Admission requirements
Description
This course is an introduction to the modern scientific study of Spanish structure (syntax), and establishes the basis for future application of linguistic principles. The content included is an overview of basic linguistic properties with a focus on Spanish. The goal of this course is to provide students with a level of knowledge that enables them to make connections between the structure of Spanish and relevant issues in contemporary linguistics. Thus, course readings and activities will include a theoretical part and a more applied part which will link the structure of Spanish with discussions of research in sociolinguistics, the linguistic effect of language contact, language change, and classroom acquisition of Spanish as well as natural language acquisition of Spanish in order to apply the theoretical constructs studied.
This course trains students to analyze those points of the Spanish language that non-native speakers find hard to use and native speakers find hard to explain.
Course objectives
Acquisition of skills and techniques for learning how particular languages work and behave, with a particular focus on morphosyntactic variation Spanish.
The student will also get some practice in using those skills/techniques to discover the organizing principles of the Spanish language.
Awareness of the diversities and similarities of language systems.
Timetable
Mode of instruction
Lectures and Seminars
The structure of the course will be lecture-discussion, with a large component of problem-solving.
Course Load
Total: 140 hrs
Groupwork: 65 hrs
Preparation classes: 51 hrs
Assessment method
50% – Theoretical part- in class written exam
50%- Applied Part-Group Research Project:
Literature Review 5%
Research Proposal 5%
Oral presentation 10%
Written project 25%
Individual memory 5%
Re-sit: paper 100 %
Blackboard
This course is supported by Blackboard. Blackboard will be used to provide students with an overview of current affairs, as well as specific information about (components of) the course. Please see:
Blackboard
Reading list
Required
Hualde, J.I., Olarrea, A., Escobar, A.M. & Travis, C. E. (2010) Introducción a la Lingüística Hispánica. Cambridge University Press.
Recommended
Zagona, K. (2002). The syntax of Spanish. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Other relevant readings will be made available via Blackboard.
Registration
Enrollment through uSis for the course and the examination or paper is mandatory.
Remarks
Students are expected to come to class prepared and ready to participate in class discussion. All readings assigned for the week must be done prior to class. Every student is expected to contribute to class discussion through oral questions and comments every class. In order to facilitate class discussion, students will write a response to the weekly readings.
All other information.
A detailed class syllabus will be provided on the first day of class.