DEPARTMENT OF LANGUAGE AND LINGUISTICS

COURSES 2016-17

Fall Semester

1 ST SEMESTER

INTRODUCTION TO LINGUISTICS I

The primary goal of this course, as well as that of Introduction to Linguistics II, is to introduce first year students to the discipline of linguistics. Specifically, this course deals with the basic issues of contemporary linguistics (properties of the human language, language acquisition, descriptive and prescriptive linguistics) and examines those levels of linguistic analysis that concern the form of language (phonetics, phonology, morphology, syntax).

ACADEMIC DISCOURSE

The aim of this course is to familiarise students with the language of spoken and written academic texts in order to help them develop the skills needed for the comprehension and production of academic discourse. It focuses on the linguistic features of lectures and other types of academic talks, as well as on the language of written texts found in university textbooks and in other academic volumes and journals. In addition to the 3-hour weekly session students are involved in a number of complementary activities.

3 RD SEMESTER

ENGLISH PHONETICS AND ORAL PRODUCTION

The course aims at familiarizing students with the distribution, production and perception of English sounds, the major phonological processes active in English oral discourse and the different patterns of suprasegmental features (rhythm, stress, intonation) that play a significant role in the process of communication.

5 TH SEMESTER

APPLIED LINGUISTICS TO FOREIGN LANGUAGE TEACHING AND LEARNING

Many participants in this core course, which forms a basic component in a pre-service teacher education programme, hope to become EFL teachers. As such, the purpose of the

course is to acquaint them with the ways in which various theories of language and language learning have informed approaches to foreign language didactics, having shaped the dominant discourse of ELT. While familiarizing them with the most common types of language curricula, methods / techniques of teaching and assessment, as well as with strategies of language learning, the lectures and seminars offered hope to introduce them to alternative thinking with regard to the teaching of English as a global language, to the development of multiple competences and intercultural awareness through foreign language learning. The work in class moves from theory to practice and from practice to theory. Students enrolled in the course can find useful course material for support and self-access learning through our e-class, accessed with a special password.

TENSE AND ASPECT

Tense is the grammatical category expressing the location of an event on the axis of time in respect to the presence of the speaker. For instance, in English, there exists a clear distinction between past and present, as exemplified by Helen wanted to leave at noon and Helen wants to leave at noon respectively. Aspect, on the other hand, is traditionally defined as ways of representing the internal constituency of an event. In other words, aspect is the grammatical form used by a speaker in adopting a particular view of a situation. For instance, in English, two forms of aspect are the progressive and non-progressive, as shown in She is staying with friends and She stays with friends respectively. The course aims to familiarise students with the ways in which tense and aspect have been examined in traditional accounts and principally in the framework of Cognitive Grammar. More specifically, issues relating to the interaction of situation type and grammatical/viewpoint aspect as well as the role of ground in the conceptualisation of situations expressed by verbs will be discussed in detail. Moreover, the relation between tense, aspect and modality will be elaborated, since it constitutes an integral part of the CG account of the English tense system. Although the course will focus mainly on English tense and aspect, the grammaticalisation of time in Greek will also be considered.

The course is taught through weekly lectures and class exercises while interaction between the instructor and the students is strongly encouraged. Course material includes notes and worksheets that will be available on e-class. Students will be assessed on the basis of a final exam. Finally, course evaluation will be carried out at the end of the semester through anonymous questionnaires.

LANGUAGE AND COGNITION

This course aims to familiarize students with key theoretical hypotheses and insights in Cognitive Science and Philosophy of Mind that have revolutionized our understanding of human (linguistic and non-linguistic) communication and the interplay between Language and Cognition. Based on a diverse range of interactive activities and drawing on highly up-to-date empirical and experimental findings, the course will actively engage the students in workshop-like hands-on individual work and guided group work inside the class. Students will be working in groups evaluating, interpreting and developing concrete theoretical arguments drawing implications from ‘thought-experiments’ as well

as raw empirical and experimental data. This way the course will introduce key theoretical concepts and methodologies in the study of Language and Cognition, while at the same time building concrete analytical, critical and inquiry skills that are integral to scientific reflection.

METAPHOR AND METAPHORICITY

The aim of the course is to familiarize students with different approaches to metaphor and improve their awareness of aspects of metaphoricity. More specifically, the course examines how it is possible to use and understand linguistic expressions that seem to violate all we know about the world around us, as when we say things like «John is a pig», «Your claims are indefensible», «I’m a little rusty today», «This relationship is a dead-end street», etc. Evidently, we do not have any problem in understanding the meaning of these expressions, even though we know that, in reality, people are not animals, claims are not fortresses, minds are not machines made of metal, and human relationships are not streets. In particular, the issue will be examined whether metaphor is only a stylistic, ornamental device, whether it constitutes some kind of linguistic deviation, or whether it is a conceptual mechanism motivating linguistic expression and affecting cultural identities.

The course is offered in the form of lectures and is supported by an extensive bibliography, study material practised in class, a selection of papers, and parts of a textbook expected to facilitate the students’ study. All study materials are uploaded on e-class. Class discussion is strongly encouraged. Students are evaluated in terms of an end-of-term exam. The course is assessed by the students’ completion of an evaluation form anonymously.

