contents
Specific Objectives |
Contents
|
· Define language and linguistics. · Describe the origin and characteristics
of language. · Explain language as a system of system. · Differentiate language from animal
communication. · Explain the levels and varieties of
language. · Classify linguistics into various branches.
· Define key concepts of linguistics.
|
Unit I: Preliminaries of Language and Linguistics (20) 1.1 Definition of language and linguistics 1.2 The origin of language 1.3 Characteristics of language 1.4 Language and animal communication 1.5 Language as a system of systems 1.6 Levels of language 1.7 Varieties of language 1.7.1
Dialect:
geographical and social 1.7.2
Register:
field based, mode based and tenor based 1.7.3
Idiolect 1.8 Branches of linguistics 1.8.1
Theoretical
linguistics and applied linguistics 1.8.2
Synchronic
linguistics and diachronic linguistics 1.8.3
General
linguistics and descriptive linguistics 1.8.4
Micro
linguistics and macro linguistics 1.8.5
Psycho
linguistics and socio-linguistics 1.8.6
Developmental
linguistics 1.8.7
Neuro-linguistics
1.8.8
Computational
linguistic 1.8.9
Ethno-linguistics 1.9 Key concepts in language and linguistics 1.9.1 Langue and parole 1.9.2 Competence and performance 1.9.3 Relationship among form, function, substance
and meaning 1.9.4 Speech and writing 1.9.5 Orthographic writing and phonetic writing 1.9.6 Descriptive grammar and prescriptive grammar 1.9.7 Syntagmatic relation and paradigmatic
relation |
· Distinguish between phonetics and
phonology. · Demonstrate how English sounds are
produced. · Prepare the inventory of English vowels
and classify them into various categories. · List the consonants of the English
language and classify them. · Describe the English sounds. · Show the syllable structures and
consonant clusters in English words. · Use appropriate supra-segmental features
while speaking English. · Use appropriate stress and intonation. · Define and use the features such as
deletion, assimilation, linking ‘r’ etc. in connected speech.
|
Unit II: Phonetics
and Phonology (30) 2.1 Distinction between phonetics and phonology 2.2 Phoneme, phone, allophone 2.3 The organs of speech 2.4 The English vowels 2.4.1 Inventory 2.4.2 Description of vowels ·
Quality:
monophthongs and diphthongs ·
Length:
short and long ·
Tongue
position: a) high, mid, low (close, half-close, open, half-open) ·
front, central, back ·
Lip
position: rounded and unrounded ·
Direction
of glide: closing and centring ·
Prominence
of glide: falling and rising 2.5
The consonants 2.5.1 Inventory 2.5.2 Fortis and lenis (strong and weak) 2.5.3 Three term descriptions · Voicing: voiced and voiceless · Place of articulation: bilabial,
labio-dental, dental or inter-dental, alveolar, palato-alveolar, palatal,
velar, glottal · Manner of articulation: stop or plosive,
nasal, fricative, affricate, lateral, frictionless continuant, semi-vowel or
approximant 2.6 Transcriptions: narrow and broad 2.7 Supra-segmental features: length, stress,
tone, intonation, tempo, juncture 2.8 Speech units: phone, syllable, stress unit,
tone unit 2.9 Consonant clusters 2.9.1 Word
initial clusters 2.9.2 Word
final clusters 2.9.3 Word
medial clusters · Inter-syllabic clusters · Intra-syllabic clusters 2.10 Vowel sequences 2.10.1 Vowel + sequences 2.10.2 Diphthong + sequences 2.10.3 Other sequences: within words and across
words 2.11 Syllable
structures (canonical shapes of words) ·
(C)
(C) (C) V (C) (C) (C) (C) ·
Co3
V Co4 2.12 Pronunciation in connected speech 2.13 Strong forms and weak forms 2.14 Linking ‘r’ and intrusive ‘r’ 2.15 Pronunciation of the suffixes ‘-s’, ‘-es’
and ‘-ed’ 2.16 Elision (disappearance) 2.17 Assimilation 2.18 Practical work: oral and written practice |
· Define morphology and syntax. · Classify morphemes. · Form words using different morphological
combinations. · Describe the English phrase and clause
system. · Classify English sentences into various
categories. · Describe, grammatical functions, grammatical
operations and grammatical categories.
