An Introductory Course in LinguisticsCourseware.docx
- 文档编号:10957516
- 上传时间:2023-02-24
- 格式:DOCX
- 页数:70
- 大小:66.70KB
An Introductory Course in LinguisticsCourseware.docx
《An Introductory Course in LinguisticsCourseware.docx》由会员分享,可在线阅读,更多相关《An Introductory Course in LinguisticsCourseware.docx(70页珍藏版)》请在冰豆网上搜索。
AnIntroductoryCourseinLinguisticsCourseware
AnIntroductoryCourseinLinguistics
Instructor:
ChuXiuwei
CourseGuide
Introduction
Peopletalkeveryday,andtheabilitytouselanguagedistinguisheshumanbeingsfromanimals.Becauseofthat,thestudyoflanguagecanprovideinsightinto"humannature."Seekingtounderstandexplicitlywhateveryhumanknowsimplicitlyaboutlanguage,linguisticsisoneofacademia’smostusefulandinterestingfields.Thescientificstudyoflanguage,bothholisticallyandinminutedetail,isbecomingmoreandmorerelevantintoday’ssociety.Forexample,inthefieldofmedicine,linguisticknowledgehasproventobeextremelyusefulinstudyingthehumanbrain,andthequestforthe"perfect"wordprocessorandspeechrecognitiontechnologymeansthatlinguistsareinhighdemandinthefieldofcomputertechnology.Theresultsoflinguisticstudyalsohaveimportantapplicationsinandimplicationsforsocialstudies,socialwork,education,andlanguage(particularlysecondlanguage)teachingandlearning.Indeed,anydisciplinethatreliesondiversesortsofcommunicationcanbenefitfromthestudyoflinguistics.
Thiscourse,introducingyoutothewonderfulworldoflinguisticsandprovidingyouwithsometoolstobetterunderstandwhatyoualreadyknow,aimstohelpdevelopyoursystematicunderstandingofthenatureoflanguage.Althoughtherearenoprerequisitesforthiscourse,thelanguageknowledgeyoualreadypossesswillbeoneofthemostimportantsourcesofinformationyouwilluse.Wewillbeginwithadiscussionofwhatlanguageisandanoverviewofthebranchesoflinguistics.Thenwewillfocusonthemajoraspectsoflanguagestructurecommontoallhumanlanguages:
soundsystems,wordsandtheirmeanings,sentencestructuresandmeaning,namelythefourmainareasoflinguisticstudy:
●phoneticsandphonology(thestudyofspeechsounds);
●morphology(thestudyofwordstructure);
●syntax(thestudyofsentencestructure);and
●semantics(thestudyofmeaning).
Linguisticshasmanysubfieldswhichoverlapwithanthropology,communication,communicationsciencesanddisorders,education,English,foreignlanguages,philosophy,psychology,andsociology.However,itishardlyimaginableforanintroductorycoursetocoverallthesefields.Therefore,wewillthenexamineonlyfourofthosesubfields:
●pragmatics(thestudyofmeaningincontextorthestudyoflanguageinuse);
●sociolinguistics(thestudyoflanguageinrelationtosociety);
●computationallinguistics(abranchofstudydealingwithcomputerprocessingofhumanlanguage);and
●appliedlinguistics(thestudyofsecondandforeignlanguageteachingandlearning,whichemploysthetheoriesandfindingsoflinguistics).
WhyStudyLinguistics?
Linguisticsmaybedefinedasthesystematicorscientificstudyoflanguage.Ittriestoanswerthebasicquestions“Whatislanguage?
”and“Howdoeslanguagework?
”Itprobesintovariousaspectsoftheseproblems,suchas“Whatdoalllanguageshaveincommon?
”,“Whatrangeofvariationisfoundamonglanguages?
”,“WhyandhowdolanguagesChange?
”,“Howdoyouknowthemeaningofasentenceyouhaveneverheardbefore?
”,“Howareyouabletobreakdowncontinuousstreamsofsoundintosentences,phrases,words,andpartsofwords,withouteventrying?
”andsoon.
Youmayask:
Whyshouldwecare?
First,informedpeopleoughttoknowatleastsomethingaboutmodernscience.ItishelpfulandnecessaryforEnglishmajors,aslanguagelearnersorwould-belanguageteachers,toknowsomebasiclinguisticknowledge.Second,linguists'modesofthoughtaregeneralizableandcaninformotherstudies.Particularly,learninglinguisticscanhelpimproveyourlogicalanddialecticalthinking.Third,languageplaysacentralroleinourlivesasindividualsandsocialbeings.Unawareofthenatureandmechanismofourlanguage,wewillbeignorantofwhatconstitutesouressentialhumanity.Linguisticsdirectlyorindirectlysaysmuchabouthumannaturethatweoughtalltobeinterestedin.
CourseGoalsandObjectives
Oneofthemaingoalsofanyintroductorysurveyistoequipyouwiththe"toolsofthetrade"sothatyourfurtherstudywillbemoreproductiveandenjoyable,andespeciallysothattheworkofothers(inthiscase,otherlinguists)becomesaccessibletoyouandyourworkisaccessibletoothers.Thestudyoflinguisticterminologyandthewaylinguiststhinkandsolveproblemswillhelpyoutobettercommunicateyourthoughts,bothinthefieldoflinguisticsandinanyotherfieldwheretheuseoflanguageisaconcern(inotherwords,practicallyeveryacademicandprofessionalpursuitinexistence).
