Topics in contemporary linguistics. Current research, innovative methods and ongoing debates 3200-SZD-TCL
The course explores selected schools and models of contemporary linguistics. The review begins with a historical sketch going back to the beginning of the 20th century. Generative linguistics is the first large school to be presented and debated. The role of generative rules, transformations and the generative lexicon will be reviewed. The generative philosophy of linguistic autonomy and the modularity of grammar will be contrasted with the foundations of cognitive linguistics in its two major incarnations. One, developed by R. Langacker, concerns mainly grammar. The other, initiated by G. Lakoff, covers linguistics in a broader sense. Two off-shoots of cognitive grammar will be dealt with, construction grammar (A. Goldberg) and radical construction grammar (W. Croft). Corpus linguistics as an indispensable tool of modern research and analysis will be examined. Areas of linguistic research such as syntax, morphology (word-formation) and semantics will provide data and evidence for the hypotheses invoked. The student will be exposed to ongoing linguistic debates. The above models will not only be analysed, but also critically assessed.
Type of course
Mode
Learning outcomes
Knowledge:
The student knows and understands
P8S_WG: global scholarly output – to the extent enabling him/her revision of existing paradigms, covering theoretical foundations as well as selected specific issues; major trends and developments in linguistics; scientific research methodology
Skills:
The Student can:
P8S_UW: use knowledge from various fields of science to creatively identify, formulate and innovatively solve complex problems or perform research tasks, in particular:
- define the goal and object of scholarly research, formulate research hypotheses
- develop research methods, techniques and tools and apply them creatively
- draw conclusions based on research results
critically analyse and evaluate research results
P8S_UK: communicate specialist topics to the extent that enables active participation in the international scientific community; initiate debate; participate in academic discourse; use English at the B2 level (Common European Framework of Reference for Languages, CEFR) to a degree enabling participation in the international scholarly community
Social competences:
The student is ready to:
P8S_KK: critically assess his/her linguistic achievements; critically assess his/her own contribution to the development of linguistics; recognize the importance of knowledge in solving cognitive and practical problems
Assessment criteria
1st round:
- attendance
- active participation in class
- one written piece (max. 1000 words) per semester, concerning a topic under discussion
2nd round:
see above
Bibliography
selected titles (fragments):
Chomsky, Noam. 2006. Language and Mind (3rd ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Croft, William. 2009. Radical Construction Grammar. Syntactic Theory in Typological Perspective. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Evans, Vyvyan. 2014. The Language Myth: Why Language is not an Instinct. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Goldberg, Adele E. 2009. The nature of generalization in language. Cognitive Linguistics 20 (1): 93-127.
Hunston, Susan and Gill Francis. 2000. Pattern Grammar. A Corpus-driven Approach to the Lexical Grammar of English. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.
Lakoff, George and Mark Johnson. 1980. Metaphors We Live by. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.
Langacker, Ronald W. 1987. Foundations of Cognitive Grammar, vol. 1: Theoretical
prerequisites. Stanford: Stanford University Press.
Pinker, Steven. 1994. The Language Instinct: The New Science of Language and Mind. London: Penguin.
Wierzbicka, Anna. 1997. Understanding Cultures Through Their Key Words: English, Russian, Polish, German, and Japanese. New York: Oxford University Press.
Additional information
Additional information (registration calendar, class conductors, localization and schedules of classes), might be available in the USOSweb system: