CJBB199 Research Skills: critical thinking and efficient presentations

Faculty of Arts
Autumn 2018
Extent and Intensity
0/2/0. 5 credit(s). Type of Completion: k (colloquium).
Teacher(s)
Mgr. Michal Starke, Docteur es Lettres (lecturer)
Guaranteed by
Mgr. Michal Starke, Docteur es Lettres
Department of Czech Language – Faculty of Arts
Contact Person: Jaroslava Vybíralová
Supplier department: Department of Czech Language – Faculty of Arts
Timetable
Mon 14:00–15:40 G13
Prerequisites (in Czech)
This class requires basic knowledge of generative grammar, nanosyntax and basic reading skills for English research papers.
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 6 student(s).
Current registration and enrolment status: enrolled: 0/6, only registered: 0/6, only registered with preference (fields directly associated with the programme): 0/6
fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with
Course objectives
This is a practical class in reading, presenting and writing linguistic research. It focuses on two core skills: critical thinking and efficient presentation.

1. Critical thinking. When reading article or hearing a talk, learn to:
- sharply separate the facts (data, generalisations) from the opinions and proposals about those facts (theory, what is emphasised, what is downplayed).
- based on that, learn to make your own opinion about those generalisations and their interpretation independently of the position promoted by the authors
- learn to distinguish the core part that you absolutely need to understand, from the 'optional technology' and secondary claims that you can (temporarily) put aside

2. Efficient presentation. When giving a talk or writing a paper, learn to:
- always put your audience first: it is not about what is logical to you, it is about them understanding and (hopefully) being convinced
- start with an engaging puzzle
- lead to your conclusion via a story-like development
- not waste your audience's time with side-comments, points that do not contribute directly to your conclusion, unnecessary repetitions, unclear storylines, being too complicated, etc.

3. Critical thinking: form your own opinion/angle on the issue:
- put aside what the authors say, and rethink the issue on your own terms - how does the issue look from the point of view of another framework - does the issue look different once we make connections with other facts we know about? etc
Syllabus (in Czech)
  • This is an intense course, entirely based on presentation by students. Every week, students will be required to read a a professional research paper and make a series of presentations based on that. (See "teaching methods" for the content of the presentations.) Because this is intense work for both the students and the instructor, the course is limited to maximally 5-6 students.
Teaching methods (in Czech)
Every week, students will be required to make a presentation based on a professional research paper. The presentations will be structured as:

1. Show the facts/generalisations that the paper is based. Show them NOT in the order or angle the article shows them, but in the most concise, logical and useful angle according to you.

2. Impersonate the author: pretend YOU believe the theory proposed by the author, and present that theory in what you think is the most convincing way. (This may or may not be the way the author presents their own theory.) Present only the central core of the theory, the main idea - discard technical details.

3. Switch position, and give us your best critique of the author's theory.

4. Improve the paper: rework the data presented in the paper in a way that you personally find more convincing and more elegant, ideally in terms of the framework you are currently using in your research. Give a convincing, efficient, presentation of this reworked approach. This is the most important part of the exercise!

5. Do a brief write-up of your reworked approach In order to pass the class, you will be required to complete at least 3 such exercises.
Language of instruction
English
Further comments (probably available only in Czech)
Information on completion of the course: This course will require rewriting 3 linguistic articles
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  • Permalink: https://is.muni.cz/course/phil/autumn2018/CJBB199