AJc227 Stylistics

Faculty of Education
Spring 2022
Extent and Intensity
0/0/2. 4 credit(s). Type of Completion: k (colloquium).
Teacher(s)
doc. Mgr. Olga Dontcheva-Navrátilová, Ph.D. (lecturer)
Guaranteed by
doc. Mgr. Světlana Hanušová, 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
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 in stylistics presents a review of the distinctive features of the functional styles in English. It focuses on the stylistic means available in English at the phonetic, phonological, graphetic, morphological, syntactic, lexical and semantic levels and introduces the students to the study of the stylistics of a text. The practical part of the course focuses on the identification of the distinctive features of English functional styles on the basis of text analysis of specimens of the administrative style (forms, announcements, legal English), publicism (public speaking, advertising, newspaper writing, headlines), scientific prose style, the language of conversation and stylised dialogue.
The main objectives of the course is to familiarise students with the characteristic properties of English styles, the linguistic and paralinguistic means applied by writers and speakers, and the basics of stylistic theory. Students will also practice writing and analysing a chosen style.
Learning outcomes
After completing the course, students will be able to:
• identify and analyse the characteristic properties of English styles, as well as the variety of linguistic and paralinguistic means applied by writers and speakers;
• understand the basics of stylistic theory;
• apply devices and procedures typical of selected styles and genres when writing their own texts.
Syllabus
  • 1. Introduction to Stylistics. Stylistic markers, stylistic analysis.
  • 2. Functional styles (varieties, registers) in English.
  • 3. Language variation – register, dialect. Spoken vs. written medium.
  • 4. Analysis of spoken language. Face-to-face conversation.
  • 5. The language of public speaking.
  • 6. The language of administrative texts: formal letters.
  • 7. Legal English.
  • 8. Scientific prose style. Humanities vs. exact sciences, academic vs. popular science texts.
  • 9. The style of the media Newspaper headlines, news report.
  • 10. The style of advertising.
Literature
    required literature
  • VERDONK, Peter. Stylistics. first published. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2002, xiii, 124. ISBN 9780194372404. info
  • URBANOVÁ, Ludmila and Andrew OAKLAND. Úvod do anglické stylistiky. 1. vyd. Brno: Barrister & Principal, 2002, 145 s. ISBN 80-86598-33-0. info
    recommended literature
  • SHORT, Mick. Exploring the language of poems, plays and prose. London: Longman, 1996, xiii, 399. ISBN 0582291305. info
  • CRYSTAL, David. The Cambridge encyclopedia of the English language. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1995, vii, 489. ISBN 0521401798. info
  • CRYSTAL, David and Derek DAVY. Investigating English style. 1st pub. London: Longman, 1969, xii, 264. ISBN 0582522129. info
Teaching methods
Presentation of theory, analysis of examples of individual styles and genres, seminar discussion, home reading.
Assessment methods
Completion prerequisites:
- 2 written assignments - a formal letter and a newsreport - Seminar work - stylistic analysis of the text
Minimum score to pass: 70%.
Language of instruction
English
Further comments (probably available only in Czech)
The course is taught annually.
The course is taught: in blocks.
Information on the extent and intensity of the course: 24 hodin.
Teacher's information
http://moodlinka.ics.muni.cz/course/view.php?id=2589
Students are supposed to bring with them the handouts included in the respective topic of the Moodle course. For online semester: Please note that students are requested to secure good internet connection in order to participate in online lessons and they must attend these meetings with both the sound and camera on.
The course is also listed under the following terms Spring 2018, Spring 2019, Spring 2020, Spring 2021, Spring 2023, Spring 2024, Spring 2025.
  • Enrolment Statistics (Spring 2022, recent)
  • Permalink: https://is.muni.cz/course/ped/spring2022/AJc227