|
Unit III: Morphology
and Syntax (40) 3.1 The Morpheme 3.1.1 Definition of morpheme 3.1.2 Free and bound morpheme 3.1.3 Morpheme, morph and allomorph 3.2. The word 3.2.1 Definition of word 3.2.2 Orthographic, morphological, lexical, and
semantic words 3.2.3 Word classes · Major: noun, verb, adjective, adverb · Minor: pronoun, preposition, conjunction,
interjection, determiner, intensifier, classifier 3.2.4 Word formation: affixation,
modification, functional homonymy, reduplication, compounding, shortening,
backformation, blending, borrowing, acronymy, coinage 3.2.5 Derivation and inflection 3.3 The phrase 3.3.1 Definition of phrase 3.3.2 Types of phrase: noun phrase, verb
phrase, adverb phrase, prepositional phrase 3.3.3 Functions of phrase 3.4 The clause 3.4.1 Definition of clause 3.4.2 Types of clause: main clause,
coordinate clause, subordinate clause (noun clause, adjective clause,
adverbial clause) 3.4.3 Functions of subordinate clause 3.5. The sentence 3.5.1 Definition of sentence 3.5.2 Functional classification of
sentences: declarative, imperative, interrogative, exclamatory 3.5.3 Formal classification of sentences:
simple, compound, complex, composite 3.5.4 The basic pattern of the simple
English sentence: (A) (S) (P) (O) (C) (A) 3.6 Grammatical categories: gender,
number, person, case, tense, aspect, mood 3.7 Grammatical functions: subject,
predicate, object, complement, adjunct 3.8 Grammatical transformations:
negation, contraction, question, passivization 3.9 Grammatical operations: insertion,
deletion, substitution, transposition |
· Define semantics, pragmatics and
discourse analysis. · Explain various types of meaning. · Define and examplify different semantic
terms that include synonymy, antonymy, hyponymy, homonymy, metonymy
collocation. · Describe the features of pragmatics. · Describe the basic concepts of discourse
analysis.
|
Unit
IV: Semantics, Pragmatics and
Discourse Analysis (20) 4.1 Semantics 4.1.1 Meaning: conceptual
and associative meaning, denotative and connotative meaning 4.1.2 Sense relations 4.1.2.1 Synonymy · Absolute and partial synonymy · Descriptive and cognitive synonymy · Stylistic synonymy · Dialectal synonymy · Intralingual synonymy and interlingual
synonymy 4.1.2.2 Antonymy · Gradable antonymy · Complementarity · Converseness 4.1.2.3 Hyponymy: hypernym (superordinate) and
hyponym 4.1.2.4 Homophony and homography 4.1.2.5 Homonymy and polysemy 4.1.2.6 Metonymy and collocation 4.2 Pragmatics 4.2.1 Invisible meaning 4.2.2 Context 4.2.3 Deixis 4.2.4 Reference 4.2.5 Inference 4.2.6 Anaphora 4.2.7 Presupposition 4.2.8 Speech acts 4.2.9 Politeness 4.3. Discourse Analysis 4.3.1 Interpreting
discourse 4.3.2 Cohesion 4.3.3 Coherence 4.3.4 Speech events 4.3.5 Conversational
analysis 4.3.6 Turn-taking 4.3.7 The co-operative
principle 4.3.8 Hedges 4.3.9 Implicatures 4.3.10 Background
knowledge 4.3.11 Schemas and scripts
|
· List the language families · Describe language history and change.
|
Unit
V: Language History and Change (10) 5.1 Historical linguistics 5.2 Language families 5.3 Language change 5.4 Sound change 5.5 Lexical change 5.6 Syntactic change 5.7 Semantic change
|
· Apply the knowledge of linguistics in
language teaching. · Compare and contrast languages. · Analyse learners’ errors. |
Unit VI: Pedagogical
Implications of Linguistics (30) 6.1.
Linguistics and language teaching 6.2.
