English linguistics I

The course straddles both terms.
It provides a linguistic, therefore descriptive, approach to the study of English grammar. It relies largely on A Student's Introduction to English Grammar (Huddleston, R., Pullum, G. & Reynolds, B. 2021). It should not, therefore, be confused with an English proficiency course, where students learn what should be instead of what is done by English speakers and writers.
The following key elements of English grammar are covered:

• 1st term

- verbs and verb phrases
- complements in clauses
- nouns and determinatives
- prepositions

• 2nd term

- clause types
- subordinate clauses

Students are expected

• to familiarise themselves with the descriptive approach to the study of languages
• to grasp the difference between a precise and rigorous linguistic approach and the looseness of traditional student grammars
• to form a clear idea of the key areas of English grammar.

Required and Corequired knowledge and skills

The minimal levels of English proficiency for students to be able to follow the course successfully are shown in the table below. But let me insist that these are minimal requirements. Ideally, students should have achieved advanced mastery of English (or nearly), i.e. they should be able to read various types of texts with ease (fiction, newspapers, essays), readily understand spoken English and be able to express themselves fluently.
 

GERM-B100	CEFRL
Oral production	B1
Written production	B1
Listening comprehension	B1+
Reading comprehension	B1+

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_European_Framework_of_Reference_for_Languages

Weekly lectures: 2 credits
Weekly exercise sessions: 2 credits
Weekly online tests: 1 credit

References, bibliography, and recommended reading

Compulsory reading:

• Huddleston, R., Pullum, G. & Reynolds, B. 2021. A Student's Introduction to English Grammar, 2nd ed., Cambridge University Press. 

Course notes

• Université virtuelle

Contacts

Philippe De Brabanter
Philippe.De.Brabanter@ulb.be
OFFICE: AZ4.109  Make an appointment via e-mail.

Frédéric Grün
Frederic.Grun@ulb.be

Campus

Solbosch

Method(s) of evaluation

• written examination

written examination

Mark calculation method (including weighting of intermediary marks)

The compulsory weekly tests account for 10% of your final grade.

There are two written exams, the first of which accounts for 50% of your final grade while the second does for 40%:

• January: chapters 1 to 6 in Huddleston, R., Pullum, G. & Reynolds (2021)
• May-June: chapters 10-12 and 14 in Huddleston, R., Pullum, G. & Reynolds (2021)

Language(s) of evaluation

• english