Part I English Language

This course comprises:

  • LING101 Language Description (Term 1 and Term 3)
  • LING130 Introduction to English Language (Term 1)
  • EITHER LING131 Language and Style OR LING132 Introduction to Media Discourse. Most students have a free choice of these two options.

This course is available to visiting students (ERASMUS, JYA etc) as follows:

  • Full Year (October to June) - students take the full course as detailed above - 10 semester credits or 20 ECTS credits
  • Michaelmas Only (October to December) - students take LING101 plus LING130 - 5 semester credits or 10 ECTS credits
  • Lent and Summer Only (January to June) - students choose EITHER LING131 OR LING132 - 5 semester credits or 10 ECTS credits.

 

LING101 Language Description

LING101 is designed to introduce you to basic analytic skills that you will need in the study of language. It is taught through a single lecture each week in the Michaelmas term and the first half of the Summer Term. However, an equally important part of the course are the web-based activities that accompany each lecture. These include readings, transcription exercises and self-tests; you will also interact with a grammar teaching tool called Cytor and a corpus analysis program called WordSmith.

Course aims

  • To familiarise students with the International Phonetic Alphabet and the basics of phonemic transcription;
  • To give students a basic grounding in grammar and morphology;
  • To introduce students to corpus linguistics and acquaint them with the use of the concordance analysis package WordSmith Tools.

 

LING130 Introduction to English Language

The main focus of this course is on variation in  English. We will look at, for example, variation in speech (e.g. accents), vocabulary and structures (e.g. dialects and registers), conversational acts (e.g. ways of making requests), and discourse (e.g. ways of talking in a group). We will also consider a variety of English characterised by lack of variation - (i.e. standard written English), and the effect of globalisation on English. Although our main focus is variation in present-day English, within topic areas we will also touch on (a) how English has changed over time, and (b) how aspects that are distinctive features of English compare with other closely related languages (e.g. German, French, Italian).

Course Aims

  • To consider variation in English (e.g. accents, dialects, registers), focusing both on more traditional areas of language (e.g. lexis, grammar) and areas that have only recently been explored (e.g. conversational acts, discourse);
  • To consider aspects that are distinctive of English compared with other closely related languages (e.g. German, French, Italian);
  • To encourage a critical attitude towards 'facts' about English;
  • To introduce some basic linguistic descriptive frameworks, and gain some practice in applying them;
  • To introduce different ways of studying the English language.

Recommended Reading

Culpeper, J., Katamba, F., Kerswill, P., Wodak, and T. McEnery (2009) English Language: Description, Variation and Context. Palgrave.

 

LING131 Language and Style (Option 1)

(Students taking English Language and Creative Writing must take this course. It is also highly recommended for students taking English Language and Literature.)

This course introduces you to the linguistic study of literature. It examines the role language plays in how we understand literary texts and are affected by them. All three major literary genres are examined. We also compare literary texts with non-literary texts (e.g. poems and advertisements). The fundamental philosophy of the course is to develop a set of skills with which to examine texts, based on what we know about language (in particular, English) and how it works.

You will learn about particular aspects of the structure of English (e.g. grammar and phonetics) throughout the course, at points where it is of particular relevance to the texts you happen to be studying at the time.

The techniques for analysing the language of style will be particularly useful in preparing you for teaching literature at all levels.

Course Aims

  • To introduce the use of linguistic analysis to explore the language of literary texts;
  • To enable students to investigate the relationship between linguistic choices and patterns in all three major literary genres (poetry, prose fiction and drama), as well as in some non-literary texts (e.g. advertisements);
  • To reinforce and extend students' knowledge of basic notions in linguistic description and analysis, and to provide opportunities to practice them on challenging texts;
  • To introduce frameworks for the analysis of phenomena that are typically associated with literary texts (e.g. rhyme patterns or the projection of point of view in narrative);
  • To encourage students to be active participants in class, and to express and investigate their own interpretations of texts;
  • To encourage students to reflect critically on the relationship between interpretation and linguistic analysis.

Recommended Reading

Short, Mick (1996) Exploring the Language of Poems, Plays and Prose. Longman.

Please also visit the Language and Style website: http://www.lancs.ac.uk/fass/projects/stylistics/start.htm

 

LING132 Introduction to Media Discourse (Option 2)

(Students taking English Language in the Media must take this course.)

This course extends and applies approaches to the study of the English Language (introduced in LING130) and basic linguistic analysis (introduced in LING101) to case studies from the print, broadcast, and new media. On this course you will learn how to apply aspects of grammar, phonetics, and discourse analysis from the compulsory modules to a range of media texts, such as:

  • Political speeches and party election broadcasts
  • TV weather forecasts
  • Stand-up and situation comedy
  • Collectibles shows e.g. Antiques Roadshow, Bargain Hunt, Dickinson's Real Deal
  • E-mail and mobile phone texting
  • Newspaper editorials

You will also learn how to analyse non-verbal material such as photographs in magazines and 'body language' in live performances, and develop the skills that you will need in the Part II courses in English Language in the Media.

Course Aims

To introduce a range of key issues in communication by using media texts.

Recommended Reading

Tolson, Andrew (2006) Media Talk: Spoken Discourse on TV and Radio. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.

 

Assessment

LING101: Tests x 2 (worth 10% overall)

LING130: Test (worth 10% overall) plus essay (worth 10% overall)

Option (LING131, LING132): Essay (worth 20% overall)

LING130/Option: Combined exam (worth 50% overall)