Linguistics Undergrad Modules

Expand all Collapse all

• Ling101H1 Understanding Language

  Prerequisites: None
  
  Recommended: None
  
  Aim: To introduce students to the scientific study of language.
  
  Content: Understanding Language introduces you to:
  
      * key concepts and approaches in several major subfields of linguistics;
      * academic skills and research methods in linguistics.
  
  This module offers students an introduction to the basic concepts and ideas in various subfields of Linguistics.  Some of the questions we explore are: What are the linguistic consequences when different language communities come into contact with each other?  Where is language located in the brain?  How do human beings process language?  Can machines learn languages?  The module also introduces students to some basic research methods in linguistics.
  
  There are 4 class meetings every week: 3 lectures and one tutorial.
  
  Assessment: 1 class test (20%); 2 written tutorial assignments (30%); final exam (50%)

• Ling102H2 Introduction to Language Study

  Prerequisites: None
  
  Recommended:
  
  Understanding Language (LING101H1)

  Aim: To introduce students to the key concepts and analytical skills employed in the study of language.
  
  Content: Introduction to Language Study introduces you to:

  • how we can describe the structure of language (sounds, words, sentences etc);
  • how people use their knowledge of language to communicate and understand others.

  Four subdisciplines of linguistics (morphology/phonology, syntax, semantics and language acquisition) are studied in relation to one of the most important assumptions of modern linguistic theory: the concept of language as a "mental organ", which expresses the idea that all humans possess the innate ability to learn and understand language.  The discussions in the course are based on a number of languages spoken in South Africa, and examples and exercises are drawn from various areas in which linguistic expertise is relevant.
  
  There are 4 class meetings every week: 3 lectures and one tutorial.
  
  Assessment: 1 class test (20%); 2 tutorial assignments (30%); final exam (50%).

• Ling201H1 Language and Diversity

  Prerequisites: None 
  
  Recommended:

  Understanding Language (LING101H1), Introduction to Language Study (LING102H2)
  
  Aim: To introduce students to key issues relating to multilingualism and multiculturalism in South Africa.
  
  Content: Multilingualism and language planning issues are explored through acquainting students with aspects of South Africa's linguistic heritage and diversity. Particular attention is given to phenomena such as language contact (e.g. code-switching and mixing, pidgins and creoles); language spread (e.g. new dialects of English); language loss (e.g. the case of Tamil). Students will investigate the sociolinguistic features of these phenomena and carry out a small-scale research project.
  
  Assessment: 1 homework assignment (10%); 1 test (20%); 1 essay (20%); one 3-hour examination (50%).

• Ling204H2 The Multilingual Mind

  Prerequisites: None
  
  Recommended:

  Understanding Language (LING101H1), Introduction to Language Study (LING102H2), Language and Diversity(LING201H1)
  
  Aims: To familiarize students with the cognitive dimensions of linguistics.
  
  Content: In this course we investigate the nature of the cognitive processes underlying the production, perception and comprehension of natural language. (This module is therefore of particular relevance for students in cognitive science). We cover Psycholinguistics (the study of these language-processing mechanisms) and techniques of formal linguistic analysis, in order to explore the nature of the mental representations that form the basis of speakers' linguistic competence. These issues are examined against the background of monolingual first language acquisition in contrast to the simultaneous acquisition of more than one first language and the successive acquisition of several languages.
  
  At the end of the course students will be able to:

  • demonstrate an understanding of the importance of the formal study of language. 
  • show their grasp of key concepts and terminology in the areas they have studied.
  • apply well-defined descriptive categories to data and comment on difficulties encountered.

  
  Assessment: Assignments and research project (40%); One 3-hour examination (60%)
  
  

• Ling301H1 Language and Power

  Prerequisites:

  LING101H1, LING102H2, LING201H1, LING204H2, for students wishing to major in Linguistics.
  
  Aim: To investigate the relation between language use in social contexts, discourse structure and general cognition.
  
  Content: What is the relation between discourse structures, conceptual structures, and general cognition? In order to answer this question, students are introduced to classical and current accounts of speech act theory and discourse analysis. On the one hand, we study linguistic forms and the regularities of their distribution and, on the other hand, we consider the general principles of interpretation by which people normally make sense of what they hear and read. On the basis of theoretical findings from Linguistics, Philosophy, Cognitive Psychology, and Computer Science, we investigate how people use discourse to promote and contest the value systems and social relations of power with which they are associated.
  
  Assessment: Assignments and two small-scale research reports (40%); one 3-hour examination (60%).

• Ling302H2 Comparing Languages

  Prerequisites:

  LING101H1, LING102H2, LING201H1, LING204H2, LING301H1, for students who wish to major in Linguistics.
  
  Aim: To develop students' understanding of the formal study of language and expertise in describing and analysing examples from different languages.
  
  Content: In this course, we use formal syntactic theory as a tool to examine and understand language diversity. In comparing the structural properties of a number of languages, we observe striking similarities and interesting differences, and we discuss how these observations can be related to the idea of an innate (and therefore universal) underlying linguistic competence. We look at the rules and principles that determine the architecture of phrases and sentences in human language, and we discuss contemporary analyses of a variety of syntactic phenomena.
  
  At the end of the module students should be able to: 

  • apply formal techniques for describing and analysing linguistic examples 
  • demonstrate their awareness of key issues in these areas, and their ability to argue a case on particular questions
  • discuss critically the design of language, to describe the main sorts of units and structure in language

  Assessment: Two assignments and one in-class test (50%); One 3-hour examination (50%)