AJ22050 Functional Sentence Perspective

Faculty of Arts
Spring 2002
Extent and Intensity
0/2/0. 4 credit(s). Type of Completion: zk (examination).
Teacher(s)
doc. PhDr. Jana Chamonikolasová, Ph.D. (lecturer)
Guaranteed by
Jeffrey Alan Vanderziel, B.A.
Department of English and American Studies – Faculty of Arts
Contact Person: Mgr. Michaela Hrazdílková
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 15 student(s).
Current registration and enrolment status: enrolled: 0/15, only registered: 0/15, only registered with preference (fields directly associated with the programme): 0/15
fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with
Course objectives
The theory of functional sentence perspective (FSP) examines how language functions in the act of communication. It pays special attention to the study of context and questions related to the theme-rheme (topic-focus) structure of a sentence. A good understanding of how a seman-tic and syntactic structure operates in fulfilling a communicative purpose imposed upon it by the language user has its practical consequences both for the written and the spoken uses of language and is of considerable help in the practice of translation. The course provides an introduction to the FSP theory based on Jan Firbas's book Functional Sentence Perspective in Written and Spoken Communication (Cambridge University Presss, 1992) and selected papers by other authors. It presents the operation of the factors of FSP through a comparative analysis of parallel English and Czech texts.
Syllabus
  • The theory of functional sentence perspective (FSP) examines how language functions in the act of communication. It pays special attention to the study of context and questions related to the theme-rheme (topic-focus) structure of a sentence. A good understanding of how a seman-tic and syntactic structure operates in fulfilling a communicative purpose imposed upon it by the language user has its practical consequences both for the written and the spoken uses of language and is of considerable help in the practice of translation. The course provides an introduction to the FSP theory based on Jan Firbas's book Functional Sentence Perspective in Written and Spoken Communication (Cambridge University Presss, 1992) and selected papers by other authors. It presents the operation of the factors of FSP through a comparative analysis of parallel English and Czech texts.
Literature
  • FIRBAS, Jan. Functional sentence perspective in written and spoken communication. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1992, xv, 239. ISBN 0521373085. info
Assessment methods (in Czech)
Assessment: 1) presentation of a selected paper 2) comparative analysis and functional interpretation of an extract of parallel English and Czech texts. / Hodnocení: 1) prezentace vybraného článku, 2) srovnávací analýza a funkční interpretace úryvku paralelního anglického a českého textu.
Language of instruction
English
Further comments (probably available only in Czech)
The course is taught each semester.
The course is taught: every week.
Credit evaluation note: 2 původní kredity.
The course is also listed under the following terms Autumn 1999, Autumn 2000, Autumn 2001, Spring 2003, Spring 2004, Spring 2005, Spring 2006, Autumn 2007.
  • Enrolment Statistics (Spring 2002, recent)
  • Permalink: https://is.muni.cz/course/phil/spring2002/AJ22050