Contrastive analysis 6.2.1 What is CA? 6.2.2 CA hypothesis: Transfer theory 6.2.3 Principles of CA 6.2.4 Assumptions of CA 6.2.5 The uses of CA 6.2.6 Practical work 6.3. Error analysis 6.3.1 What is EA? 6.3.2 Lapses, mistakes and errors 6.3.3 Stages of error: recognition,
description and explanations of error 6.3.4 The uses of EA 6.3.5 Practical work
|
Note:
The figures in the parentheses indicate the approximate periods for the respective
units.
4.
Instructional
Techniques
The instructional
techniques for this course are divided into two groups. The first group consists of general instructional
techniques applicable to most of the units. The second group consists of
specific instructional techniques applicable to specific units.
4.1
General Instructional
Techniques
·
Lecture and discussion
·
Demonstration
·
Explanation and illustration
·
Group and individual work
4.2
Specific
Instructional Techniques
Unit VI: Project work
Unit II: Classroom
presentation
5.
Evaluation and
Time Allotment
The course is for one
academic year and it carries 100 marks. The distribution of marks and time
allotment is as follows:
Unit Marks Time
Unit I: Preliminaries of Language and Linguistics 15 15%
Unit II: Phonetics and Phonology 20 20%
Unit III: Morphology and Syntax 15 15%
Unit IV: Semantics, Pragmatics and Discourse Analysis 20 20%
Unit V: Language History and Change 10 10%
Unit VI: Pedagogical Implications of Linguistics 20 20%
Theory
Part
There will be a
written examination of 80 marks and 20 marks have been allocated for practical
examination. The type of questions and number of test items to be asked in the final
exam is as follows:
Types
of questions |
Total
questions to
be asked |
Number
of questions to
be answered and marks allocated |
Total
marks |
Group A: Multiple choice items |
16 questions |
16 x 1 mark |
16 |
Group B: Short answer questions |
8 with 3 'or' questions |
8 x 5 marks |
40 |
Group C: Long answer questions |
2 with 1 'or'
question |
2 x 12 marks |
24 |
Practical Part (20%)
(10% from Sounds and 10% from Contrastive
Analysis and/or Error Analysis Project Work)
The distribution of marks
for internal and external examiners is as follows:
Criteria |
Internal |
External |
Portfolio of the
practical activities mentioned in the course |
4 |
4 |
Interview |
4 |
8 |
6. Recommended
Books and References
Recommended
Books
Corder, S. P. (1973). Introducing applied
linguistics. Hardmondsworth: Penguin. (For unit VI)
Lyons, J. (2002). Language and linguistics: An introduction. Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press. (For
units I to V).
Roach, P. (2007). English phonetics and phonology. Cambridge: Cambridge University
Press. (For unit II)
Todd, L. (1991). An Introduction to linguistics. London: Longman. (For
unit III)
Verma, S. K. & Krishnaswamy, N. (1989). Modern linguistics. An introduction.
Delhi: Oxford University Press. (For unit VI)
Yule, G. (2008). The study of
language. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. (For
units III to V)
References
Crystal, D. (2003). A dictionary of linguistics and phonetics.
Cornwell: Blackwell.
Crystal, D. (1971). Linguistics. harmondsworth.
Penguin Books.
Els, T. V. ; Bongaerts, T. ; Extra, G. ; Os, C. V. & Dieten, A. J.
(1984). Applied linguistics and the learning and teaching of foreign languages.
London: Edward Arnold.
Ledefoged, P. (2006). A course in
phonetics. Los Angeles: Thomson Wadsworth.
Linguistic Society of Nepal. Nepalese Linguistics. Kathmandu: Annual
Journal of Linguistic Society of Nepal.
Matthews, P. H.
(1997). Oxford concise dictionary of
linguistics. New York: Oxford University Press.
Matthews, P. H. (2003). Linguistics:
a very short introduction. New York: Oxford University Press
Palmer, F. R. (1996). Semantics.
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Procter, P. (2006). Cambridge
advanced learner’s dictionary. Third Edition. Cambridge. Cambridge
University Press.
Radford, A., Atkinson, M., Britain, D., Clahsen, H. & Spencer, A.
(2002). Linguistics: An introduction.
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
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