Course teacher(s)
Philippe DE BRABANTER (Coordinator)ECTS credits
5
Language(s) of instruction
english
Course content
In the first, students are trained in the methods of corpus research, after being introduced to the syntax and pragmatics of clause types and of content clauses.
In the second, it introduces students to the various levels at which the English language or its use can be analysed:
- Phonetics
- Phonology
- Morphology
- Syntax
- Semantics
- Pragmatics
It also introduces them to different approaches that can be adopted when describing the English language:
- Historical
- Sociolinguistic
- Psycholinguistic
Finally, it acquaints students with empirical methods used to study English.
Note that care is taken to avoid unnecessary overlap between this course and both GERM-B100 and LING-B100.
Objectives (and/or specific learning outcomes)
Students are expected
- to further familiarise themselves with the descriptive approach to the study of languages
- to become fully conversant with the different levels at which English or its use can be analysed
- to form a comprehensive picture of the English language
- to become familiar with ways of collecting empirical data, especially with the use of online corpora
Prerequisites and Corequisites
Required and Corequired knowledge and skills
| GERM-B200 | CEFRL |
| Oral production | B1+ |
| Written production | B1+ |
| Listening comprehension | B2 |
| Reading comprehension | B2 |
Teaching methods and learning activities
Weekly lectures: 2 credits
Weekly exercise sessions: 2 credits
Weekly online tests (non-compulsory but recommended)
Personal reading: 1 credit
References, bibliography, and recommended reading
Compulsory reading:
Plag, I., Arndt-Lappe, S., Braun, M. & M. Schramm 2015. Introduction to English Linguistics, 3rd revised and enlarged ed., de Gruyter Mouton.
Huddleston, R., Pullum, G. & Reynolds, B. 2021. A Student's Introduction to English Grammar, 2nd ed., Cambridge University Press.
Course notes
- Université virtuelle
Contribution to the teaching profile
This course makes the following contributions:
1. Training students to think critically (by insisting on preciselfy defined concepts and rigorous analyses)
2. Developing students' command of English
3. Training students to adopt a scientific approach to language phenomena (cf. point 1)
Other information
Contacts
MAIL: Philippe.De.Brabanter@ulb.be
OFFICE: AZ4.109 Make an appointment via e-mail.
Campus
Solbosch
Evaluation
Method(s) of evaluation
- written examination
written examination
Mark calculation method (including weighting of intermediary marks)
There are two written exams.
- January: on corpus research
- May-June: on Introduction to English Linguistics.
Language(s) of evaluation
- english