BA Linguistics / Course details

Year of entry: 2024

Course unit details:
Analysing Grammar

Course unit fact file
Unit code LELA20021
Credit rating 20
Unit level Level 2
Teaching period(s) Semester 1
Available as a free choice unit? Yes

Overview

This course shows students the value of using a theoretical framework to analyse the grammar of a language. Empirically, the course is based on a set of morpho-syntactic phenomena that any theoretical model worth its salt should be able to deal with. The data comes mainly from English, but some phenomena require data from other languages. We consider how more abstract generalizations can be made over the data and how these generalisations can be captured with the formal tools of Lexical-Functional Grammar (LFG).

Pre/co-requisites

Unit title Unit code Requirement type Description
English Word and Sentence Structure LELA10301 Pre-Requisite Compulsory
Pre-req of LELA10301

Compulsory Pre-Requisite: LELA10301: English Word and Sentence Structure. Students who do not meet this pre-requisite must gain academic approval before they can enroll.

Aims

The principal aims of the course unit are as follows:
  • to introduce students to language data that illustrate some central properties of morpho-syntax;
  • to introduce the students to the basic principles and formal tools of Lexical-Functional Grammar;
  • to show the students how to apply the tools of Lexical-Functional Grammar to the data sets in order to capture generalisations;
  • to give students a sense of what can be gained by constructing an abstract model for a complex dataset

Knowledge and understanding

By the end of this course students will:

  • understand the crucial properties of a core set of morpho-syntactic data;
  • understand how morphology and syntax can contribute together or separately to identify grammatical functions and feature
  • understand the basic principles of Lexical-Functional Grammar;
  • apply the tools of Lexical-Functional Grammar to the data sets.

Intellectual skills

 By the end of this course students will:

  • make generalisations over complex data sets;
  • acquire abstract concepts;
  • understand the value of constructing an abstract model for a complex dataset;
  • understand that if they read a complex argument a second time, they understand it better than the first time they read it.

Practical skills

By the end of this course students will:

  • manipulate the tools of a formal system;
  • analyse unfamiliar language data and detect patterns;
  • understand that if they read a complex argument a second time, they understand it better than the first time they read it.

Transferable skills and personal qualities

All intellectual and practical skills listed above are transferrable. Personal skills that will be developed include independence, perseverance and the confidence to trust your own intelligence. 

Assessment methods

Exam 70%
Assignments 30%
Homework assignments N/A

Feedback methods

Feedback method

Formative or summative

Discussion board on Blackboard

formative

Oral feedback through tutorial discussions

formative

Global feedback on online quiz and a discussion of the sample exam in the final lecture

formative

Individual meeting with lecturer on request

formative

Feedback on exam on request

formative and summative

 

Recommended reading

Obligatory reading:
 
Börjars, Kersti, Rachel Nordlinger & Louisa Sadler 2019. Lexical-Functional Grammar: an introduction. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press

Study hours

Scheduled activity hours
Assessment written exam 2.5
Lectures 22
Tutorials 11
Independent study hours
Independent study 164.5

Teaching staff

Staff member Role
Richard Zimmermann Unit coordinator

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