Bytheendofthiscourseyouwillbeabletoworkonlinguisticproblems,andyouwillhavethetoolstopresentyoursolutionsinaclearmannerthatotherlinguistscanunderstandandbenefitfrom.Amongotherthings,youwillbeableto
●examinedatafromotherlanguagesandexplainhowthoselanguageswork;
●breakdownsounds,words,andsentencesintotheirrespectivepartsandshowhowtheyarerelated;
●recordpassagesinphonetictranscription;and
●describehowlanguagesdevelopandchange,etc.
AbouttheRequiredMaterial
TheTextbook
Althoughthecourseisnottaughtfromasingletextbook,itismainlybasedonLinguistics:
ACourseBook(2ndEdition)byHuZhuanglinetal.(BeijingUniversityPress2001),whichwewilluseasourtextbook.Ichosethistextbookforthreereasons.
First,itis,ifnotthemostpopular,oneofthemostwidelyusedtextbooksinlinguisticsonChina’sMainland,andmanyuniversitiesrecommenditasoneoftheprescribedreferencebookstothosewhoaregoingtotakethepostgraduateentranceexaminationstofurtherstudyEnglish.
Second,theholisticnatureoftheirpresentationofthevariouselementsoflinguisticsiswellsuitedtotheoverallviewappropriatetoanintroductorycourse.Ialwaysliketoknowhowthingsfitwitheachother,andthisbookpresentsthingsinthatway.
Third,itisdesirablyinformativeandthedetailedEnglish-ChineseGlossaryandIndexmakesthisbookeasilyaccessible.
Bytheway,thisbookcontainsmuchinformationthatwewillnothaveachancetolookat,butyouareencouragedtodosoifyouhavethetimeandwanttoknowmore.
SuggestedReading
戴炜栋、何兆熊、华钧,1989,《简明英语语言学教程》(修订版),上海外语教育出版社。
AlsowritteninEnglish,thisbook,thoughmuchlessinformative,ismucheasiertoreadthanourtextbook.Youmaygainaquickideaofthescopeandtheoreticalstandardoflinguisticsbylookingthroughthisbook.ItisalsoaveryinfluentialtextbookoflinguisticsinChina’sMainland.Iuseitasareferencebookindesigningthecoursecontent.Butremember,youareonlysuggested,notrequired,toreadit,althoughreadingitcansurehelpyouunderstandwhatI’lltalkaboutinthiscourse.
CourseRequirements
Courserequirementsincluderegularhomeworkassignmentsandafinalexam.
CourseContentsandAssignments
Asmentionedabove,ourtextbook,Linguistics:
ACourseBook,isveryinformative.Itissoinformativethatinthisintroductorycoursewecannotcoverallthetopicsinit;youwillfindthatmuchofthetextbookisleftwithoutanytouch.Asaresult,ourcoursecontentswillnotbeorganizedexactlyinaccordancewithourtextbook.Forexample,ourChapterSixisPragmatics,whilethetextbook’sisLanguageProcessinginMind,whichisnotincludedinourcoursecontentatall.
Thiscoursecomprisesatotaloftenchapters:
nine"content"chapters(fromChapterOnetoChapterNine)andone"preparatory"chapter(ChapterTenpreparesyouforthefinalexamination).Eachofthe"content"chaptersincludes
●asetofreadingquestionstoguideyourstudyofthetextbook;
●anoutlineofthemaincontentofthechapter;
●anassignmentcomprisedofquestionsdrawnfromthetextbookorthatIhavemadeup.
Ihavealsoprovidedextranotesforsomeofthesections;youmayreadthesebefore,after,orwhileyoureadtherelevantsectionsinyourtext.Allofthesearedesignedtohelpyoutomasterthematerialfromthechapterandtoprepareyouforthefinal.
Nodivisionbylinguisticdisciplinesisperfect,aseachfieldtendstoencroachonothers.Inthesameway,whileIhavedividedthecontentofthechapterstomakethemasdiscreteaspossible,youwilloftenfindyourselfusingwhatyouhavelearnedinpreviouschaptersandeven,onoccasion,drawinguponinformationthatwillbemorefullycoveredinasubsequentchapter.Indeed,itisagoodideatokeepallthatyouhavelearnedinmindasyougoovereachchapter;youwillfindthatthemoreconceptsyoucanlinkinyourmindthemorecompleteanunderstandingyouwillhaveandthebetteryouwillperformontheassignmentsandexam.
Chapter1:
InvitationstoLinguistics
Thischapterintroducesyoutothenatureoflanguage,thescopeoflinguisticsandsomebasicnotionsortechnicaltermsinlinguistics.
Chapter2:
SpeechSounds
Thischapterisdividedintotwoparts:
phoneticsandphonology.Inthischapteryouwilllearnhowsoundsareproduced,describedandclassified.Also,youwilllearnwhatmakessoundslinguisticallysignificantorinsignificant,andwhatfeaturesofsoundsarelinguisticallysignificant.
Chapter3:
Lexicon
Herewewillexaminetheinternalstructureofwords.Youwilllearnhowtoanalyzethevariouspartsofwordsandknowthesignificanceofeachpart.
Chapter4:
Syntax
Inthischapterwewillexaminethestructureofgroupsofwords.Youwillunderstandwhatmakessentencesgrammaticalorungrammatical;youwillbeabletoscientificallyexplainsyntactically-relatedphenomenasuchasambiguity;andyouwillbeabletobreakdownanddiagramsentencesandphrases.
Cha
- 配套讲稿:
如PPT文件的首页显示word图标,表示该PPT已包含配套word讲稿。双击word图标可打开word文档。
- 特殊限制:
部分文档作品中含有的国旗、国徽等图片,仅作为作品整体效果示例展示,禁止商用。设计者仅对作品中独创性部分享有著作权。
- 关 键 词:
- An Introductory Course in LinguisticsCourseware
链接地址:https://www.bdocx.com/doc/10957516.html