Universität Wien

122253 AR Linguistics Course (Advanced 1-5) - Appl. & TEFL / Hist. & Descr. (2017S)

English idioms

5.00 ECTS (2.00 SWS), SPL 12 - Anglistik
Continuous assessment of course work
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. 25 participants
Language: English

Lecturers

Classes (iCal) - next class is marked with N

  • Thursday 09.03. 14:00 - 16:00 Raum 3 Anglistik UniCampus Hof 8 3E-EG-13
  • Thursday 16.03. 14:00 - 16:00 Raum 3 Anglistik UniCampus Hof 8 3E-EG-13
  • Thursday 23.03. 14:00 - 16:00 Raum 3 Anglistik UniCampus Hof 8 3E-EG-13
  • Thursday 30.03. 14:00 - 16:00 Raum 3 Anglistik UniCampus Hof 8 3E-EG-13
  • Thursday 06.04. 14:00 - 16:00 Raum 3 Anglistik UniCampus Hof 8 3E-EG-13
  • Thursday 27.04. 14:00 - 16:00 Raum 3 Anglistik UniCampus Hof 8 3E-EG-13
  • Thursday 04.05. 14:00 - 16:00 Raum 3 Anglistik UniCampus Hof 8 3E-EG-13
  • Thursday 11.05. 14:00 - 16:00 Raum 3 Anglistik UniCampus Hof 8 3E-EG-13
  • Thursday 18.05. 14:00 - 16:00 Raum 3 Anglistik UniCampus Hof 8 3E-EG-13
  • Thursday 01.06. 14:00 - 16:00 Raum 3 Anglistik UniCampus Hof 8 3E-EG-13
  • Thursday 08.06. 14:00 - 16:00 Raum 3 Anglistik UniCampus Hof 8 3E-EG-13
  • Thursday 22.06. 14:00 - 16:00 Raum 3 Anglistik UniCampus Hof 8 3E-EG-13
  • Thursday 29.06. 14:00 - 16:00 Raum 3 Anglistik UniCampus Hof 8 3E-EG-13

Information

Aims, contents and method of the course

Idioms form an essential part of the English language. Typically defined as constructions that are semantically non-transparent and non-compositional (i.e. the meaning of the idiom as a whole cannot be predicted on the basis of the meaning of the component parts), they are often regarded as fixed multi-word expressions that simply need to be learned. Closer examination, however, shows that there is huge amount of variation within the class of idioms, in terms of degree of transparency, compositionality, conventionality, collocability and (morpho)syntactic flexibility. In order to come to a better understanding of the use, internal structure and formal behaviour of English idioms, this course will address such questions as how they can be defined and classified, how they can be analysed (semantically and syntactically), how they are used (creatively), how they are processed and acquired, and how they have developed diachronically.

Assessment and permitted materials

Students will be assessed on the basis of a (group) presentation and a final (individual) essay. Active participation is required.

Minimum requirements and assessment criteria

By focusing on a single, but very versatile, type of construction, students will learn:
- to recognize the complexity of the linguistic system as manifested in English idioms
- to approach what looks like a straightforward, unitary phenomenon from different angles
- to decide which research questions and methodology are appropriate in studying the different aspects of idioms
- to understand how these different aspects are interconnected and mutually dependent
- to tackle some of the issues involved individually and in small groups.

Examination topics

Readings, classroom discussions, (group) presentation, individual research project.

Reading list

Required reading will be made available during the course.

Association in the course directory

Studium: UF 344; MA 812 [2]; MA 812 [2]; UF MA 046
Code/Modul: UF 4.2.3-223-225, MA M05, MA M04, M05, UF MA 4B
Lehrinhalt: 12-0359

Last modified: Mo 07.09.2020 15:33