SEL1027 : Introduction to the Structure of Language 1: Syntax and Phonology
- Offered for Year: 2021/22
- Module Leader(s): Dr Johannes Heim
- Demonstrator: Dr Rory Turnbull
- Owning School: English Lit, Language & Linguistics
- Teaching Location: Newcastle City Campus
Semesters
| Semester 1 Credit Value: | 20 |
| ECTS Credits: | 10.0 |
Aims
To establish a basic understanding of language structure with respect to developing the skills necessary for examining and describing linguistic data. This module will heighten metalinguistic awareness in a systematic way that will inform and enhance the sensitivity, accuracy, and clarity of the student's knowledge of language structure, including English. There will also be lectures relating these strucural issues to questions of wider interest (see below).
Outline Of Syllabus
Introduction to Language Structure
The core of the module consists of the foundations for the study of language, sentence structure and language sounds & systems. The sentence structure component in the module includes English sentence structure, involving syntactic structure, constituency, function, and categories, modification, and complementation. The language sounds component examines the representation of speech sounds and articulatory classification, along with the description of consonants and vowels and the structure of the syllable. The fundamental distinction between phonetics and phonology and the distribution of speech sounds will also be introduced.
Throughout the module these structural aspects will be related to wider questions such as: how do children acquire language? what’s the relationship between language and literacy? how can people with different dialects still understand each other? what’s wrong with the English spelling system? how can syntactic structure explain ambiguous sentences? what causes a foreign accent?
Taken as a whole, this module will lay the foundations not only for the linguistic structures to be studied but also for the kinds of questions an understanding of language structures can help to address.
Teaching Methods
Teaching Activities
| Category | Activity | Number | Length | Student Hours | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Scheduled Learning And Teaching Activities | Lecture | 22 | 1:00 | 22:00 | There will be two lecture hours per week |
| Guided Independent Study | Assessment preparation and completion | 8 | 2:00 | 16:00 | Preparation of small group work and revision for exam |
| Scheduled Learning And Teaching Activities | Small group teaching | 22 | 1:00 | 22:00 | Synchronous small-group discussion of module materials with set exercises |
| Guided Independent Study | Reflective learning activity | 10 | 14:00 | 140:00 | Reading subject materials and revising lectures |
| Total | 200:00 |
Jointly Taught With
| Code | Title |
|---|---|
| SEL8117 | Phonetics and Phonology |
Teaching Rationale And Relationship
Lectures present subject materials to students, reinforcing the readings they are expected to have done. The purpose of the Small Group Work is to back up, (by means of summary, elucidation, and illustration) the concepts and analyses presented in the module text. Small group work calls for the application of concepts outlined in reading and lectures to the analysis of specific examples.
Assessment Methods
The format of resits will be determined by the Board of Examiners
Other Assessment
| Description | Semester | When Set | Percentage | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Written exercise | 1 | A | 100 | N/A |
Assessment Rationale And Relationship
To test (allow students to demonstrate) command of the concepts and analyses taught, in an unseen context.
Reading Lists
Timetable
- Timetable Website: www.ncl.ac.uk/timetable/
- SEL1027's Timetable