Universität Wien

128141 FS FS Research Seminar I / II (2023S)

The English Noun Phrase

10.00 ECTS (2.00 SWS), SPL 12 - Anglistik
Continuous assessment of course work

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. 20 participants
Language: English

Lecturers

Classes (iCal) - next class is marked with N

Tuesday 07.03. 16:15 - 17:45 Seminarraum 6 Anglistik UniCampus Hof 8 3E-O1-22.A
Tuesday 14.03. 16:15 - 17:45 Seminarraum 6 Anglistik UniCampus Hof 8 3E-O1-22.A
Tuesday 21.03. 16:15 - 17:45 Seminarraum 6 Anglistik UniCampus Hof 8 3E-O1-22.A
Tuesday 28.03. 16:15 - 17:45 Seminarraum 6 Anglistik UniCampus Hof 8 3E-O1-22.A
Tuesday 18.04. 16:15 - 17:45 Seminarraum 6 Anglistik UniCampus Hof 8 3E-O1-22.A
Tuesday 25.04. 16:15 - 17:45 Seminarraum 6 Anglistik UniCampus Hof 8 3E-O1-22.A
Tuesday 02.05. 16:15 - 17:45 Seminarraum 6 Anglistik UniCampus Hof 8 3E-O1-22.A
Tuesday 09.05. 16:15 - 17:45 Seminarraum 6 Anglistik UniCampus Hof 8 3E-O1-22.A
Tuesday 16.05. 16:15 - 17:45 Seminarraum 6 Anglistik UniCampus Hof 8 3E-O1-22.A
Tuesday 23.05. 16:15 - 17:45 Seminarraum 6 Anglistik UniCampus Hof 8 3E-O1-22.A
Tuesday 06.06. 16:15 - 17:45 Seminarraum 6 Anglistik UniCampus Hof 8 3E-O1-22.A
Tuesday 13.06. 16:15 - 17:45 Seminarraum 6 Anglistik UniCampus Hof 8 3E-O1-22.A
Tuesday 20.06. 16:15 - 17:45 Seminarraum 6 Anglistik UniCampus Hof 8 3E-O1-22.A
Tuesday 27.06. 16:15 - 17:45 Seminarraum 6 Anglistik UniCampus Hof 8 3E-O1-22.A

Information

Aims, contents and method of the course

Noun phrases play a crucial role in everyday communication, typically providing information about the things we want to talk about. For this reason, they have been studied in great detail: there’s a wealth of literature on both their internal structure and their various semantic and discourse-pragmatic functions. Nevertheless, there are still numerous unresolved issues, which require further (empirical) research. The aim of this class is to focus on some of these issues (in particular those concerning modification and determination/quantification) and to see whether the use of corpus data can shed light on some problematic and as yet underresearched aspects of the English noun phrase.

In class, we will
-discuss of a number of influential papers/chapters on the form, meaning and use of English noun phrases.
-discuss the various component parts of the nouns phrase (their function and formal characteristics)
-discuss a number of problematic noun phrase constructions and the different analyses that have been offered so far

In groups, students will investigate a specific type of noun phrase construction (e.g. sort-of/kind-of constructions, measure noun constructions, appositions), using corpus data to study their use, either synchronically or diachronically (changes over the last 200 years).

Course aims:
-Students will learn to analyse complex noun phrases, and to recognize changes in their function and form;
-Students will be able to conduct (in groups) a research project on the form, meaning and use of English Noun Phrases, either synchronically or diachronically, based on corpus data.

Assessment and permitted materials

Students will be assessed on the basis of a research proposal and research report (group work), a presentation and an interview (individual evaluation). Regular class attendance (max. two absences) and active participation are required.

Minimum requirements and assessment criteria

Course evaluation is based on:
• 15% research plan (group work)
• 10% interviews on research progress (individual evaluation)
• 25% group presentation (individual evaluation)
• 50% research report (group work)

Students need to attain a minimum (average) score of 60%.

Grading scale:
0–59.9% = 5; 60–69.9% = 4; 70–79.9% = 3; 80–89.9% = 2; 90–100% = 1

Examination topics

Readings, classroom discussions and exercises, presentation, research project (proposal and final report)

Reading list

-Biber, Douglas, Stig Johansson, Geoffrey Leech, Susan Conrad & Edward Finegan. 1999. Longman Grammar of Spoken and Written English. Harlow: Longman. Chapter 4, pp. 229-284
-John Payne & Rodney Huddleston. 2002. Nouns and Noun Phrases. In Rodney Huddleston and Geoffrey Pullum (eds), The Cambridge Grammar of the English Language. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp. 323-451.
-Quirk, Randolph, Sidney Greenbaum, Geoffrey Leech & Jan Svartvik. 1985. A Comprehensive Grammar of the English Language. London: Longman. pp. 402-437.

Additional reading will be made available on Moodle.

Association in the course directory

Studium: MA 812 (2)
Code/Modul: M04 FS. M05
Lehrinhalt: 12-8143

Last modified: Fr 10.03.2023 20:08