AJ22050 Functional Syntax: FSP

Faculty of Arts
Spring 2005
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)
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: doc. Mgr. Tomáš Kačer, Ph.D.
Timetable
Mon 15:00–16:35 32
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
there are 9 fields of study the course is directly associated with, display
Course objectives
The course examines how language functions in the act of communication. It pays special attention to the syntactic and semantic functions of language units, and the role of context in communication. The course offers useful tools for the interpretation of written and spoken texts and the practice of translation. It provides an introduction to the FSP theory worked out by Jan Firbas and to selected alternative approaches to information structure. It presents the operation of the factors of FSP through a comparative analysis of parallel English and Czech texts. Assessment is based on (1) a test in functional analysis, (2) an in-class presentation of a selected approach to functional analysis, and (3) a final assignment, i.e., an interpretation of a parallel English and Czech text.
Syllabus
  • Syllabus (topics and activities): 1. Approaches to the study of Information Structure 2. The position of functional syntax in linguistic theory 3. The syntactic structure of English and Czech/Slovak sentences 4. The theory of functional sentence perspective 5. FSP and translation 6. The distribution of communicative dynamism 7. Factors of FSP 8. Word order 9. The immediately relevant context 10. Dynamic semantic scales The presentation scale and the quality scale Foundation and core of a message 11. FSP functions Theme Proper, Diatheme, Transition Proper, Transition, Rheme, Rheme Proper 12. The FSP of questions, negative sentences and commands 13. Exercises in syntactic and FSP analysis 1-5 (during the whole semester) 14. Students' presentations of various approaches to Information Structure 15. Course test and test analysis 16. Final assignment guidelines
Literature
  • FIRBAS, Jan. Functional sentence perspective in written and spoken communication. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1992, xv, 239. ISBN 0521373085. info
  • SGALL, Petr, Jarmila PANEVOVÁ and Eva HAJIČOVÁ. The meaning of the sentence in its semantic and pragmatic aspects. Vyd. 1. Prague: Academia, 1986, ix, 353. info
  • CHAFE, Wallace L. Discourse, consciousness, and time : the flow and displacement of conscious experience in speaking and writing. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1994, xiii, 327. ISBN 0226100545. info
  • QUIRK, Randolph. A comprehensive grammar of the English language. Edited by David Crystal. 1st pub. London: Longman, 1985, x, 1779. ISBN 9780582517349. info
  • Příruční mluvnice češtiny. Edited by Miroslav Grepl - Petr Karlík - Marek Nekula - Zdenka Rusínová. Vyd. 2., opr. Praha: Lidové noviny, 1996, 799 s. ISBN 8071061344. info
Assessment methods (in Czech)
Assessment is based on (1) a test in functional analysis, (2) an in-class presentation of a selected approach to functional analysis, and (3) a final assignment, i.e., an interpretation of a parallel English and Czech text. Základem hodnocení je (1) test z funkní analýzy, (2) seminární prezentace nkterého z pístup k funkní analýze a (3) seminární práce interpretace paralelního anglického a eského textu.
Language of instruction
English
Further comments (probably available only in Czech)
The course is taught each semester.
Credit evaluation note: 2 původní kredity.
The course is also listed under the following terms Autumn 1999, Autumn 2000, Autumn 2001, Spring 2002, Spring 2003, Spring 2004, Spring 2006, Autumn 2007.
  • Enrolment Statistics (Spring 2005, recent)
  • Permalink: https://is.muni.cz/course/phil/spring2005/AJ22050