Admission requirements
We strongly recommend that you have passed Linguistics 1 prior to enrolling in this course.
For this course transitional provisions apply. If you are a student who started the BA programme in 2024-2025 or earlier and have to retake this course, please check the 'More info'-tab or contact your study advisor.
Description
The main focus of the first part of Linguistics 2 will be on variation in the pronunciation of English speech sounds. Sounds may vary depending on their position in the syllable. Sounds may also vary when the words in which they occur are part of connected speech. And finally, sounds may vary depending on the regional accent of the speaker, and on such factors as the speaker’s age, gender and social class. All these types of variation are covered in the course.
The second part of Linguistics 2 offers an introduction to the syntax of modern English. We examine the sentence structure of English by considering among other things the building blocks (constituents) of sentences and phrases, word classes, functions of constituents, and different verb types.
Course objectives
In the first part of the course, students:
learn about English sounds and syllables;
learn about different types of variation in the pronunciation of sounds;
deepen their understanding of the phonetics of consonants and vowels;
learn to do phonemic and phonetic transcriptions.
In the second part of the course, students:
learn about word classes
learn to identify constituents and their function
learn to analyze the internal structure of phrases and sentences
learn to formulate (orally and in writing) syntactic arguments about sentence and phrase structure
learn to identify verb types
gain familiarity with structural analysis of English grammar
Timetable
The timetables are available through My Timetable.
Mode of instruction
Lecture (1 hour per week)
Tutorial (2 hours per week)
Assessment method
Assessment
Midterm written exam (1.5-hours) on phonetics
Final written exam (1.5-hours) on syntax
Attendance is compulsory. Missing more than two tutorials means that students may be excluded from the tutorials. Unauthorized absence also applies to being unprepared, not participating and/or not bringing the relevant course materials to class.
Weighing
Midterm written exam (50%); minimum grade required: 5.5
Final written exam (50%); minimum grade required: 5.5
The final mark for the course is established by determination of the weighted average combined with additional requirements. The additional requirement is a 5.5 for both exams. To pass the course, the weighted average of the partial grades must be 5.5 or higher.
Please note: you need to have passed both Ling2A (midterm exam) and Ling2B (final exam) to pass this course. If you fail one or both parts, you need to retake both parts the following academic year.
Resit
If the mark for either exam is below 5.5, the exam will have to be retaken during the resit period.
Inspection and feedback
How and when an exam review will take place will be disclosed together with the publication of the exam results at the latest. If a student requests a review within 30 days after publication of the exam results, an exam review will have to be organized.
Reading list
Knight, Rachael-Anne (2012) Phonetics: a coursebook . Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Börjars, Kersti and Kate Burridge (2019) Introducing English grammar. 3rd edition. London: Routledge.
A course programme will be made available through Brightspace before the start of the course.
Registration
Enrolment through MyStudyMap is mandatory.
General information about course and exam enrolment is available on the website.
Please note: it's not possible to enroll in MyStudyMap yourself for the tutorial group of this course. If you are a higher year student and need to be enrolled in a tutorial group, please contact the education coordinator.
Contact
For substantive questions, contact the lecturer listed in the right information bar.
For questions about enrolment, admission, etc, contact the Education Administration Office: Arsenaal
Remarks
Not applicable.