Universität Wien

120067 SE Linguistics Seminar (222) = Seminar Linguistik/BA-Arbeit (2009W)

Hedging and being vague

11.00 ECTS (2.00 SWS), SPL 12 - Anglistik
Prüfungsimmanente Lehrveranstaltung

Diese LVA gilt für das Bachelorstudium nach UG2002, das Diplomstudium (UniStG) und das Lehramt UF Englisch (UniStG).

An/Abmeldung

Hinweis: Ihr Anmeldezeitpunkt innerhalb der Frist hat keine Auswirkungen auf die Platzvergabe (kein "first come, first served").

Details

max. 18 Teilnehmer*innen
Sprache: Englisch

Lehrende

Termine (iCal) - nächster Termin ist mit N markiert

  • Dienstag 13.10. 12:00 - 14:00 Raum 5 Anglistik UniCampus Hof 8 3E-O1-17
  • Dienstag 20.10. 12:00 - 14:00 Raum 5 Anglistik UniCampus Hof 8 3E-O1-17
  • Dienstag 27.10. 12:00 - 14:00 Raum 5 Anglistik UniCampus Hof 8 3E-O1-17
  • Dienstag 03.11. 12:00 - 14:00 Raum 5 Anglistik UniCampus Hof 8 3E-O1-17
  • Dienstag 10.11. 12:00 - 14:00 Raum 5 Anglistik UniCampus Hof 8 3E-O1-17
  • Dienstag 17.11. 12:00 - 14:00 Raum 5 Anglistik UniCampus Hof 8 3E-O1-17
  • Dienstag 24.11. 12:00 - 14:00 Raum 5 Anglistik UniCampus Hof 8 3E-O1-17
  • Dienstag 01.12. 12:00 - 14:00 Raum 5 Anglistik UniCampus Hof 8 3E-O1-17
  • Dienstag 15.12. 12:00 - 14:00 Raum 5 Anglistik UniCampus Hof 8 3E-O1-17
  • Dienstag 12.01. 12:00 - 14:00 Raum 5 Anglistik UniCampus Hof 8 3E-O1-17
  • Dienstag 19.01. 12:00 - 14:00 Raum 5 Anglistik UniCampus Hof 8 3E-O1-17
  • Dienstag 26.01. 12:00 - 14:00 Raum 5 Anglistik UniCampus Hof 8 3E-O1-17

Information

Ziele, Inhalte und Methode der Lehrveranstaltung

It is sometimes thought that being vague is bad language use. In this seminar we will see that this is far from true: vagueness is an inherent characteristic of language and being able to express vagueness appropriately is an essential communicative skill. We will investigate the use of explicit hedges such as sort of, like, approximately, I think and placeholders such as thing, stuff but also cases of so-called loose talk, which are not flagged by explicit markers (e.g. See you in 5 minutes). Among the questions we will discuss are the following:
- What are the communicative functions of hedges?
- How are they used in different text types?
- How is vagueness accounted for in different theoretical models?
- To what extent is hedging culture-specific and why is it a difficult topic for language learners?

Art der Leistungskontrolle und erlaubte Hilfsmittel

Participants will be assessed on the basis of their oral presentations, written research papers, and in-class participation. All presentations take place during a seminar conference in December (11 December afternoon and 12 December all day).

Mindestanforderungen und Beurteilungsmaßstab

Participants will become aware of the pervasiveness of vague language and how it is used to achieve a range of different communicative effects. They will be able to identify vague language use in spoken and written texts and develop a better understanding of how we interpret the meaning of utterances in context.

Prüfungsstoff

The initial sessions will be used to introduce participants to the topic and help them develop their research questions. This introductory phase involves the discussion of articles, text analysis in groups, and practical work with computer corpora. The second phase of the course is reserved for individual project work. In the final phase, participants will present their projects and findings in oral presentations and written research papers.

Literatur

Channel, J. 1994. Vague language. Oxford: OUP.
Cutting, J. (ed.) 2007. Vague language explored. Houndmills: Palgrave Macmillian.
Jucker, A. H. et al. 2003. "Interactive aspects of vagueness in conversation" . Journal of Pragmatics 35: 1737-1769.
Prince, E.F. et al. 1982. "On hedging in physician-phyisician discourse". In: Di Pietro, R. J. (ed.) Linguistics and the Professions. Proceedings of the 2nd Annual Delaware Symposium on Language Studies. Norwood, NJ: Ablex, 83-97.

Zuordnung im Vorlesungsverzeichnis

Diplom 343, UF 344, BA 612

Letzte Änderung: Mo 07.09.2020 15:33