AJ1207 Functional Linguistics

Faculty of Education
Autumn 2023
Extent and Intensity
1/1/0. 4 credit(s). Type of Completion: zk (examination).
Teacher(s)
doc. Mgr. Olga Dontcheva-Navrátilová, 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
AJ1207/Kombi01: Fri 29. 9. 8:00–9:50 učebna 57, Fri 13. 10. 8:00–9:50 učebna 57, Fri 27. 10. 8:00–9:50 učebna 57, Fri 10. 11. 8:00–9:50 učebna 57, Fri 1. 12. 8:00–9:50 učebna 57, Fri 15. 12. 8:00–9:50 učebna 57, O. Dontcheva-Navrátilová
AJ1207/Prez01: Thu 10:00–11:50 učebna 63, O. Dontcheva-Navrátilová
AJ1207/Prez02: Thu 8:00–9:50 učebna 63, O. Dontcheva-Navrátilová
Prerequisites
AJ1102 Practical Language 1B
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
there are 8 fields of study the course is directly associated with, display
Course objectives
The aim of the course is introduce students to the functional approach to the study of language drawing on the theoretical frameworks of Czech and foreign linguistic traditions. Grammar is approached as a tool used in authentic interaction to achieve specific communicative goals (drawing on the knowledge acquired by students in the Syntax A and B courses). The focus is on the functional differences between spoken and written discourse, formal and informal, and polite and familiar interaction in different registers and dialects of English discourse. The students will discuss and practice the use of grammatical structures at sentence level with regard to their function as statements, questions, directives and exclamatives, and the representation of meaning in connected discourse (utterance level) focusing on linking signals and constructions, word order and emphasis, and theme-rheme articulation.
The course will raise students’ awareness of similarities and differences between English and their native language so as to enable them to identify potentially problematic areas for their future learners. Throughout the semester students are encouraged to link theory in the classroom to practice at schools via practical tasks.
Learning outcomes
The students will be able to
- understand linguistic terminology and use it when discussing the functions of language and grammatical structures,
- understand the difference between the structural, generative and functional approaches to the study of language,
- apply the functional approach to the analysis of language material and in authentic interaction,
- reflect the functional differences between spoken and written, formal and informal and polite and familiar discourse in authentic communication,
- to achieve specific communicative intentions in interaction with regard to context and addressee,
- understand the similarities and differences between the functions of grammatical categories in English and Czech,
- apply the functional approach for didactic purposes, e.g. for the development of teaching materials and lesson plans.
Syllabus
  • 1. The functional approach to language in Czech and foreign linguistics.
  • 2. Language varieties. Dialects and registers. Standard English.
  • 3. Functions of language. Discourse functions of sentences. Speech acts.
  • 4. Choices in semantic representation: fact and hypothesis, subjectivity and objectivity,
  • 5. Semantic functions of clause elements. Direct and indirect speech.
  • 6. Grammatical cohesion: reference, substitution, ellipsis and conjunctives.
  • 7. Word order in English. Fronting with and without inversion. Passive voice.
  • 8. Information structure. Extraposition of clausal subject and object.
  • 9. The clause as a message. Approaches to communicative dynamism and theme-rheme articulation: Quirk and Greenbaum, SFL and FSP.
  • 10. The theme zone: topical, textual and interpersonal themes. Thematic progression.
  • 11. Formal and informal language. Cleft-sentences.
  • 12. Polite and familiar language, personal and impersonal language. Existential sentences.
  • 13. Spoken and written language - distinctive features.
Literature
    required literature
  • DONTCHEVA-NAVRATILOVA, Olga. Grammatical structures in English : meaning in context. 3. vydání. Brno: Masarykova univerzita, 2012, 169 stran. ISBN 9788021057623. info
  • QUIRK, Randolph and Sidney GREENBAUM. A Student s Grammar of the English Language. 1. vyd. London: Longman, 1990, 490 s. ISBN 0-582-07569-6. info
    recommended literature
  • EGGINS, Suzanne. An introduction to systemic functional linguistics. 2nd ed. New York: Continuum, 2004, xv, 384. ISBN 9780826457868. info
  • YULE, George. The study of language. Seventh edition. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2020, xii, 371. ISBN 9781108730709. info
  • SVARTVIK, Jan and Geoffrey N. LEECH. A communicative grammar of English. 2nd ed. London: Longman, 1994, xiv, 423. ISBN 058208573X. info
Teaching methods
A two-period seminar (90 mins). Home assignments + home reading.
A mid-term test + a credit test (practical analysis of authentic texts and their functional interpretation) + oral exam.
More than two absences are not tolerated.
Teaching methods: classroom discussions, lectures, students' presentations, home assignments, home projects. Tasks for teaching practice.
Assessment methods
Teaching methods: classroom discussions, lectures, students' presentations, home assignments, home projects.
Continuous assessment based on presence and participation at seminars. Credit test (passmark 65%) + oral exam.
Language of instruction
English
Further comments (probably available only in Czech)
Study Materials
The course is taught annually.
Information on the extent and intensity of the course: kombinované studium: výuka v blocích.
Teacher's information
http://moodlinka.ped.muni.cz/course/view.php?id=143 (denní studium); http://moodlinka.ics.muni.cz/course/view.php?id=2323 (dálkové studium)
For the handouts for the seminar course see mood-link-a http://moodlinka.ics.muni.cz/course/view.php?id=143 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 Autumn 2018, Autumn 2019, autumn 2020, Autumn 2021, Autumn 2022, Autumn 2024.
  • Enrolment Statistics (Autumn 2023, recent)
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