In this module we explore theoretical issues in linguistics and the development of linguistic theory during the last century or so. The module is organized into four thematically-organised blocks (usually taught by three or four different tutors). The exact content varies from year to year; however, principal topics to be covered typically include (a) Saussure and his crucial role in revolutionising linguistic method at the beginning of the twentieth century; (b) linguistic relativism and the relationship between language, culture and thought; (c) meaning; and (d) language and the mind. By the end of the module the student should be able to demonstrate an understanding of major chronological developments in linguistic thought over the past 100-150 years; engage in argument and discussion about the significance of particular ideas and evaluate the relative importance of particular linguists; and synthesise knowledge from the different module blocks to answer wide-ranging assessment questions.
Option modules may include:
Discourse and Society
The aim of this course is to make students aware of the role of discourse in society. To a much greater extent than we think, our attitudes, beliefs and actions are a result of what is communicated to us by the media, newspapers and advertising. The course enables students to recognise, and guard against, 'spin' and manipulation and to set such bias in its social context, identifying those in whose interest the bias is maintained and who gain if we believe what is written, for example in the papers. The course aims at analysing real language data from relevant texts dealing with discourse and society. The first semester will introduce several models of critical discourse for dealing with real language data. The second semester will show how we can use corpus analysis to critically analyse texts and will introduce multimodal analysis (analysing visual elements in texts). By the end of the course students will be confident of analysing the linguistic and visual discourse of written texts from different genres and interpreting and commenting on the results of their analysis.
English Language Teaching
The purpose of the module is to lead you to an understanding of the way in which linguistic theory is applied to the field of language teaching, especially foreign and second-language teaching. Although the module does not provide a recognised qualification in TEFL/TESL, it provides a thorough introduction to the theory underlying the subject and gives you an opportunity to relate your theoretical knowledge to pedagogic practice by including an element of fieldwork and data analysis. Topics include: differences between first and second-language learning; variation in language learning ability, e.g. social and cultural, as well as individual factors such as personality and intelligence; interlanguage; the meaning of errors; differences between languages and communicative competence.
Language, Gender and Identity
Do men and women speak ‘differently’? What are the implications of gender-marked lexis? How does gender interact with identity? And what do we mean by identity, anyway? These are some of the questions posed, explored and critiqued throughout the module as we investigate the interface between language, gender and identity using a range of historical and contemporary, spoken and written texts.
Topics may include: the origins and evolution of language and gender studies; the constructivist approach to gender and identity, and the role of language in the creation of self; the depiction of gender and sexuality in written discourse including popular media and fictional narratives; sites of social conflict, such as ‘exceptional women’ in power, and the performances of identities in non-heteronormative social groups. Throughout we assess the possible impacts and implications of gender and identity analysis, and its relevance for the 21st century.
This module explores the features and function of narratives, focussing on literary texts alongside spoken and cinematic examples. The module examines narrative structures, essential features, more peripheral qualities, and the similarities and differences across narrative types and contexts, examining both canonical (e.g. Dickens, Austen) and popular (e.g. American Psycho, J.G. Ballard) texts. Topics explored may include: story, discourse and plot, the narrator, the manipulation of time, point of view, characterization; representation of speech and thought; film narration; unreliability; gendered narration; suspense and surprise; narrative as therapy, and narratives for children. We develop answers to some of the following questions: What is involved in producing a narrative? What separates narrative, as a kind of discourse or artefact, from all the things that are not narratives? What are the most prominent and developed techniques and formal devices of literary narratives? What can film narrative do that literary narrative cannot, and vice versa?
Linguistic ‘creativity’ tends to be associated with a certain kind of language – that found within written, highly valued literary texts – and recognition of a creative capacity is often reserved for artistic geniuses such as the English language writers Chaucer, Shakespeare, and Dickens. In the hands of such authors, language can be used to create imagery and new worlds, to move readers, and challenge their perceptions. But this linguistic creativity comes from a natural ability in all of us to play with language. This module looks at what it means to be creative with language in ordinary situations which people encounter in their everyday lives, from their own conversations to shop signs and websites. The module also looks at the opportunities which new media present for informal and playful written communication, for playing with and reconfiguring texts, and for combining text and image. These texts are explored using linguistic concepts such as evaluation, multimodality, and metaphor. By the end of this practical module, students will have collected and analysed examples of creative language use occurring around them, and have explored analytical frameworks within which ‘ordinary creativity’ can be understood alongside more ‘routine’/’prosaic’ texts.
Politics of English
This module explores a range of ways in which national and international political issues impact on the use, description and transmission of the English language. In the contemporary world, more than ever before, access to English - and to particular versions of English - can make a fundamental difference to the life-chances of citizens, not only in this country but also much further afield. The module will help you to understand how this situation has arisen, how conflicting political interests have been involved in the developments underlying it, and how various groups and individuals have responded to it. The first semester will introduce the historical background, looking both at the large-scale events that led to a spread of English around the world, and also at the attitudes to nationhood in England and associated efforts to prescribe a standard version of the language. The second semester will deal with more contemporary issues, including recent policies for teaching English language and literacy in England, and the controversies associated with these, and current developments in the commodification of English, including the TESOL 'industry' and the many cultural products, from popular music and film to post-colonial literature, in which the English language plays a contested role.
The aim of this module is to explore the lexis of English – we’ll be considering the nature of the English lexicon, and how it’s organized, and what it means to ‘know’ a word. We’ll look at word meanings, including figurative meaning, and phrases and phraseology, and explore the ways words are used in text. In the course, we’ll draw from mainly non-literary sources, and also corpus data drawn from the Bank of English. The first semester begins by looking at the English lexicon in general; word creation and formation; the mental lexicon (how words are stored in the mind); and collocation and multi-word items. We then look at different aspects of word meaning. The focus of the second semester is lexis in text and discourse, so we will be covering topics such as variation in lexis across field, register and genre; lexis in spoken language, colloquial language and slang; and then ways in which words and metaphorical uses of words express ideology and evaluation, or help organize text and its meanings.