Module Catalogue 2024/25

Pre Requisite Comment

N/A

Co Requisite Comment

N/A

Aims

To familiarize students with key issues in the philosophy of science, the philosophy of mind, and the philosophy of language and to illustrate how these foundational questions arise in individual sub-fields of linguistics (e.g. syntax, phonology, semantics, sociolinguistics, etc.)

To introduce students to past and present controversies in the study of language and mind and how various foundational/philosophical questions apply to them

Outline Of Syllabus

The course is divided into two parts, corresponding to the periods before the Easter break and after the Easter break. The pre-Easter period, which forms the bulk of the course, considers various sub-fields of linguistics week-by-week. The first lecture in the week will provide general philosophical background while the second will show how those foundational questions affect that particular sub-field.

The post-Easter weeks will apply the pre-Easter foundational/philosophical discussion to various past and present controversies in language and linguistics (e.g., linguistic determinism, language policy, ableism in linguistics, etc.)

Intended Knowledge Outcomes

At the end of the module, students are expected to be able to critically discuss foundational philosophical questions in the study of language and mind, how they arise in various different sub-fields of linguistics and be able to apply those insights to historical and current controversies in language and linguistics.

Intended Skill Outcomes

1. The ability to read critically.

2. Constructive argumentation and critical evaluation of theoretical positions regarding the study of human/language cognition.

3. The ability to confront and engage with conceptual issues, problems and controversies in linguistics

Teaching Rationale And Relationship

Lectures introduce students to the knowledge and skill outcomes by providing contextual information and demonstrating close reading of scientific/philosophical texts. Seminars consolidate the skill outcomes through conceptual questions distributed for discussion. Private study is an important part of the programme, requiring both directed reading of the material in advance of lectures and as a follow-up to them, and also independently for planning and completing the two summative pieces of work.

Assessment Rationale And Relationship

The formative essay provides the students with a sense of their progress in preparation for the first summative assignment. This is particularly important given the 'flipped' nature of the assessments, in which the higher value one comes earlier.

Summative Essay no. 1 tests the knowledge and skill outcomes in the context of the pre-Easter portion of the module, specifically centered around the connection between specific issues in the philosophy of science, mind and language and specific sub-fields of linguistics.

Summative Essay no. 2 provides a counterpoint to Essay no. 1 by testing these outcomes in the context of the historical and current controversies in language and linguistics (which are covered during the post-Easter portion of the module). The task itself also provides a counterpoint, being focused on engagement with and presentation of the issues in a rigorous, but less formally academic context.

General Notes

N/A