Introduction
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Tue./Thu. 5-6:15pm (3 hours/week)
Locaton: 317 Seogwan [Liberal Arts Bldg.] (tentatively)
Note: ENGL 413 (Theories & strategies of language teaching) has been cancelled due to curriculum changes in the English Dept.
In Fall 2014 I will move to the Institute of Foreign Language Studies (IFLS), but I will still teach ENGL 434 (advanced composition) in the Fall.
Course description
This course examines the basis for grammar and grammar forms in human cognition. This leads to models of language that can be rather different from generative grammar. We will consider the following approaches that come from psychology research, or attempts to build psychologically grounded theories of language. We will also consider pedagogical applications for teaching English.
Materials
Handouts and materials will be provided on this website. There is no textbook for this course, but we will sometimes refer to the course packet. Because the course packet will be revised from time to time, you might not want to print it out (you can print out relevant sections as they are assigned). This packet in its current form is a work-in-progress and somewhat rough or incomplete.
- Course syllabus [broken link fixed (sorry!); revised version from 11 March]
- Course packet: Prof. Lee's Grammar Book
Schedule
[CP] = course packet; [GF] = Google Form assignment; [HW] = homework assignment; [extra/optional] = not required
Week 1: Course intro; basic terms
- See the intro section of the course packet.
- [GF#1] Self-intro form [due 10 March]
Week 2: Schema theory
- [GF2]: Schemas [due 17 March]
- CP: Noun schemas [Intro section]
- Taylor (2008): Prototypes in cognitive linguistics [original layout]
- MacLaury (1991): Prototypes revisited [extra, optional]
Week 3: Schemas and metaphors
- Glucksberg (2003): The psycholinguistics of metaphor
- Language: Reef of dead metaphors (Youtube video) [optional, extra; may be hard to understand due to the science fiction theme and the computer-generated voice]
- Word formation & schemas [optional, extra]
Week 4: Metaphor, polysemy, grammaticalization
- [HW1] Homework: Research survey. This is a language survey that you are to fill out about your intuitions about English usage. For this, your insights as a learner of English as a second language will be valuable for me, and the results will help with a later unit in this course. Print this out and follow the instructions carefully. Due: 25 March.
- My review of Brinton (2008) on English comment clauses (for Thursday)
- CP: Overview & guide to grammar terms (ch. 2-4), overview of schemas (ch. 5); also: phrasal verbs (ch. 50-54, recommended)
- [extra, optional] Teaching Korean compound verbs, e.g., 버리다 and Diminutives
- [GF3]: Google form #3 (due 31 March)
Week 5: Grammatical categories
- [CP] Sections I1-2 (discourse markers)
- Bauer (1998): Compound nouns
Week 6: Korean and English verbs
- [CP] Sections F4 & F6 (nouns), G1 (adjectives); recommended: B3-5 (verbs)
- Choi et al. (1999) (Read the intro and main discussion sections; you can skip the details of the experimental section.)
- HW2: Verb task. Due 16 April
Week 7: Korean and English verbs
- [CP] C1-2: gerunds; C5: perfect tense; C9: get-passive; B6-8: argument structure configurations; D1-2: modals; F1: case
Week 8: Midterm project
- Midterm exam [Due date: 03 May]
- APA guide [optional; for citing any sources used in your midterm]
Week 9: Argument structure, miscellaneous verb features (incl. Korean)
- Dative alternation; various other topics to be discussed in class (no reading assignments, due to the midterm project)
Week 10: Miscellaneous adj. & verb features (incl. Korean)
Week 11: Definite & indefinite articles
- Short guide to definite & indefinite articles [CP, G6] This will give some coherence to the different noun types / categories and article patterns that we talked about in class.
- Longer guide to definite & indefinite articles [CP, G7] This includes some of the special cases and specialized uses of articles that we touched on.
Week 12: Sentence and discourse processing, reading psychology
- [GF4]: Google form #4 (due date: 19 May)
- Reading faster (Nation, 2009) (You might find this helpful before doing GF4)
- Intro to reading psychology [handout]
Week 13: Reading psychology and learning
- Be sure to read the Intro to reading psych handout above.
- Homework #3 [due date: 31 May]
Weeks 14-15: Language and brain
- Pronunciation article (Nagamine, 2011)
- Connectionism: intro [website]
- Connectionism: intro [handout]
- Youtube videos on the brain: National Geographic video | Crash Course series video
Week 16: Final project
- Final project questions (draft)
- The real final project questions (due: 25 June)
- Course evaluation survey [optional]