Universität Wien

122053 PS PS Linguistics (BEd) (2022S)

Pragmatics & Discourse

5.00 ECTS (2.00 SWS), SPL 12 - Anglistik
Continuous assessment of course work
MIXED KPH Krems
Moodle

Registration/Deregistration

Note: The time of your registration within the registration period has no effect on the allocation of places (no first come, first served).

Details

max. 18 participants
Language: English

Lecturers

Classes (iCal) - next class is marked with N

The majority of these sessions will be held on-site. Preliminary online dates: 4 April, 9 May & 23 May.

  • Monday 07.03. 18:15 - 19:45 Raum 1 Anglistik UniCampus Hof 8 3E-EG-05
  • Monday 14.03. 18:15 - 19:45 Raum 1 Anglistik UniCampus Hof 8 3E-EG-05
  • Monday 21.03. 18:15 - 19:45 Raum 1 Anglistik UniCampus Hof 8 3E-EG-05
  • Monday 28.03. 18:15 - 19:45 Raum 1 Anglistik UniCampus Hof 8 3E-EG-05
  • Monday 04.04. 18:15 - 19:45 Raum 1 Anglistik UniCampus Hof 8 3E-EG-05
  • Monday 25.04. 18:15 - 19:45 Raum 1 Anglistik UniCampus Hof 8 3E-EG-05
  • Monday 02.05. 18:15 - 19:45 Raum 1 Anglistik UniCampus Hof 8 3E-EG-05
  • Monday 09.05. 18:15 - 19:45 Raum 1 Anglistik UniCampus Hof 8 3E-EG-05
  • Monday 16.05. 18:15 - 19:45 Raum 1 Anglistik UniCampus Hof 8 3E-EG-05
  • Monday 23.05. 18:15 - 19:45 Raum 1 Anglistik UniCampus Hof 8 3E-EG-05
  • Monday 30.05. 18:15 - 19:45 Raum 1 Anglistik UniCampus Hof 8 3E-EG-05
  • Monday 13.06. 18:15 - 19:45 Raum 1 Anglistik UniCampus Hof 8 3E-EG-05
  • Monday 20.06. 18:15 - 19:45 Raum 1 Anglistik UniCampus Hof 8 3E-EG-05
  • Monday 27.06. 18:15 - 19:45 Raum 1 Anglistik UniCampus Hof 8 3E-EG-05

Information

Aims, contents and method of the course

'At the heart of language use is human action, people doing things with words' (Clark 1995: 371). The linguistic field of pragmatics and discourse analysis investigates how language is used in social context and 'how more is (…) being communicated than is said' (Yule 2017: 142). Taking this area of linguistic research as an example, this course provides students with more detailed insights into one area of linguistics and prepares them for their first small-scale research project.
Students will acquire a basic knowledge of the interaction of language and context, develop skills in the linguistic analysis of authentic texts/discourses, challenge and question their preconceived assumptions about language use, and learn to approach language-related questions in a systematic way.
Some of the key questions we will address in the course of the term are:
- What do people mean by their utterances in a particular context?
- How does the context influence what is said?
- What are the relations between what we state explicitly and what remains unsaid?
- How do addressees infer meaning?
- What role do expectations and shared assumptions play in these processes?
- What constitutes pragmatic competence and what role does it play in English language teaching?
Furthermore, we will discuss the process of empirical research and look at different types of data, methods of data collection and analysis.

In addition to exploring these questions and learning about practical linguistic research based on authentic data, participants will also learn how to find relevant literature on a specific research topic/question, critically analyse and reflect on existing research in the field and gain first experience in planning, conducting and writing up a small-scale linguistic research project.

METHODS: Reading, discussions, peer-group interaction, in-class and individual (online) exercises, lecturer input, autonomous research.

Assessment and permitted materials

Student assessment is based on active participation in class, self-study and online assignments, regular readings, an oral poster presentation, and the PS paper.

For the paper each students will choose one aspect related to pragmatics, explore it in more detail and conduct an empirical study. Further information will be provided in class.

Minimum requirements and assessment criteria

Attendance (max. 2 absences)
Part 1: Participation, readings, smaller assignments, discussions etc. 15%
Part 2: Paper proposal: 20% (including study proposal)
Part 3: Poster presentation: 20%
Part 4: PS paper (3,500 words +/-10%): 45%
All parts (1, 2, 3 and 4) must be completed and at least three out of four parts must be positive. The overall pass mark is 60%.Grading scale: 1 (sehr gut) 100-90%; 2 (gut) 89-80%; 3 (befriedigend) 79-70%; 4 (genügend) 69-60%; 5 (nicht genügend) 59-0%.

Examination topics

Course evaluation is based on
- active participation, discussions/online activities, regular readings
- online poster presentation
- on-time submission of PS paper and paper proposal
Please note that your paper will be checked with anti-plagiarism software (TurnItIn).

Reading list

- Cutting, Joan. 2008. Pragmatics and discourse: A resource book for students. (2nd ed.). London: Routledge, 1-74.
- Dörnyei, Zoltán. 2007. Research methods in applied linguistics: quantitative, qualitative, and mixed methodologies. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Chapter 1, 2 (optional), 3.2-3.3.
- Johnson, Daniel E. 2013. "Descriptive statistics". In Podesva, Robert; Sharma, Devyani (eds.). Research methods in linguistics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 288–315.
- Johnson, Sören. 2011. Getting it across: a guide to effective academic writing. Amsterdam: Techne Press, 15-26.
- Macaulay, Monica. 2011. Surviving linguistics: a guide for graduate students. (2nd). Somerville, MA: Cascadilla Press. Chapter 3.
- Murray, Neil. 2012. “English as a lingua franca and the development of pragmatic competence”. ELT Journal 66(3), 318–326.
- Sunderland, Jane. 2010. "Research questions in linguistics". In Litosseliti, Lia (ed.). Research methods in linguistics. London: Continuum, 9–28.
- Wray, Alison; Bloomer, Aileen. 2012. Projects in linguistics and language studies: a practical guide to researching language. (3rd edition). London: Hodder Education, 247-260.

Association in the course directory

Studium: BEd 046 / 407
Code/Modul: BEd 09.1
Lehrinhalt: 12-2045

Last modified: Tu 26.11.2024 00:32