GERM1240B - English : Linguistics and Practical Exercises II B
Credits :
4
Lecturers :
Mode of delivery :
Face-to-face , second term, 30 hours of theory and 15 hours of exercises.
Timetable :
Second term Monday from 13:30 to 15:30 at 109 Marais 210 Monday from 15:30 to 16:30 at 109 Marais 210
Language of instruction :
English
Learning outcomes :
AA : English : Linguistics II: By the end of this course, students should be able to : - Distinguish written and spoken English in terms of syntactic phenomena; - Define the basic concepts of corpus linguistics in general and learner corpus research more particularly; - Read and understand scientific articles which describe the way English as a Foreign Language learners (EFL) use English syntax; - Summarise and pinpoint the relevant information given in the scientific articles; - Orally present the contents of scientific articles using appropriate academic English.
AA : English : Practical exercices In addition to the theoretical course, students will follow 15h of practical exercises which aim to develop their English proficiency. By the end of the exercise sessions, students are expected to have reached level B2+ (in speech and writing) on the Common European Framework of Reference.
Prerequisites :
For the Bachelor in Modern Languages and Letters: German, Dutch and English :
Co-requisites :
None
Course contents :
AA : English: Linguistics II The course will concentrate on (1) the syntactic description of written and spoken English and (2) the analysis of the use of syntax by EFL learners. The topics will, o.a., include the use of finite and non-finite clauses in spoken and written English as well as the syntactic difficulties that learners have been attested to encounter in English. Issues that will be tackled include learner use of tense and aspect, the position of adverbs in the sentence, the use of the English article system. These phenomena will be explained and illustrated via scientific articles taken from the field of corpus linguistics (often learner corpus research). AA : English : Practical exercises The exercise sessions will tackle the four language skills (speech, writing, reading, listening). The face-to-face sessions will emphasise productive skills (speech and writing) via a variety of activities: pronunciation exercises using up-to-date technologies, oral debates on current affairs, writing exercises linked to the topics tackled in the sessions. Reading and listening exercises will be done online where students will be given a series of tasks linked to videos/texts chosen by the teaching assistant. In addition, students will continue to study the Oxford Word Skills Advanced (Oxford University Press) vocabulary book (see GERM1240A).
Planned learning activities and teaching methods :
AA : English : Linguistics II The course includes (1) lectures delivered by the lecturer and (2) seminar-type sessions where the set scientific articles are discussed. Students will also be required to give an oral presentation of a scientific article chosen among a list given by the lecturer. AA : English: Exercise sessions The exercise sessions follow the « blended learning » format which combines the strengths of face-to-face learning and online activities. Students will do a variety of activities in the face-to-face sessions (phonetics, oral debates, writing exercises, etc) and will combine this with online work (pronunciation, reading and listening). Formative tests will be organised during the term to assess learners with respect to the different language skills.
Assessment methods and criteria :
AA : English: Linguistics II Oral presentation of a scientific article about English syntax in learner language Written exam in June
AA : English: Exercise sessions Formative testing during the term - this is for the students' information. Written exam in June.
Weighting theory/exercises: 60% theory/40% exercises
Recommended or required reading :
Biber, D., and Gray, B. (2011). The historical shift of scientific academic prose in English towards less explicit styles of expression: Writing without verbs. In V. Bathia, P. Sánchez, and P. Perez-Paredes (eds.), Researching specialized languages, pp. 11-24. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.
Gilquin, G., and Paquot, M. (2008). Too chatty: Learner academic writing and register variation. English Text Construction 1 (1), pp. 41-61. Götz, S. (2015). Tense and aspect errors in spoken learner language: Implications for language testing and assessment. In M. Callies & S. Götz (eds), Learner Corpora in Language Testing and Assessment. Amsterdam and Philadelphia: John Benjamins, 191-215. Granger, S. (1999). Use of Tenses by Advanced EFL Learners: Evidence from an Error-tagged Computer Corpus. In Hasselgård, H. & Oksefjell, S. (eds.), Out of Corpora - Studies in Honour of Stig Johansson. Amsterdam/ Atlanta: Rodopi, 191-202. Granger, S. (2013). The passive in learner English: Corpus insights and implications for pedagogical grammar. Learner Corpus Studies in Asia and the World. Thewissen, J. (2013). Capturing L2 accuracy developmental patterns: Insights from an error-tagged EFL learner corpus. In Modern Language Journal 97 (special issue on capturing the dynamics of L2 development through learner corpus analysis), pp.77-101.
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