Advanced English Syntactic Analysis
Code: 106315Credits: 6
| Degree programme | Type | Course |
|---|---|---|
| English Studies | OP | 3 |
| English Studies | OP | 4 |
Contact lecturer
- Name :
- Susagna Tubau Muntaña
- Email :
- susagna.tubau@uab.cat
Group languages
You can consult this information at the end of the document.
Prerequisites
English level required: C2. With C2 the student can straightforwardly understand practically everything they read or hear, summarise information from different oral and written sources, reconstruct facts and arguments and present them in a coherent way, express themselves naturally and fluently, distinguishing subtle meaning nuances even in the most complex situations.
Knowledge of basic syntactic notions as the ones covered in the course 'Syntactic Analysis of English' is taken for granted.
Objectives
Achieve an advanced understanding of the structure of English sentences and the grammatical elements these are made of.
Recognize the operations and processes that underlie characteristic constructions in English such as different types of questions, non-finite clauses, sentences including expletive elements, etc.
Be able to assess different syntactic analyses for specific constructions.
Learning outcomes
- In an effective manner, organise the autonomous component to learning.
- Plan work effectively, individually or in groups, in order to fulfil the planned objectives.
- Locate specialised and academic information and select this according to its relevance.
- Incorporate ideas and concepts from published sources into work, citing and referencing appropriately.
- Gather and interpret relevant data to make critical judgements on relevant social, scientific or ethical issues.
- Analyse data and interpret these on the basis of linguistic models or theories.
- Express oneself in English, orally and in writing, in an academic register and using appropriate terminology in relation to the study of syntax, phonetics and phonology and the historical development of the language.
- Understand specialised academic texts on research in syntax, phonetics and phonology, language history and models of linguistic analysis.
- Produce written and oral academic texts at a higher-proficient-user level (C2) on the concepts and skills relevant to the advanced study of syntax, phonetics and phonology, the historical development of language and models of linguistic analysis.
- Describe and analyse the main phonetic, phonological, morphological, syntactic and semantic properties of English and its historical evolution at an advanced level.
- Identify and understand distinct models for the synchronic and diachronic linguistic analysis of English and apply these to varying levels of phonetic, phonological, morphological, syntactic and semantic analysis at an advanced level.
- Critically evaluate linguistic production in English from both a synchronic and diachronic perspective.
- Develop arguments applicable to the syntactic, phonetic, phonological and diachronic analysis of English at an advanced level.
- Use current techniques of linguistic analysis to empirically support current models.
Contents
1. Recapitulation of core concepts
2. Subjects and objects
3. The Deteminer Phrase and little n
4. The Complementizer Phrase: control, Exceptional Case Marking and raising
5. Wh-movement and locality
Learning activities and methodology
| Title | Hours | ECTS | Learning outcomes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Reading, revision, exercises and projects, use of the Virtual Campus | 50 | 2 | 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 13, 14 |
| Lectures and group debate | 50 | 2 | 4, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10, 11, 13, 14 |
| Classroom exercises, invididual tutorials and assessment | 25 | 1 | 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14 |
Directed activities: Lectures, flipped classroom and group discussions.
Supervised activities: Exercises and projects; back-up tutorials to help in the realisation of exercises and projects
Autonomous activities: Reading of manuals and chapters of textbooks; elaboration of study diagrams, summaries and texts; practical exercises (individual and in group); projects (individual and in group).
Use of the Virtual Campus.
Note: Within the schedule set by the centre or degree programme, 15 minutes of one class will be reserved for students to evaluate their lecturers and their courses or modules through questionnaires.
Assessment
Continuous assessment activities
| Title | Weight | Hours | ECTS | Learning outcomes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Test 2 | 35% | 7.5 | 0.3 | 1, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14 |
| Class portfolio (exercises) | 10% | 2 | 0.08 | 2, 4, 6, 7, 9, 10, 11, 13, 14 |
| Test 1 | 35% | 7.5 | 0.3 | 1, 4, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 13, 14 |
| Group assignment | 20% | 8 | 0.32 | 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14 |
This course is assessed on the basis of four parts: two partial exams (35% and 35%), a group assignment (20%) and a series of classroom exercises to be submitted as a class portfolio (10%).
