Topics in the Study of Meaning

LELA70032 Topics in the Study of Meaning 15 Semester 2 Postgraduate Taught Level 7 Vera Hohaus Unit coordinator Linguistics & English Language 1 FHEQ level (Framework for Higher Education Qualifications) ' Masters/Integrated Masters P4 ' European Credit Transfer & Accumulation System Rating : 7.5 This course unit will allow students to engage directly with the research literature on some of the core phenomena in the study of meaning and learn about different theoretical and empirical approaches in semantics and pragmatics. Possible topics, to be decided on in consultation with the students, include quantificational determiners like every, tense and aspect, modal expressions such as should and must, focus-sensitive particles like too and comparison constructions such as the highest mountain. This course unit will allow students to engage directly with the research literature on some of the core phenomena in the study of meaning and learn about different theoretical and empirical approaches in semantics and pragmatics. Possible topics, to be decided on in consultation with the students, include quantificational determiners like every, tense and aspect, modal expressions such as should and must, focus-sensitive particles like too and comparison constructions such as the highest mountain. The aim of this course is to familiarise students with some of the central research topics and methodologies in formal semantics and pragmatics. By the end of this course students will:<ul> <li style="margin-bottom: 11px;">Have gained knowledge of the empirical phenomena and issues central to the study of the formal semantics and pragmatics of natural language, in particular English; </li> <li style="margin-bottom: 11px;">Have deepened their understanding of the formal apparatus and theoretical concepts used in the study of natural language semantics and pragmatics; </li> <li style="margin-bottom: 11px;">Have developed their ability to understand formal analyses and test their predictions on novel data.</li></ul> By the end of this course students will have developed: <ul> <li style="margin-bottom: 11px;">The ability to critically read and synthesize published research articles; </li> <li style="margin-bottom: 11px;">Skills in problem-solving and abstract and logical thinking; </li> <li style="margin-bottom: 11px;">The ability to construct and refine an argument, recognise flaws in arguments, and assessing the merits of contrasting explanations.</li></ul> By the end of this course students will: <ul> <li style="margin-bottom: 11px;">Be able to present a rigorous linguistic argument; </li> <li style="margin-bottom: 11px;">Be able to apply formal tools and abstract concepts to empirical data; </li> <li style="margin-bottom: 11px;">Be able to apply the appropriate diagnostics for distinguishing between different types of meaning.</li></ul> By the end of this course students will have developed: <ul> <li style="margin-bottom: 11px;">The ability to formulate abstract generalisations from data and synthesize complex issues; </li> <li style="margin-bottom: 11px;">The ability to manage their own learning self-critically; </li> <li style="margin-bottom: 11px;">The skill and confidence of leading a class discussion; team working and presentation skills.</li></ul> The rigorous formalization of empirical insights from language data prepares students for jobs that involve data analysis and their understanding of formal representations of meaning in language will be useful in the development of software applications for natural language processing as well as for general coding. Other Through the deep engagement with challenging research articles, students taking this class will further develop their reasoning and argumentation skills. By taking responsibility for the presentation and discussion of one article as part of a team, students develop their confidence in speaking in front of an audience and engaging in discussion in response to on-the-spot questions. One two-hour class per week, four dedicated seminar sessions for the PGT students, plus one one-hour seminar per week jointly with the UG students.The course will run as a mixture of teaching by the instructor and student-led discussions. The instructor will introduce the concepts and formal tools required for understanding a set of key research articles in this area.E-Learning: All course material, including lecture handouts, practice exercises, links to electronically available readings, and course and assessment info will be made available on Canvas. Students will be able to discuss all aspects of the course with their peers and the teaching staff on the discussion board.The course convenor offers two consultation hours every week. 0 Other 100% <figure class="table"><table class="MsoTableGrid" style="border-collapse:collapse;"><tbody><tr><td style="border:1px solid black;padding:0cm 7px;vertical-align:top;width:200px;">Assessment Task</td><td style="border-bottom:1px solid black;border-left-style:none;border-right:1px solid black;border-top:1px solid black;padding:0cm 7px;vertical-align:top;width:200px;">Formative or Summative</td><td style="border-bottom:1px solid black;border-left-style:none;border-right:1px solid black;border-top:1px solid black;padding:0cm 7px;vertical-align:top;width:200px;">Weighting</td></tr><tr><td>Weekly reading assignment with a short problem set </td><td>Formative</td><td> </td></tr><tr><td style="border-bottom:1px solid black;border-left:1px solid black;border-right:1px solid black;border-top-style:none;padding:0cm 7px;vertical-align:top;width:200px;">Research poster project</td><td style="border-bottom:1px solid black;border-left-style:none;border-right:1px solid black;border-top-style:none;padding:0cm 7px;vertical-align:top;width:200px;">Summative</td><td style="border-bottom:1px solid black;border-left-style:none;border-right:1px solid black;border-top-style:none;padding:0cm 7px;vertical-align:top;width:200px;">70%</td></tr><tr><td style="border-bottom:1px solid black;border-left:1px solid black;border-right:1px solid black;border-top-style:none;padding:0cm 7px;vertical-align:top;width:200px;">Mid-term Assignment</td><td style="border-bottom:1px solid black;border-left-style:none;border-right:1px solid black;border-top-style:none;padding:0cm 7px;vertical-align:top;width:200px;">Summative</td><td style="border-bottom:1px solid black;border-left-style:none;border-right:1px solid black;border-top-style:none;padding:0cm 7px;vertical-align:top;width:200px;">30%</td></tr></tbody></table></figure>  <table border="1" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width:662px;" width="662"> <tbody> <tr> <td style="width:321px;"> Feedback method</td> <td style="width:340px;"> Formative or Summative</td> </tr> <tr> <td style="width:321px;"> Global feedback on in-class and homework exercises</td> <td style="width:340px;"> Formative </td> </tr> <tr> <td style="width:321px;"> Comments made during class discussion regarding the relevance and coherence of student responses/participation in discussion</td> <td style="width:340px;"> Formative</td> </tr> <tr> <td style="width:321px;height:7px;"> Global feedback on mid-term assignment</td> <td style="width:340px;height:7px;"> formative</td> </tr> <tr> <td style="width:321px;height:7px;"> Individual feedback on mid-term assignment and final essay </td> <td style="width:340px;height:7px;"> Summative</td> </tr> </tbody></table>  LELA20281 Semantics : The Composition of Meaning Pre-Requisite Compulsory LELA20292 Pragmatics: Meaning, Context, and Interaction Pre-Requisite Recommended Pre-requisites:LELA20281 Semantics or equivalent (set theory, predicate logic, lambda calculus in linguistics)(recommended: LELA20292 Pragmatics) Y Selected readings:Paul H. Portner and Barbara Partee (2002, eds.), Formal Semantics: The Essential Readings (London: Blackwell).Claudia Maienborn, Klaus von Heusinger & Paul H. Portner (2011, eds.), Semantics: An International Handbook of Natural Language Meaning (Berlin: De Gruyter).Maria Aloni and Paul Dekker (2016), The Cambridge Handbook of Formal Semantics (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press). Lectures 22 Seminars 4 0 124