AJ2RC_FUKS Functional and Communicative Syntax

Faculty of Education
Spring 2020
Extent and Intensity
0/0/12. 4 credit(s). Type of Completion: k (colloquium).
Teacher(s)
doc. Mgr. Martin Adam, Ph.D. (lecturer)
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
AJ2RC_FUKS/OS01: Fri 21. 2. 10:00–11:50 učebna 59, Fri 6. 3. 10:00–11:50 učebna 59, Fri 20. 3. 10:00–11:50 učebna 59, Fri 3. 4. 10:00–11:50 učebna 59, Fri 24. 4. 10:00–11:50 učebna 59, M. Adam
Prerequisites
Syntax A, Syntax B
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
The course presents the English grammar as a tool which enables users of English to achieve their purposes in cimmunication and tries to help language learners to realise that grammar is used in a different way in spoken and written interaction and is further modified by the context of language use. Having completed the course, the students should be able to view language as a tool of communication in the society and to form texts that are functional. Throughout the semester students are encouraged to link theory in the classroom to practice at schools via practical tasks.
Learning outcomes
Students:
• are able to apply the acquired knowledge from normative syntax in practice, with an emphasis on the functional concept of language material and natural communication
• are able to express more accurately and sensitively their communication intention
• can analyze and interpret English texts at different linguistic levels
• are able to use knowledge from functional linguistics for didactic purposes - e.g. to create learning materials or a set of activities for individual phases of text work
Syllabus
  • Week 1: Communicative syntax vs. normative syntax. Varieties of English. Week 2: Giving and requesting information. Representing information. Functions of language. Hypothetical Meaning Week 3: Expressing attitude and opinion. Choices in the semantic representation of sentences. Fronting without Inversion Week 4: Expressing feelings and emotions. Linking and grammatical cohesion I+II. Fronting with subject-verb inversion Week 5: Friendly communication and influencing people. REVISION TEST 1. Fronting with subject-operator inversion. Week 6: Linking signals and constructions. Information processing. Topic and focus I. Extraposition of Clausal Subject Week 7: Reference, substitution and omission. Information processing. Topic and focus II Passive Voice Week 8: Presenting and focusing information. Formal and informal language. Extraposition of Clausal Object Week 9: Order and emphasis 1. Fronting. REVISION TEST 2. Postponement and discontinuities Week 10: Order and emphasis 2. Postponement. Polite and familiar language. Cleft Sentences Proper Week 11: Variation according to the status of participants. Personal and impersonal language. Pseudo-cleft sentences Week 12: Variation according to the medium and place. Written and Spoken language. Existential sentences Week 13: Revision. Dialect variation.
Literature
    required literature
  • DONTCHEVA-NAVRATILOVA, Olga. Grammatical Structures in English: Meaning in Context. 2. přepracované vyd. Brno: Nakladatelství Masarykovy univerzity, 2005, 163 pp. ISBN 80-210-2477-1. info
  • LEECH, Geoffrey N. and Jan SVARTVIK. A communicative grammar of English. 3rd ed. London: Longman, 2002, xiv, 440. ISBN 9780582506336. info
    not specified
  • MCCARTHY, Michael. Discourse analysis for language teachers. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1991, x, 213. ISBN 0521367468. info
  • COOK, Guy. Discourse. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1989, xi, 167. ISBN 0194371409. info
Teaching methods
Teaching methods: classroom discussions, lectures, students' presentations, home assignments, home projects, observations.
Assessment methods
2-period seminar. A written credit test + an oral exam. Teaching methods: classroom discussions, lectures, students' presentations, home assignments, home projects.
Language of instruction
English
Further comments (probably available only in Czech)
Study Materials
The course is taught annually.
Teacher's information
http://moodlinka.ped.muni.cz/course/view.php?id=143
Credit requirements: - active participation at seminars (not more than 2 unexcused absences will be tolerated) + fulfilling all written tasks - 2 revision tests during the semester; passing the credit test in the exam period - the final mark is counted as an average out of the two mid-term tests and the credit test (there might be an oral resit in case of a fail) --- NB: The course evaluation in the Spring semester 2020 will be - due to the pandemic situation and the official restrictions - conducted in a distance form only!
The course is also listed under the following terms Spring 2005, Spring 2006, Spring 2007, Spring 2008, Spring 2009, Spring 2010, Spring 2011, Spring 2012, Spring 2013, Spring 2014, Spring 2015, Spring 2016, Spring 2017, Spring 2018, Spring 2019.
  • Enrolment Statistics (recent)
  • Permalink: https://is.muni.cz/course/ped/spring2020/AJ2RC_FUKS