Course syllabus
SEMESTER 1, 2017
Course Information
- Course Coordinator
Helen Charters - h.charters@auckland.ac.nz
- Teacher
Helen Charters - h.charters@auckland.ac.nz
- Course delivery format
2 hours of lectures, Weds 10-12 (See SSO for details)
Course Description
This course provides the opportunity to undertake a small focussed research project on some aspect of syntactic organization in a language of your choice, using a formal theory of syntax (LFG, Principles and Parameters, or the Minimalist Programme). Aspects of each theory will be covered in lectures, as required and appropriate to the topic and language you choose. This will include
- Representations of lexical structure (features)
- Approaches to the representation of phrase structure
- Relationships between Case and Agreement
- The representation of functional structure/ relationships
- Alternative explanations of word order variation
- Relationships between semantic content, syntactic structure and discourse/ information structure
By the end of the course you should be able to
- state the range of phenomena to be explained by a formal syntactic theory
- define and use standard linguistic terminology in discussing syntax
- describe and discuss in some detail a set of data from a real language of your choice,
- identify canonical and less canonical examples of the syntactic phenomenon they represent
- explain the theoretical approach to this data employed in two formal theories of syntax
- discuss the strengths and weaknesses of each theory in accounting for your data
- present at least one full formal account of that data
- identify issues that complicate the analysis or limit its success or applicability
ASSESSMENT TIMELINE (details of requirements below):
Assignments that are not ‘in-class’ are due 4pm Thursday at the reception, level 3 Arts 1, unless stated otherwise..
- Week 4 15 min Data Presentation in class with h/o
Timely clear presentation 10%
Accurate fully glossed handout 10%;
- Week 6 A proposal defining your Essay topic 10%
Mid-Semester break
- Week 7 Literature review 15%
- Week 9 In class-Analysis workshop (pairs) 10%
Written-up analysis handed in 10%
- Monday Week 10 draft essay (2 - 3,000) given to class-mate
Friday Week 10 Editorial Report (to class-mate) commenting constructively on his/her draft essay copy emailed to me 10%
- Week 12: Final essay, revised and submitted 25%
Workload:
The University of Auckland's expectation on 15-point courses, is that students spend 10 hours per week on the course. Students manage their academic workload and other commitments accordingly. Students attend two hours of lectures each week and participate in a one-hour tutorial from week 2 of semester. This leaves seven hours per week outside the classroom to prepare for tutorials, assignments and the exam.
Deadlines and submission of coursework:
There are penalties of up to 10% for submitting work late without an extension. Extensions may be given in special circumstances; applications for extensions should be made WELL BEFORE the due date if possible.
Plagiarism:
The University of Auckland will not tolerate cheating, or assisting others to cheat, and views cheating in coursework as a serious academic offence. The work that a student submits for grading must be the student’s own work, reflecting his or her learning. Where work from other sources is used, it must be properly acknowledged and referenced. This requirement also applies to sources on the world-wide web. A student’s assessed work may be reviewed against electronic source material using computerised detection mechanisms. Upon reasonable request, students may be required to provide an electronic version of their work for computerised review.
For more information, see the University’s Guidelines: Conduct of Coursework, and Guidelines: Conduct of Research
Course summary:
| Date | Details | Due |
|---|---|---|