AJ12054 Introduction to Syntax

Faculty of Arts
Spring 2011
Extent and Intensity
0/2/0. 2 credit(s) (plus 2 credits for an exam). Recommended Type of Completion: zk (examination). Other types of completion: z (credit).
Teacher(s)
Mgr. Martin Drápela, Ph.D. (lecturer)
prof. Mgr. Jan Chovanec, Ph.D. (lecturer)
Guaranteed by
Jeffrey Alan Vanderziel, B.A.
Department of English and American Studies – Faculty of Arts
Contact Person: Tomáš Hanzálek
Timetable
Wed 12:30–14:05 G32
Prerequisites (in Czech)
AJ09999 Qualifying Examination || AJ01002 Practical English II
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 40 student(s).
Current registration and enrolment status: enrolled: 0/40, only registered: 0/40, only registered with preference (fields directly associated with the programme): 0/40
fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with
there are 7 fields of study the course is directly associated with, display
Course objectives
The course focuses on selected aspects of English syntax. The key topics of this course include: sentence structure, sentence elements, noun phrase and verb phrase, modality, negation, word order, cohesion and ellipsis, adverbial clauses, functional sentence perspective. The course will mostly be based on classroom discussions of text examples related to the course topics. The selection of samples will be based on examples appearing in the Student's English Grammar, with other samples taken from the additional course textbooks and online corpora of English.
Syllabus
  • Summary of topics (this is not a week-by-week syllabus as a couple of seminars may be needed for some of the topics):
  • Introduction: On Syntax in general
  • 1. Grammars and grammarians; Prescriptive vs. descriptive grammar
  • 2. Sentence and sentence elements
  • 3. Noun phrase
  • 4. Verb phrase
  • 5. Broad modality
  • 6. Word order
  • 7. Negation; cohesion; pro-forms and ellipses
  • 8. Coordination and subordination; finite, nonfinite and verbless clauses
  • 9. Adverbial clauses; relative clauses
  • 10. Functional sentence perspective
  • 11. Generative and transformational grammar
  • 12. Text linguistics and pragmatics
Literature
    required literature
  • Glossary of Terms to the The Internet Grammar of English (http://www.ucl.ac.uk/internet-grammar/frames/consult.htm)
  • GREENBAUM, Sidney and Randolph QUIRK. A student's grammar of the English language. First published. Harlow: Longman, 1990, 490 stran. ISBN 0582059712. info
    recommended literature
  • Dušková, L. a kol.: Elektronická mluvnice současné angličtiny - Syntax, http://www.mluvniceanglictiny.cz/syntax
  • MILLER, Jim. An Introduction to English Syntax. 2nd ed. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2009, 224 pp. ISBN 978-0-7486-3361-6. info
  • CARTER, Ronald and Michael MCCARTHY. Cambridge grammar of English :a comprehensive guide : spoken and written English grammar and usage. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2006, x, 973 s. ISBN 0521674395. info
  • BIBER, Douglas, Susan CONRAD and Geoffrey N. LEECH. Longman student grammar of spoken and written English. First published. Harlow: Longman, 2002, vii, 487. ISBN 9780582237278. info
  • DUŠKOVÁ, Libuše. Mluvnice současné angličtiny na pozadí češtiny. 2. vyd. Praha: Academia, 1994, 673 s. ISBN 8020004866. info
  • CHALKER, Sylvia. A student's English grammar : workbook. First published. Harlow: Longman, 1992, 186 stran. ISBN 0582088194. info
Teaching methods
Seminar. Class discussions. Homework assignments. Prior reading for classes is required. Practical analysis of sample texts and language data.
Assessment methods
Instruction: seminar; active participation is necessary - discussion of issues based on independent reading. A written test at the end of the term. Credit (Z/N) pass score is 60 per cent, exam (ABCDEF) pass score is 70 per cent. Each unexcused absence will lower the final test score by one point.
Language of instruction
English
Further comments (probably available only in Czech)
The course is taught annually.
The course is also listed under the following terms Spring 2004, Spring 2005, Spring 2006, Spring 2007, Spring 2008, Spring 2009, Autumn 2010, Autumn 2011, Spring 2012, Autumn 2012, Spring 2013, Autumn 2013, Spring 2014, Autumn 2014, Spring 2015, Autumn 2015.
  • Enrolment Statistics (Spring 2011, recent)
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