Elective course: Language and international relations 3200-M2-PF-JSM

The course focuses on the percolation of language and foreign policy theory. Foreign policy is (mainly) conducted by means of language. Complex international relations are carried out by numerous stakeholders: politicians, policy makers, pundits, advisers, scholars, journalists, famous personas and others. Infrequently, one person holds a few functions. Additionally, there are also representatives of important institutions, governments, organizations, churches and influential individuals. All these stakeholders use language in its various aspects.

Given its international character, the English language will undergo a thorough analysis regarding its use in the theory and practice of international relations.

The course covers (though is not limited to) the following areas:
- mechanisms of meaning construal and interpretation generation
- rhetorical tools, such as metaphor and metonymy
- special role of personification
- polysemy
- intertextuality
- simple and complex concepts and expressions
- specialist phraseology
- terminology
- etymology

The student’s time involvement:
30 hrs. – class attendance
45 hrs. – individual work:
i.e. ongoing revision of class content (15hrs.); written homework (5 hrs.); mid-term test (5 hrs.); end-of-semester test (20 hrs.)

If classroom instruction is impossible, the meeting will be conducted by means of distance communication tools, most probably Google Meet and others recommended by the University.

Course coordinators

Piotr Twardzisz

Type of course

elective courses

Mode

Classroom

Prerequisites (description)

An interdisciplinary study of the use of the English language in the discourse of international relations. The goal of the course is to increase or to reinforce the student's skills of creating a high-quality academic text in English in the field of international relations.

Learning outcomes

Upon completion of the course, the student:
- enriches his/her specialist lexicon
- expands the phraseological range
- recognizes and generates metaphorical expressions
- understands the use of metonymy
- uses personifications with reference to abstract concepts
- recognizes polysemous expressions
- constructs morphologically complex words and expressions
- improves the repertoire of linguistic tools indispensable for creating high-quality academic texts in the area of international relations

Assessment criteria

Class attendance
(two absences per semester allowed)

Course requirements for a grade (1st round):

1. written homework: 20% of final grade (short elaboration of a selected topic covered in class, case study etc.); timely submission
2. mid-term written test: 20% of final grade (open and closed questions)
3. end-of-semester written test: 50% of final grade (open and closed questions; key issues discussed throughout the course)
4. active participation in class: 10% of final grade
5. (optional, end of semester) oral class presentation of individual research project: possible increase in final grade

Course requirements (2nd round):
Extended test covering the entire course (open and closed questions)

Practical placement

Not applicable

Bibliography

Suggested references:

Chilton, Paul. 1996. Security Metaphors: Cold War Discourse from Containment to Common House. New York: Peter Lang.
Griffiths, Martin, Terry O’Callaghan, Terry and Steven C. Roach. 2008. International Relations. The Key Concepts, 2nd edition. London and New York: Routledge.
Marks, Michael P. 2011. Metaphors in International Relations Theory. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
Twardzisz, Piotr. 2013. The Language of Interstate Relations. Basingstoke and New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
Twardzisz, Piotr. 2018. Defining 'Eastern Europe'. London: Palgrave Macmillan.