AJ0214 Syntactic Analysis

Faculty of Education
Spring 2020
Extent and Intensity
0/1/0. 2 credit(s). Type of Completion: k (colloquium).
Teacher(s)
doc. PhDr. Renata Povolná, 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
AJ0214/01: Tue 10:00–10:50 učebna 10, R. Povolná
Prerequisites
This course is recommended to students who are getting ready for their examination in syntax and need some more practice in syntactic analysis of the English sentence, but it can be attended by anybody interested in the syntactic structure of the English language.
Course Enrolment Limitations
The course is also offered to the students of the fields other than those the course is directly associated with.
The capacity limit for the course is 20 student(s).
Current registration and enrolment status: enrolled: 0/20, only registered: 0/20, only registered with preference (fields directly associated with the programme): 0/20
fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with
there are 34 fields of study the course is directly associated with, display
Course objectives
The main goal of the course is to extend students knowledge of English syntax. Based on the differences between the simple sentence, compound sentence, and complex sentence, students analyse different types of sentences and texts and thus acquire a deeper knowledge of the syntactic structure of the English language. When required, any more problematic areas from English syntax, such as modal verbs, complex condensation, types of dependent clauses, can be included in the course syllabus.
Learning outcomes
The students 1. are able to analyse the structure of the English sentence (simple vs complex vs compound sentence); 2. understand the differences in the expression of syntactic relations on different levels of analysis; 3. know how to apply the two basic means of grammatical notation, i.e. tree diagrams and bracketing; 4. master the differences between the syntactic relations as expressed in English and Czech (Slovak) and are able to explain them to the learners of English.
Syllabus
  • 1. Introduction to syntactic analysis. Grammar and its role in language. 2. Two basic types of grammatical notation, bracketing and tree diagrams. 3. Sentences and their parts. 4. Form and function. Hierarchy of units. 5. Open and closed word classes and their relationships. 6. Types of phrases. Main and subordinate phrases. Analysis of some ambiguous cases 7. Simple and complex sentence. Elements of the clause. 8. Clause patterns. Parsing a simple sentence. 9. Complex sentence. Structural and semantic classes of dependent clauses. 10. Subordination. Coordination. Skeleton analysis. 11. Basic and derived structures. Constituent structure grammar. 12. Parsing and transformations.
Literature
    required literature
  • CHALKER, Sylvia. A student's English grammar : workbook. First published. Harlow: Longman, 1992, 186 stran. ISBN 0582088194. 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
    recommended literature
  • LEECH, Geoffrey N. Meaning and the English verb. 1st publ. London: Longman, 1971, viii, 131. ISBN 0582522145. info
Teaching methods
Mode of teaching: seminar The methods used in classes are mainly presentations of problematic grammatical issues by the teacher, followed by class discussions. Later, various types of exercises from different sources, including drills, are done.
Assessment methods
Apart from regular attendance (with maximum of three absences), the students have to choose a text of at least fifteen sentences and analyse all the sentences in the form of tree diagrams. Moreover, they have to prepare one sentence comprising all the word classes that exist in English, but each word class can be applied only once.
Language of instruction
English
Further comments (probably available only in Czech)
Study Materials
The course is taught each semester.
General note: Předmět bude realizován, pokud se přihlásí alespoň 15 studentů.
Information on the extent and intensity of the course: 1 hodina.
Teacher's information
Due to the quarantine in semester Spring 2020, the students are expected to submit their analyses on-line.
The course is also listed under the following terms Spring 2018, Spring 2019, Spring 2025.
  • Enrolment Statistics (recent)
  • Permalink: https://is.muni.cz/course/ped/spring2020/AJ0214