- Location: Queenstown - Central
Course details
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF MODULES
The general pre-requisite for all level 5000 modules is admission to a graduate degree programme in the University or have obtained the approval of the Department.
Different modules will be taught in different semesters within an academic year. Not all modules listed will necessarily be offered in any given academic year. The Department reserves the right to re-schedule or not to offer certain modules.
EL5200 Linguistic Argumentation
This module is designed for graduate students who wish to pursue an advanced degree in English Language Studies. It introduces important analytic concepts and methods in the study of linguistic structure, with special attention to the English language. Topics include all structural components of language, especially phonology, morphology, and syntax. By examining the formal aspect of language, students will acquire a deeper appreciation of language, and learn the necessary techniques of linguistic analysis.
EL5201 Advanced Grammatical Analysis
Preclusion: EL5231
This module advances students understanding of the structure of modern standard English, building on what they have done in the undergraduate programme. We examine a range of grammatical constructions of English, which includes coordination, subordination, tense, aspect, and word formation. We also touch on aspects of regional and social variability, especially in multilingual contexts in which English is being used today. At the end of the module, students should be able to read advanced grammar books, and descriptions of linguistic phenomena in English with critical understanding of the arguments for or against theoretical positions based on these phenomena.
EL5202 The Grammar of Modern English
This module introduces students to the systematic analysis of the grammar of modern Standard English. We will examine common topics in the phonology, morphology and syntax of the English language. The effect of language contact on English will also be discussed. The module is descriptive in nature. Through examining the grammar of English, students will be exposed to important analytical concepts in corpus and theoretical linguistics.
EL5206 Advanced Psycholinguistics
This is an advanced course in Psycholinguistics designed to explore pertinent issues in greater detail. It will cover some of the major areas of study in Psycholinguistics (including some basic Neurolinguistics), with special emphasis on child language acquisition. Students will also be exposed to research methods in Psycholinguistics, and to the mental processes we think may underlie language use. In the attempt to understand these processes in healthy individuals it is crucial that we also consider what happens when language becomes impaired. For this reason, this course will also examine evidence from both atypically developing children and language-impaired adults.
EL5211 Contact Languages
This module focuses on languages evolving in multilingual settings out of radical contact situations. Commonly referred to as Pidgins, Creoles and mixed languages, these languages are spoken mainly in the Caribbean and Asia-Pacific regions. We concentrate on English-lexified contact varieties and investigate the interaction of typological features and sociolinguistic factors determining language change in contact situations. We also discuss the most salient issues within the field of Language Contact such as: (i) Creoles as a synchronically viable structural class; (ii) restructuring patterns, creolization and universal patterns of language change; (iii) pidginisation; (iv) ideology and classification.
EL5212 History of English
This module is aimed at graduate students who wish to explore the development of the English language over the past 1,500 years or so, and to see that some features of present-day English can be explained in the light of its history. Students should ideally have some background in grammatical description. Issues that will receive attention include the transformation of a synthetic Old English
to a more analytic Modern English; language contact as a force for language change; the standardisation of English; and the spread of English and the New Englishes.
EL5216 Computers, Corpora & the World Wide Web
This module takes an empirical approach to linguistic investigation: it bases claims on adequate electronic language datasets known as corpora. Such corpora may either be stand-alone or drawn from the World Wide Web, the dynamic mega-corpus. With special reference to English, relevant topics will be introduced to suit particular needs and may include the relation between corpora and lexicography, culture studies, translation, language teaching and computer-mediated communication. Participants will also receive hands-on training with stand-alone linguistic programmes and those found on the World Wide Web. This module does not assume any expert computing knowledge.
EL5221 The Linguistic Analysis of Literature
This interface module deals with some of the ways that linguistics and discourse analysis can be used for the analysis of literature. Among the topics covered are the grammatical features in literary texts, the sounds of poetry, and discourse situations in fictional narrative. This module will be useful for higher-degree students who want to use literature in their study, including those who have to use the language of literature for a more comprehensive examination of a particular area of linguistic research. Higher-degree literature students with a good linguistics background may also consider doing this module.
EL5250 Sociolinguistic Argumentation
The module provides hands-on experience with a range of approaches to the study of language in social life, such as the ethnography of communication, interactional sociolinguistics, the sociology of language, and quantitative sociolinguistics. Critical attention is given to relevant social theory and to theoretical and applied issues arising from multilingualism in SE Asia, such as the institutional management of linguistic diversity, the social and educational implications of multilingualism for individual and society, language and culture, the effects of social factors on variation, and language contact and change in relation to language shift and maintenance.
EL5251 Approaches to Discourse
This module will explore approaches to analysing both written and spoken discourses. Students will learn the analytical tools used to describe features of both modes of discourses. They will be encouraged to explore current research in discourse analysis. There may be a specific focus on particular kinds of discourse (classroom, computer-mediated, media, legal, political, etc.), depending on the expertise and interest of the lecturer. Students will be encouraged to collect and analyse their own data for the assignment.
EL5253 Textual Construction of Knowledge
This module aims to cultivate an understanding both of the relationship between discourse and ideology and of the textual construction of knowledge. Students will be exposed to a critical deconstruction of different kinds of socio-political discourses (including discourses about gender and race, etc.) with specific attention to ideological positionings, and the role ideology plays in the knowledge construction process. Through this module, students will acquire critical skills in reading texts and come to appreciate the different kinds of textual and ideological strategies used in the formation of knowledge.
EL5660 Independent Study
Independent research plays an important role in graduate education. The Independent Study Module is designed to enable the student to explore an approved topic in English Language in depth. The student should approach a lecturer to work out an agreed topic, readings, and assignments for the module. A formal, written agreement is to be drawn up, giving a clear account of the topic, programme of study, assignments, evaluation, and other pertinent details. The Head's and/or Graduate Coordinator's approval of the written agreement is required. Regular meetings and reports are expected. Evaluation is based on 100% Continuous Assessment and must be worked out between the student and the lecturer prior to seeking departmental approval.
Remark: (1) Word limit: 5000 - 6000 words. (2) Workload: Minimum 10 hours per week. The precise breakdown of contact hours, assignment and preparation is to be worked out between the lecturer and the student, subject to Departmental approval.
EL5270 Explorations in Applied Linguistics
This module introduces students to a range of issues, approaches and working procedures in applied linguistics, partly to familiarise students with relevant research, and more especially to engage students actively in typical processes of enquiry. Applied linguistics has evolved into a dynamically diversified, multi-disciplinary field of academic and professional activity. It is characterised by theoretically and empirically informed initiatives to identify and represent clearly, investigate appropriately, and address pragmatically and critically those issues and problems in human communicative affairs that prominently involve language, language learning or language use.
EL5880 Topics in Language Studies
This seminar offers graduate students opportunities for sustained critical engagement with current debates in language studies. Students are expected to identify key issues in language studies (whether it involves the architecture of competing theories of grammar or analyses of specific grammatical phenomena) and to situate these issues within wider debates about the nature of language studies. The overall aim is for students to propose lines of inquiry that might contribute meaningfully to these debates. The seminar is especially useful to students seeking a more integrated understanding of the different approaches underlying language studies.
EL5881 Linguistic Theories and Frameworks
Students will study systemic functional linguistics in order to critically analyse spoken and written discourse. The analysis is concerned with understanding how grammatical choices function to realise particular registerial configurations, genres, and ideologies. In addition, meanings arising from the use of other semiotic resources such as visual images are discussed. At the conclusion of the module, students will be in a position to undertake graduate research using a systemic functional theoretical framework.