At the time of each assessment activity, the lecturer will inform students through Moodle of the procedure and date for reviewing grades. The feedback on the activity will be given and the mark communicated within a maximum of three weeks.
If a student gets 4,9 as a grade to continuous assessment, it will be rounded up to 5.
SINGLE ASSESSMENT
This course allows single assessment. On a date and time indicated by the teacher, students must do the following assessment activities:
-Theoretical exam (40%)
-Practical exam (40%)
-Submission of an assignment prepared autonomously (20%)
REASSESSMENT AND CONDITIONS FOR 'NOT ASSESSED'
-Students with a final course mark of 3.5/10 who have been assessed on 2/3 of the course are eligible for reassessment.
-The final average course mark will be communicated to the students at least 72 hours before the reassessment test.
-The reassessment exam will be a written test, at a time assigned by the Faculty, which will synthesise the contents of the course. The tests and the group assignment can be reassessed. The portfolio CANNOT be reassessed.
-Students will obtain a *No avaluable (Not assessed) course grade if they have completed no more than 30% of the course assessment.
-The same system of reassessment is used for continuous assessment and single assessment.
EXCHANGE STUDENTS
Exchange students that request to take exams before the scheduled date must bring a written document from their home university justifying their request.
POLICY TO HANDLE IRREGULARITIES AND UNDUE USE OF AI
-In the event of a student committing any irregularity that may lead to a significant variation in the grade awarded to an assessment activity, the student will be given a zero for this activity, regardless of any disciplinary process that may take place. In the event of several irregularities in assessment activities of the same subject, the student will be given a zero as the final grade for this subject.
-VERY IMPORTANT: Plagiarism in any of the exercises will automatically lead to FAILING (0/10) the exercise, which cannot be reassessed. If the student plagiarises a second time, they will fail the course. PLAGIARISM means copying a text (and this includes a single sentence) from unidentified sources and pretending it is part of one's own production (THIS INCLUDES COPYING SENTENCES OR FRAGMENTS FROM THE INTERNET, WHICH ARE INCLUDED WITHOUT ANY CHANGES TO THE TEXT THAT IS PRESENTED AS ONE'S OWN) and it is a serious academic offence. Students must learnto respect others' intellectual property and to always identify the sources they use. It is absolutely necessary for students to become entirely responsible for theoriginality and authenticity of their texts.
-Undue use of Generative Artificial Intelligence is not permitted in the assignment or in the portfolio. Detection of undue use of AI in these assessment items will result in a 0 for that item.
Bibliography
COURSE BOOKS:
Adger, David. 2003. Core Syntax. A Minimalist Approach. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Edelstein, Elspeth. 2020. English Syntax. A Minimalist Account of Structure and Variation. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.
Koeneman, Olaf & Hedde Zeijlstra. 2017. Introducing Syntax. New York: Cambridge University Press.
OTHER REFERENCES:
Aarts, Bas. 1997. English Syntax and Argumentation. London: MacMillan.
Haegeman , Liliane & Jaqueline Guéron. 1999. English Grammar. A Generative Perspective. Oxford:Blackwell.
Radford, Andrew. 2004. Minimalist Syntax. Exploring the Structure of English. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Roberts, Ian. 1997. Comparative Syntax. London: Arnold.
Software
MS Word.
Course groups and languages
The information provided is provisional until November 30. After this date, you will be able to consult the language of each group through this link. To access the information, you will need to enter the course CODE
| Type of teaching | Group | Language | Semester | Shift |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| (TE) Theory | 1 | English | first semester | morning-mixed |
| (PAUL) Classroom practices | 1 | English | first semester | morning-mixed |