Prospectus

nl en

Core: Research Methods in Linguistics

Course
2019-2020

Admission requirements

This course is open to students of Linguistics (research) only.

Description

Linguistics represents a single discipline to the extent that it shares a single object of analysis, but is otherwise quite heterogeneous. Linguists affiliate with fields as divergent as logics, anthropology, biology, mathematics, and archaeology - to name but a few disciplines that are ‘neighbours’ to linguistics. This has given rise to a situation where creative synergies between linguists of various subdisciplines and scholars of other disciplines have led to exciting new collaborations and innovations in methodologies.

The linguistic research carried out at Leiden University reflects a rich variety of subdisciplines, each with their own methodologies - sometimes overlapping, sometimes contrasting. The aim of this course is to present the student with an overview of six subfields of linguistics that Leiden linguists work in and the methodologies they apply.

For 2019-2020 these are: Theoretical Linguistics, Second Language Acquisition, Language in Society, Language Use & Discourse Studies, and Descriptive Linguistics.

Each of the subfields will be introduced in a 2-week’s block, by a leading Leiden scholar who discusses a seminal work in their own subfield, paying particular attention to the methodology applied. There will be two 2-hour lectures per week, one on Monday, the other on Friday. In each block, students will do one or more assignment(s) to apply the methodology discussed. In addition to the readings selected by the lecturers, students study a number of chapters from a textbook.

Course objectives

In this course, students learn:

  • the various research methods employed in Linguistics

  • the variety of linguistic subfields present in Leiden, and the scholars who work in these fields

  • how to recognize the methodology that has been applied in seminal papers

  • how to apply the methodologies through practical research assignments

Timetable

Linguistics (research) (MA)

Mode of instruction

Seminar

Course Load

Total time: 280 hours

Of which:

  • Classes: 52 h

  • Preparation of classes; reading compulsory literature: 6 blocks x 20 h = 120 h

  • Preparing assignments: 6 assignments x 18 h = 108 h

Assessment method

All blocks are obligatory. In each block, students will do one or more assignment(s); the (end) grade of each block counts equally towards the averaged final grade. If the final grade is lower than 5.5, the student can do a resit for maximally 1 block.

Blackboard

Blackboard will be used to share literature and to submit assignments.

Reading list

The Textbook for this course is:

Podesva, Robert J. and Devyani Sharma (eds). 2013. Research Methods in Linguistics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Registration

Enrolment through uSis is mandatory.

General information about uSis is available on this website

Contact

Prof. dr. M.A.F. (Marian) Klamer, coordinator

Education Administration Office van Wijkplaats

E-mailaddress Education Administration Office van Wijkplaats: osz-oa-wijkplaats@hum.leidenuniv.nl

Coordinator of Studies

Remarks

Professor Klamer is lecturer of block Descriptive Linguistics