School of Linguistic, SpeechCentre for Language and

and Communication SciencesCommunication Studies

LI1006 The Applied Linguistics of English Language Teaching I

Duration:Michaelmas term

Contact hours p/w:2 hours

Assessment:Essay; exercises

Weighting:5ECTS

Description:This module introduces students to fundamental principles in English language curriculum design, particularly learner-centred approaches to curriculum design. It draws on the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages and the European Language Portfolio in its exploration of the curriculum planning cycle.

LI1007 The Applied Linguistics of English Language Teaching II

Duration:Hilary term

Contact hours p/w:2 hours

Assessment:Essay; exercises

Weighting:5ECTS

Description:This module introduces students to fundamental principles in English language curriculum design and language testing, and to apply those principles to the design of language tasks and tests.

LI233A Language Learning

Duration:Michaelmas term

Contact hours p/w:2 hours

Assessment:Essay; exercises

Weighting:5ECTS

Description:This module introduces students to key issues in foreign language learning in formal contexts.Topics covered include theories of language learning, research findings in relation to successful and unsuccessful learners, the role of the mother tongue.

LI237A Aspects of Written Language

Duration:Michaelmas term

Contact hours p/w:2 hours

Assessment:Essay; exercises

Weighting:5ECTS

Description:This module introduces students to a range of perspectives – historical, social, linguistic, discourse-analytic, and cognitive – on a pervasive and hugely important linguistic phenomenon that is often taken for granted by literate people in literate societies: written language.

LI231A Aspects of Vocabulary

Duration:Hilary term

Contact hours p/w:2 hours

Assessment:Essay; exercises

Weighting:5ECTS

Description:This module introduces students to a number of different perspectives on the word as a linguistic unit and to a number of areas in which the study of vocabulary has practical applications.

LI234A Sociolinguistics

Duration:Hilary term

Contact hours p/w:2 hours

Assessment:Essay; exercises

Weighting:5ECTS

Description:This module is an introduction to the study of language in relation to society. Topics include regional and social variation in language, social factors in language change, bilingualism and language planning, language and culture, and language disadvantage and rights.

The following courses, forming part of the M. Phil. programmes in Linguistics, Applied Linguistics, Speech and Language Processing, and English Language Teaching may be available to suitably qualified students:

LI7856 Describing Grammar

Duration:Michaelmas term

Contact hours p/w:2hours

Assessment:Essay; exercises

Weighting:10ECTS

Description:This module willintroduce the basic concepts of syntactic description. It covers the basic features of sentence structure: syntactic categories, constituency, dependency, agreement, the subordination and co-ordination of sentences.

LI7861 Language Variation and Change

Duration:Michaelmas term

Contact hours p/w:2 hours

Assessment:Essay; exercises

Weighting:10ECTS

Description:This module is concerned with the comparison of languages in order to reveal systematic patterns of variation and the nature of universals.

LI7865 History and Globalisation of English

Duration:Michaelmas term

Contact hours p/w:2hours

Assessment:Essay; exercises

Weighting:10ECTS

Description:This module has four principal aims: (i) to give an overview of the linguistic history of English, (ii) to show the relationship between variation within English and the historical development of the language, (iii) to survey the spread of English, and (iv) to examine world Englishes within the context of social, historical, and linguistic theory.

LI7866 Bilingualism and the Maintenance of Irish

Duration:Michaelmas term

Contact hours p/w:2hours

Assessment:Essay; exercises

Weighting:10ECTS

Description:This module examines aspects of theory and research in psycholinguistics, sociolinguistics and education that are relevant to bilingualism and language maintenance in Ireland.

LI7872 Formal Foundations of Linguistic Theories

Duration:Michaelmas term

Contact hours p/w:2hours

Assessment:Essay; exercises

Weighting:10ECTS

Description:This module is designed to establish competence in foundational mathematical concepts used in contemporary cognitive science and computationally oriented approaches to linguistic theory.

LI7874 Speech Production, Hearing and Perception

Duration:Michaelmas term

Contact hours p/w:2hours

Assessment:Essay; exercises

Weighting:10ECTS

Description:This module introduces students to some of the major models of speech production, perception and hearing, as well as providing hands-on experience in conducting production and perception experiments.

LI7878 Describing English Grammar

Duration:Michaelmas term

Contact hours p/w:2hours

Assessment:Essay; exercises

Weighting:10ECTS

Description:This module has three principal aims: (i) to examine the major grammatical features of English, (ii) to understand the principles which account for grammatical variation, and (iii) to develop a critical perspective on the role of standardization in English grammar.

LI7808 Lexicology

Duration:Hilary term

Contact hours p/w:2hours

Assessment:Essay; exercises

Weighting:10ECTS

Description:This module explores the concept of the word, examines the place of lexis in the linguistic system, and investigates the applications of lexical research in dictionary-making and language teaching/learning.

LI7857 Language Acquisition

Duration:Hilary term

Contact hours p/w:2hours

Assessment:Essay; exercises

Weighting:10ECTS

Description:This module willintroduce students to empirical, theoretical and practical issues in first language acquisition research. Particular attention is given to controversies arising from different models of the first language acquisition process.

LI7860 Technology, Language and Communication

Duration:Hilary term

Contact hours p/w:2hours

Assessment:Essay; exercises

Weighting:10ECTS

Description:In thismodule students explorehow language and communication are mediated by various technologies, including that of writing.

LI7862 Linguistic Pragmatics

Duration:Hilary term

Contact hours p/w:2hours

Assessment:Essay; exercises

Weighting:10ECTS

Description:Thismodule aims to (i) introduce students to inferential theories of pragmatics, (ii) familiarize students with Relevance theory in particular; and (iii) give students experience of the practical description of conversational data.

LI7864 Corpus Linguistics

Duration:Hilary term

Contact hours p/w:2 hours

Assessment:Essay; exercises

Weighting:10 ECTS

Description:This module introduces students to the benefits and limitations of using corpora in a wide range of domains in the areas of linguistic research, pedagogy and natural language processing applications.

LI7869 Describing Meaning

Duration:Hilary term

Contact hours p/w:2hours

Assessment:Essay; exercises

Weighting:10ECTS

Description:This module willintroduce students to the study of meaning. Topics include theories of reference; meaning and conceptual structure; lexical relations and the dictionary; the logical structure of language; introduction to speech act theory; understanding non-literal utterances.

LI7870 Advanced Syntactic Theory

Duration:Hilary term

Contact hours p/w:2hours

Assessment:Essay; exercises

Weighting:10ECTS

Description:This module deals with areas of current debate in syntactic theory and introduces students to the current research literature.

LI7873 Computational Theories of Grammar and Meaning

Duration:Hilary term

Contact hours p/w:2hours

Assessment:Essay; exercises

Weighting:10ECTS

Description:This module introduces students to current computational models of syntax, semantics and morphology.

LI7877 The Pedagogical Grammar of English

Duration:Hilary term

Contact hours p/w:2hours

Assessment:Essay; exercises

Weighting:10ECTS

Description:This module is concerned with the nature and development of L2 grammar, and with grammar as pedagogical content, with specific reference to English.

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