MA Linguistics / Course details

Year of entry: 2024

Course unit details:
Topics in the Study of Meaning

Course unit fact file
Unit code LELA70032
Credit rating 15
Unit level FHEQ level 7 – master's degree or fourth year of an integrated master's degree
Teaching period(s) Semester 2
Available as a free choice unit? Yes

Overview

This course unit will allow students to engage directly with the research literature on some of the core phenomena in the study of meaning and learn about different theoretical and empirical approaches in semantics and pragmatics. Possible topics, to be decided on in consultation with the students, include quantificational determiners like every, tense and aspect, modal expressions such as should and must, focus-sensitive particles like too and only, presuppositions, implicatures and speech acts.

Pre/co-requisites

Unit title Unit code Requirement type Description
Semantics LELA20282 Pre-Requisite Compulsory
Pragmatics: Meaning, Context, and Interaction LELA20291 Pre-Requisite Recommended

Pre-requisites:

LELA20281 Semantics or equivalent (set theory, predicate logic, lambda calculus in linguistics)

(recommended: LELA20292 Pragmatics)

Aims

The aim of this course is to familiarise students with some of the central research topics and methodologies in formal semantics and pragmatics.

Syllabus

Part I: Introduction and Background - Formal and Conceptual Foundations in the Study of Meaning

Part II: Topics in the Interpretation of Verb Phrases (e.g., aspect, modality)

Part III: Topics in the Interpretation of Noun and Adjective Phrases (e.g. quantification, gradable adjectives, focus-sensitive particles)

Part IV: Topics in Discourse Semantics (e.g., how do declarative and interrogative sentences update the common ground?)

Teaching and learning methods

One two-hour class per week, four dedicated seminar sessions for the PGT students, plus one one-hour seminar per week jointly with the UG students.

The course will run as a mixture of teaching by the instructor and student-led discussions. The instructor will introduce the concepts and formal tools required for understanding a set of key research articles in this area; student teams will take responsibility for presenting and leading the discussion of readings in their area of interest.

E-Learning: All course material, including lecture handouts, practice exercises, links to electronically available readings, and course and assessment info will be made available on Blackboard. Students will be able to discuss all aspects of the course with their peers and the teaching staff on the discussion board.

The course convenor offers two consultation hours every week.

Knowledge and understanding

By the end of this course students will:

  • Have gained knowledge of the empirical phenomena and issues central to the study of the formal semantics and pragmatics of natural language, in particular English;
  • Have deepened their understanding of the formal apparatus and theoretical concepts used in the study of natural language semantics and pragmatics;
  • Have developed their ability to understand formal analyses and test their predictions on novel data.

Intellectual skills

By the end of this course students will have developed:

  • The ability to critically read and synthesize published research articles;
  • Skills in problem-solving and abstract and logical thinking;
  • The ability to construct and refine an argument, recognise flaws in arguments, and assessing the merits of contrasting explanations.

Practical skills

By the end of this course students will:

  • Be able to present a rigorous linguistic argument;
  • Be able to apply formal tools and abstract concepts to empirical data;
  • Be able to apply the appropriate diagnostics for distinguishing between different types of meaning.

Transferable skills and personal qualities

By the end of this course students will have developed:

  • The ability to formulate abstract generalisations from data and synthesize complex issues;
  • The ability to manage their own learning self-critically;
  • The skill and confidence of leading a class discussion; • team working and presentation skills.

Employability skills

Other
Through the deep engagement with challenging research articles, students taking this class will further develop their reasoning and argumentation skills. By taking responsibility for the presentation and discussion of one article as part of a team, students develop their confidence in speaking in front of an audience and engaging in discussion in response to on-the-spot questions.

Assessment methods

Assessment TaskFormative or SummativeWeighting
Final EssaySummative70%
Mid-term AssignmentSummative30%

 

Feedback methods

Feedback method

Formative or Summative

Global feedback on in-class and homework exercises

Formative

 

Comments made during class discussion regarding the relevance and coherence of student responses/participation in discussion

Formative

Global feedback on mid-term assignment

formative

Individual feedback on mid-term assignment and final essay

 

Summative

 

Recommended reading

Selected readings:

Paul H. Portner and Barbara Partee (2002, eds.), Formal Semantics: The Essential Readings (London: Blackwell).

Claudia Maienborn, Klaus von Heusinger & Paul H. Portner (2011, eds.), Semantics: An International Handbook of Natural Language Meaning (Berlin: De Gruyter).

Maria Aloni and Paul Dekker (2016), The Cambridge Handbook of Formal Semantics (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press).

Study hours

Scheduled activity hours
Lectures 22
Seminars 4
Independent study hours
Independent study 124

Teaching staff

Staff member Role
Martina Faller Unit coordinator

Return to course details