Delivered at:: School of Fundamental and Applied Linguistics

Course type:: Compulsory course

When:: 4 year, 1, 2 module

Instructor

Sosnin, Alexey

Full Syllabus

Abstract

The course is designed to help the students to deepen their knowledge of the contemporary trends in linguistics. Lectures are followed by seminars, where the essential concepts and tenets of each theory are discussed. The course focuses on major theories in linguistics of the 20th and 21st century that have been developing from the time of its appearance as a scholarly discipline. The course covers such fields and trends of language studies as American structuralism (L. Bloomfield), functionalist linguistics (the Prague school), generative linguistics (N. Chomsky), cognitive linguistics (G. Lakoff) and semantics (J. Katz). The uniqueness of the course is in the use of authentic materials (academic articles and books) and the English language in the classroom, which is aimed to encourage the students’ confidence in professional communication.

Learning Objectives

Learning Objectives The learning objectives of the course are as follows: • to give the students knowledge of major theories in modern linguistics; • to help students master competencies, which will allow them to be successful in their professional interaction.

Expected Learning Outcomes

As a result of the course, students will acquire the following competencies: 1. knowledge of the major linguistic theories; 2. awareness of the place of the 21st century linguistics within a broader scope of linguistic studies; 3. managing effective interaction within the intercultural context; 4. ability to carry out the linguistic experiment

Course Contents

Modern Linguistic Theories

Assessment Elements

Type of assessment
This course is graded by an 8-score system. During the grading the Instructor takes into consideration: the use of theoretical knowledge student got from the course, the logic of the statements, independence of the analysis. The results of the research will be reported in the form of oral team presentation as well as in a written form. The final examination will consist of three questions on the theoretical part of the course. Deadlines: Students are strongly recommended to follow the deadlines of the assignment. Team presentation should be done at the class, detailed description should be e-mailed to the lecturers in three days before the last class. Failure to comply with the deadline reduces the grades to zero. Attendance and participation play an important role on a par with the defense of the paper and the final test. Students are expected to attend all scheduled classes, class presentations, simulations, exercises, discussion groups, and lectures. Absences will be excused only in cases when a student misses a class because of serious illness, serious illness of an immediate family member, or a death in the immediate family. Decisions on whether an absence qualifies as an excused absence will be made by the campus dean. To be excused for an absence, a student must submit a request to the dean's office along with any required documentation. If a campus dean approves a student's request to be excused for an absence, the dean will notify all affected faculty. In cases of excused absences, faculty members will be expected to offer make-up or substitute exercises or exams, where feasible. An absence for any reason except those qualifying for an excused absence will be considered an unexcused absence. Students who miss more than 20% of scheduled classroom/activity hours because of unexcused absences (e.g., more than two meetings of a 10-meeting course, or more than 4 meetings of a 20-meeting course) will fail the course. Students who miss substantial portions of a course because of excused absences will receive an incomplete grade for the course and will be required to make up missed work or re-take the course. With the approval of the campus dean, individual Instructors may impose additional and/or stricter attendance requirements and penalties for tardiness or absence, as they see appropriate for their courses. Students should carefully read course syllabi to be sure that they understand the particular expectations for attendance in each course. If a student misses a class or other required activity, it is his or her responsibility to review, with classmates, the material covered, and to consult with the Instructor prior to the next class meeting regarding any possible make-up requirements. In case of illness or absence due to religious obligations, students must notify the Instructor(s) by email as soon they are aware of the time conflict. (Note: any make-up work approved by the course Instructor must be completed either immediately before or immediately after the class session missed. It is not acceptable to submit make-up work after the course has ended and/or grades have been issued.) Absences count as a zero for that day's class participation. Classes begin promptly according to the published schedule. It is the responsibility of each student to be in class on time. Classroom attendance will be recorded. To eliminate disruption, students are requested not to enter or leave the classroom when class is in session. Furthermore, students are expected to attend all class sessions with their corresponding cohort and team. Switching cohorts to accommodate class attendance is not allowed except in the presence of extenuating circumstances and with the prior approval by the course Instructor and the Registrar’s Office.
Type of assessment

Interim Assessment

2022/2023 2nd module
0.4 * Type of assessment + 0.6 * Type of assessment

Bibliography

Recommended Core Bibliography

Мильруд, Р. П. Теория обучения иностранным языкам. Английский язык : учебник для вузов / Р. П. Мильруд. — 2-е изд., перераб. и доп. — Москва : Издательство Юрайт, 2019. — 406 с. — (Высшее образование). — ISBN 978-5-534-11977-0. — Текст : электронный // Образовательная платформа Юрайт [сайт]. — URL: https://urait.ru/bcode/446581 (дата обращения: 28.08.2023).

Recommended Additional Bibliography

Meyerhoff, M. (2018). Introducing Sociolinguistics (Vol. Third edition). London: Routledge. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsebk&AN=1875703
Smakman, D., & Heinrich, P. (2018). Urban Sociolinguistics : The City As a Linguistic Process and Experience (Vol. First edition). Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=nlebk&AN=1585404
Yang Liu, & Meng Zhang. (2018). Neural Network Methods for Natural Language Processing. Computational Linguistics, (1), 193. https://doi.org/10.1162/COLI_r_00312

Bachelor’s Programme 'Fundamental and Applied Linguistics'

Modern Linguistic Theories