Universität Wien

122221 SE Linguistics Seminar / BA Paper (2024W)

11.00 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. 12 participants
Language: English

Lecturers

Classes (iCal) - next class is marked with N

  • Friday 11.10. 16:15 - 17:45 Raum 2 Anglistik UniCampus Hof 8 3E-EG-09
  • Friday 18.10. 16:15 - 17:45 Raum 2 Anglistik UniCampus Hof 8 3E-EG-09
  • Friday 25.10. 16:15 - 17:45 Raum 2 Anglistik UniCampus Hof 8 3E-EG-09
  • Friday 08.11. 16:15 - 17:45 Raum 2 Anglistik UniCampus Hof 8 3E-EG-09
  • Friday 15.11. 16:15 - 17:45 Raum 2 Anglistik UniCampus Hof 8 3E-EG-09
  • Friday 22.11. 16:15 - 17:45 Raum 2 Anglistik UniCampus Hof 8 3E-EG-09
  • Friday 29.11. 16:15 - 17:45 Raum 2 Anglistik UniCampus Hof 8 3E-EG-09
  • Friday 06.12. 16:15 - 17:45 Raum 2 Anglistik UniCampus Hof 8 3E-EG-09
  • Friday 13.12. 16:15 - 17:45 Raum 2 Anglistik UniCampus Hof 8 3E-EG-09
  • Friday 10.01. 16:15 - 17:45 Raum 2 Anglistik UniCampus Hof 8 3E-EG-09
  • Friday 17.01. 16:15 - 17:45 Raum 2 Anglistik UniCampus Hof 8 3E-EG-09
  • Friday 24.01. 16:15 - 17:45 Raum 2 Anglistik UniCampus Hof 8 3E-EG-09
  • Friday 31.01. 16:15 - 17:45 Raum 2 Anglistik UniCampus Hof 8 3E-EG-09

Information

Aims, contents and method of the course

The Construction Grammar theory extends Saussure’s proposal that words are symbolic form-meaning pairings to phrases, clauses or whole sentences, e.g. the way-construction: he danced his way through the room. Construction grammarians do not assume that we are born with a universal grammar, but language is learned in language-independent cognitive processes such as association, schematization and categorization. Constructions, as the central element of study, emerge through pattern recognition, repetition, and analogization, meaning language is usage-based. The individual constructions, once learned, are then organized, in speakers’ minds, into constructional networks with different levels of schematicity.

Since the 1990s, the Construction Grammar approach to language has become one of fastest growing linguistic approaches to language and language change. This course introduces the theory of Construction Grammar, e.g. theoretical premises, approaches to language change and language acquisition, and focuses on the Construction Grammar stance on contemporary issues discussed in relation to the noun phrase, e.g. classification, modification order, determiner functions etc. Ultimately the course should provide students an insight into the role of language models in linguistic research.

Assessment and permitted materials

This is an interactive course where students will have weekly readings and forum entries that will then be discussed as a class at the start of each session. The readings should provide students with a foundation to conduct their own research projects that will culminate with a BA paper. For the seminar paper, students can either explore a theoretical issue discussed in the course or pick a specific construction that they wish to research. Students are expected to hand in a project proposal and present preliminary results in a 10 min presentation, allowing them to receive feedback on their individual projects at various stages of the research process.

Minimum requirements and assessment criteria

Minimum requirements:
-) regular class attendance (max. 2 absences)
-) regular participation in class and completion of regular readings and small assignments
-) submitting a project proposal (on set date)
-) giving an oral presentation (on set date)
-) conducting a small research project and submitting a BA paper (on set date)
-) refraining from plagiarism in all tasks

Course evaluation is based on:
Participation and small assignments (15%)
Project proposal (15%)
Presentation (20%)
BA paper (50%)
Pass grade: 60%

Grades:
1: 90-100%
2: 80-89.9%
3: 70-79.9%
4: 60-69.9%
5: < 60%

Examination topics

Not applicable for this course

Reading list

Brems, Lieselotte. 2010. Size noun constructions as collocationally constrained constructions: lexical and grammaticalized uses. English Language and Linguistics 14 (1), 83-109.
Davidse, Kristin & Tine Breban. A cognitive-functional approach to the order of adjectives in the English noun phrase. Linguistics 57(2), 327-371.
Goldberg, Adele E. 2006. A construction grammar approach to argument structure. Chicago/London: The University of Chicago Press.
Goldberg, Adele E. 2019. Explain me this: Creativity , competition and the partial productivity of constructions. Princeton/Oxford: Princeton University Press.
Hilpert, Martin. 2014. Construction Grammar and its Application to English. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.
Hoffmann, Thomas. 2022. Construction Grammar and the Structure of English. Cambridge: CUP.
Israel, M. 1996. The way construction grow. In Adele E. Goldberg (ed.), Conceptual Structure, Discourse and Language, 217-230. Stanford, CA: Center for the Study of Language and Information.
McColm, Dan; Trousdale, Graeme. 2019. Whatever happened to whatever? In Nuria Yáñez-Bouza, Emma More, Linda van Bergen & Willem B. Hollmann (eds.), Categories, Constructions, and Changes in English Syntax. 81-104. Cambridge: CUP.
Smirnova, Elena; Sommerer, Lotte. 2020. Introduction: The nature of the note and the network – Open questions in Diachronic Construction Grammar. In Lotte Sommerer & Elena Smirnova (eds.), Nodes and Networks in Diachronic Construction Grammar. 1-44. Amsterdam/Philadelphia: John Benjamins.
Sommerer, Lotte. 2024. How important a piece of the puzzle: A usage-based investigation of the BIG MESS construction. Journal of Historical Syntax 8, 1-34.

Association in the course directory

Studium: BA 612
Code/Modul: BA06.2
Lehrinhalt: 12-2222

Last modified: Fr 27.09.2024 18:05