Tovar, Sol

This praxis-oriented course will provide students with an in-depth understanding of the most useful software and tools for science communication in the field of linguistics. We will explore how to make the most out of reference management
software, word processing tools and presentation software in order to create well-formatted papers, engaging presentations, and eye-catching research posters. 

This course is designed to deepen students’ knowledge of and skills in academic writing, i.e., in conducting and organising advanced linguistic research, in identifying and evaluating sources as well as in summarising and discussing research positions. The focus will be on composing linguistic theses and the individual steps involved in this form of academic writing, from getting started to the final product. We will zoom in on different writing techniques, including stylistic questions as well as formal aspects. By the end of this course, students will be able to (1) evaluate and discuss the structure of scientific texts, (2) apply this knowledge to their own writings, and (3) develop their own research projects.
Course requirements: active participation in class, regular readings, writing assignments (portfolio).

Language is not merely a tool for communication, but a powerful social instrument for constructing and deconstructing our gendered and sexual identities. This course will provide a foundation for exploring the transformative potential of linguistic practices in queering traditional norms and identities. Through the lens of feminist and queer theory, we will critically analyse how different subdisciplines of linguistics have approached the concepts of gender and sexuality in the past decades, opening new avenues for their analysis.

No previous knowledge of feminist or queer theory is required to participate in the course, yet reading Pennycook’s (2021) chapter on the politics of difference in preparation to the course is highly recommended.

General Requirements:

• Portfolio of short-form written and/or audiovisual content production.
• Final reflection and self-evaluation.

Requirements for MA students:

In addition to the general requirements, MA students will work on:

• The production of a scientific poster.
• A term paper expanding on the topic of the poster (only for module ELG-M4).

Recommended reading:

Pennycook, Alastair. 2021. Chapter 4: The politics of difference. In Critical applied linguistics: A critical re-introduction. New York: Routledge. 85-102. (Regensburger Katalog)

Pragmatics is one of the fuzzy big-tent subdisciplines of Linguistics: it is difficult to define in terms of what it is, so it has been defined in terms of what it is not. It deals with meaning, but it is not semantics. It deals with structures, but it is not morphosyntax. It deals with intonation patterns, but it is not phonology. What most linguists would agree on is that pragmatics concerns itself with ways of doing things with words. In this course we are going to take a closer look at which things we can do and which words we use to do them, taking a look at a selection of topics under big-tent pragmatics. This will include, but not be limited to: deixis and reference, speech acts, pragmatic inferences and implicatures, Intonation and meaning, politeness theory, interactional patterns and discourse styles.

General Requirements:

• Weekly assignments
• Active participation in class discussions
• Oral presentation
• Final written task (BA/LA)

In addition to the general requirements, MA students will work on:

• The production of a scientific poster.
• A term paper expanding on the topic of the poster (only for module ELG-M4).

Currently, there are numerous varieties of the English language spoken worldwide. Among them, British and American English stand out due to America’s and Britain’s historical colonial influence, their global economic and cultural dominance, and the widespread use of these varieties in media and international communication, being widely favored by foreign learners and English teachers.

Despite ultimately originating from the same linguistic roots, these varieties exhibit significant differences across various aspects such as phonology, vocabulary, grammar, spelling, punctuation, and pragmatics. This course will explore these distinctions, exploring not only the standard norms but also some non-standard features of these varieties.

General Requirements:

• Weekly assignments
• Active participation in class discussions
• Oral presentation
• Final written task (BA/LA)

In addition to the general requirements, MA students will work on:

• The production of a scientific poster
• A term paper expanding on the topic of the poster (only for module ELG-M4)

Currently, there are numerous varieties of the English language spoken worldwide. Among them, British and American English stand out due to America’s and Britain’s historical colonial influence, their global economic and cultural dominance, and the widespread use of these varieties in media and international communication, being widely favored by foreign learners and English teachers.

Despite ultimately originating from the same linguistic roots, these varieties exhibit significant differences across various aspects such as phonology, vocabulary, grammar, spelling, punctuation, and pragmatics. This course will explore these distinctions, exploring not only the standard norms but also some non-standard features of these varieties.

General Requirements:

• Weekly assignments
• Active participation in class discussions
• Oral presentation
• Final written task (BA/LA)

In addition to the general requirements, MA students will work on:

• The production of a scientific poster.
• A term paper expanding on the topic of the poster (only for module ELG-M4).

This course is part of the Master’s Programme in English Linguistics and restricted to students from that course. It is intended to provide first-hand experience and critical discussion of seminal works of 20th century linguistic theory and methodology, covering the classical texts of different schools of modern linguistics as well as more recent studies relevant to the ongoing research at our Department.

Readings
All readings are compulsory and will be made available on GRIPS.

Requirements
Two oral presentations
Handout (max. 2 pages)
Preparation and participation
Essay on one of the readings (2,000 words to be submitted by 31 August 2024)

Linguistics certainly has its theoretical, even philosophical side, but it also offers a practical toolkit of notions and definitions that enable informed users to analyse and savour a language that less informed users merely speak. In addition to recapitulating and practising the more general and historical contents of lecture 35702, this seminar will show how the categories and terminologies introduced there can be profitably applied to the sounds, word forms, and syntactic structures of the English language.

Course requirements: regular attendance, active participation, completion of written exercises.