A2BK_SYNA Syntax A

Faculty of Education
Autumn 2023
Extent and Intensity
0/0/1. 3 credit(s). Type of Completion: k (colloquium).
Teacher(s)
doc. Mgr. Martin Adam, Ph.D. (seminar tutor)
Mgr. Radek Vogel, Ph.D. (seminar tutor)
Guaranteed by
doc. Mgr. Olga Dontcheva-Navrátilová, Ph.D.
Department of English Language and Literature – Faculty of Education
Contact Person: Jana Popelková
Supplier department: Department of English Language and Literature – Faculty of Education
Timetable of Seminar Groups
A2BK_SYNA/Kombi01: Fri 29. 9. 17:00–18:50 učebna 57, Fri 13. 10. 17:00–18:50 učebna 57, Fri 27. 10. 17:00–18:50 učebna 57, Fri 10. 11. 17:00–18:50 učebna 57, Fri 1. 12. 17:00–18:50 učebna 57, Fri 15. 12. 17:00–18:50 učebna 57, R. Vogel
A2BK_SYNA/Prez01: Thu 8:00–9:50 učebna 6, R. Vogel
A2BK_SYNA/Prez02: Thu 18:00–19:50 učebna 11, R. Vogel
Prerequisites
SOUHLAS
Students can enroll in Seminar to Syntax A only after completing courses Grammar A and Grammar B and successfully passing "Souborná zkouška" (A2BK_SOZK).
Course Enrolment Limitations
The course is only offered to the students of the study fields the course is directly associated with.
fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with
Course objectives
In the course, students will:
review the basic linguistic terminology necessary to study English syntax;
be acquainted with the analysis of the simple sentence, especially in contrast to their mother tongue;
master modality, including the two types of modality - intrinsic and extrinsic (deontic and epistemic);
be introduced to condensation and its means - non-finite verb forms (infinitives, gerunds and participles);
study some cohesive means, notably substitution and ellipsis;
practise the grammar and semantics of adverbials;
look into the four basic sentence types and their corresponding discourse functions.
Learning outcomes
The student will be able to:
• understand linguistic terms in the field of syntax and explain them on practical examples;
• understand the syntax of a simple sentence and analyse it;
• know the means for expressing modality and condensation in an English sentence;
• identify syntactic phenomena in a written text and describe them using linguistic terms.
Syllabus
  • 1. The simple sentence and its components. Syntactic structure and its notation (tree diagrams and bracketing).
  • 2. Clause elements and their semantic and syntactic properties. Expression of assertion and negation in an English clause.
  • 3. Semantics and grammar of adverbials (semantic roles and position in a clause).
  • 4. Semantics and grammar of adverbials (four basic grammatical functions, types of formal realization).
  • 5. Four syntactic sentence types (declarative, interrogative, imperative, exclamative) and their discource functions.
  • 6. Three main question types. Minor question types (declarative, rhetorical). Directives. Exclamations. Question tags.
  • 7. Recoverability. Referential and co-referential relations. Substitution and its types.
  • 8. Differences between substitution and ellipsis. Types of ellipsis (situational, structural, textual).
  • 9. Non-finite verb forms: infinitive and its use in condensation of a sentence.
  • 10. Non-finite verb forms: gerund and participle and their use in syntactic condensation.
  • 11. Deontic modality in English and its expression (e.g. duty, obligation, permission).
  • 12. Epistemic modality in English and its expression (e.g. possibility, expectation, assumption, prediction, conclusion).
  • 13. Putative should (opinion, feelings, insistence, regret, etc.).
Literature
    required literature
  • GREENBAUM, Sidney and Randolph QUIRK. A student's grammar of the English language. First published. Harlow: Longman, 1990, 490 stran. ISBN 0582059712. info
  • GETHIN, Hugh. Grammar in context :proficiency level English. New edition. Harlow: Longman, 1996, 235 s. ISBN 0-17-556420-5. info
  • CHALKER, Sylvia. A student's English grammar : workbook. First published. Harlow: Longman, 1992, 186 stran. ISBN 0582088194. info
  • YULE, George. Oxford practice grammar : with answer. First published. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2006, ix, 280. ISBN 9780194579827. info
    recommended literature
  • DUŠKOVÁ, Libuše. Mluvnice současné angličtiny na pozadí češtiny. 2. vyd. Praha: Academia, 1994, 673 s. ISBN 8020004866. info
  • POVOLNÁ, Renata. Grammar. 1. dotisk 1. vydání. Brno: Masarykova univerzita v Brně, 2002, 99 stran. ISBN 8021023112. info
  • LEECH, Geoffrey N., M. (Margaret) DEUCHAR and Robert HOOGENRAAD. English grammar for today : a new introduction. London: Macmillan, 1982, xvi, 224 p. ISBN 0-333-30643-0. info
Teaching methods
Seminar discussion, online exercises and quizzes, home assignments.
Assessment methods
Tests: Students have to take one midterm test in November, and one final test and translation (from Czech into English) in the credit week to get a credit from Seminar to Syntax A. The combined pass mark of tests is 70%. The pass mark of translation is 70% as well. Online Quizzes: there are interactive self-check quizzes available in the Moodle course, and students have to do them all by the dates specified. Attendance: Regular attendance is strongly recommended, but will not be checked; however, once a student attends the class, they are expected to participate in an active way: asking questions, answering when called on, listening to questions and answers, taking notes. Homework: It is required that students do all the homework assignments, by the dates specified.
Language of instruction
English
Follow-Up Courses
Further comments (probably available only in Czech)
Study Materials
The course is taught annually.
Information on the extent and intensity of the course: 12 hodin.
Teacher's information
http://moodlinka.ics.muni.cz/course/view.php?id=3620
Combined students (Friday): Moodle course available at http://moodlinka.ics.muni.cz/course/view.php?id=3620 For online semester: Please note that students are requested to secure good internet connection in order to participate in online lessons and they must attend these meetings with both the sound and camera on.
The course is also listed under the following terms Autumn 2003, Autumn 2007, Autumn 2008, Autumn 2009, Autumn 2010, Autumn 2011, Autumn 2012, Autumn 2013, Autumn 2014, Autumn 2015, Autumn 2016, Autumn 2017, Autumn 2018, Autumn 2019, autumn 2020.
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