SOCIOLINGUISTICS

The course is intended to be an introduction to some of the issues that are of primary concern to the interdisciplinary area of Sociolinguistics. The main aim of the course is to familiarize students with the multi-dimensional relation between language and the social context in which it is used. Using examples from written and spoken discourse, the course will examine issues such as (i) social factors (e.g. gender, age, social class) that affect language use, (ii) language use in the media and politics and the aims achieved thereby, and (iii) attitudes to language and the relation of language to the construction of identity.

INTERLINGUAL STUDY OF ENGLISH AND GREEK

The course aims at raising awareness of interlingual differences and parallels between English and Greek through discourse analysis of translated and/or parallel texts. It draws on theories from Linguistics and Translation Studies to demonstrate the importance of contextual, sociocultural, and ideological factors in the selection of language structures and functions. Course content is delivered through lectures and discussions with the students, and course assessment is based on the final exam and complementary oral or written assignments. Anonymous student feedback is solicited midway through the

course. The main textbook is: Hatim, B. & Mason, I, (1990), Discourse and the Translator, London & New York: Longman.

ISSUES IN ENGLISH SYNTAX

This course aims at introducing students to the syntactic description of English as well as to syntactic theory and argumentation. In particular, syntax is used as a medium for introducing students to the principles of scientific thought. On the one hand, this course covers basic topics in syntax such as phrase structure, constituency and the lexicon, and on the other, it shows students explicitly how to think scientifically. The course is organized in thematic units that focus on important components of this enterprise, including choosing between theories, constructing explicit arguments for hypotheses and searching for explanation. A number of theoretical questions are raised and various tools of syntactic analysis are introduced. At the end of the course, students are expected to be able to think scientifically, to justify their analyses and to relate data to theory in a principled manner. Due to the seminar nature of the course, students have the opportunity to participate in class discussions and to organize presentations using educational aids and audiovisual equipment. Readings include Larson, R. K. (2010), Grammar as Science as the main coursebook as well as related handouts. Assessment is based not only on the final written exam but also on the participation in the learning process.

TRANSLATION THEORY

The course adopts a linguistic approach to translation and deals with issues of nonequivalence between English and Greek. It explores systematic variation between source and target versions of press news, advertising translation, literary translation and film translation. Juxtaposition of material reveals difference in the collective identity of source and target readerships/audience.

7 TH SEMESTER

APPLIED LINGUISTICS TO FOREIGN LANGUAGE TEACHING AND LEARNING

Many participants in this core course, which forms a basic component in a pre-service teacher education programme, hope to become English as a Foreign Language (EFL) teachers. As such, the purpose of the course is to acquaint them with the ways in which various theories of language and language learning have informed approaches to foreign language didactics, having shaped the dominant discourse of English Language Teaching (ELT).

INTERCULTURAL COMMUNICATION

The aim of this course is to sensitise students to the interconnection of language and culture. To this end, the concept and expression of politeness in various cultures will be explored with special emphasis on Greek and English requests. The frequency of requests and the wide variety of constructions through which they can be realised will hopefully enable students to become aware of the fact that cultural and linguistic groups are not more or less polite than others but conceptualise and thus express their politeness in different ways. Students are encouraged to collect and analyse their own data.

FUNCTIONAL GRAMMAR AND ENGLISH LANGUAGE

This course aims at introducing students to the principles of the functional approach to language and grammar (as elaborated by M.A.K. Halliday and his colleagues). In particular, it offers an introduction to basic concepts of Systemic Functional Grammarsuch as the functions of language, information and thematic structure, text and texture, as well as to the structure of the nominal group, embedded clauses and clause complexes. The course combines theoretical considerations with practical application and provides the students with a set of techniques which are applied to the grammatical analysis of authentic examples from a variety of English texts. Finally, it explores the applications of functional analysis to the teaching of English as a foreign language and locates M.Α.Κ.Halliday and his school within the history of linguistics. Readings include Bloor, T. & Bloor, M. (2004), The Functional Analysis of English: A Hallidayan Approach, 2nd edition, which is the main coursebook, as well as related handouts found on e-class. Assessment is based not only on the final written exam but also on the participation in the learning process. At the end of the semester, students will fill in an evaluation form for the course anonymously.

PLANNING AND CONDUCTING RESEARCH

The course aims at familiarizing students with the research process and methodologies as well as composition of the final draft of the research paper. Students are required to apply research techniques (bibliography search, data collection, data analysis) and structure the project accordingly (literature review, theoretical background, results, source documentation). Original data, detailed description/ analysis and relevant conclusions drawn as well as successful use of academic English are standard requirements for completing the course. Assessment: 40% Assignments – 60% Research Paper. No final exam.

TRANSLATION IN SPECTACLE

The course explores the treatment of linguistic phenomena in theatre/performance translation and cinematic translation from English into Greek with a view to revealing the varying role of mediator in these translation contexts. The course focuses on the treatment of politeness phenomena in rendering Pinter’s plays for the Greek stage, the treatment of puns in four Greek translations of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, the

implementation of values in two theatre versions and two film versions of Hamlet, the treatment of subcultural linguistic variety in the rendering of My Fair Lady for the Greek stage and screen, the treatment of linguistic phenomena in the subtitled and dubbed version of an animation film, The Hunchback of Notre Dame.

BILINGUALISM

This course will address a number of issues relating to language representation and processing in speakers of two languages. It will present theories and models of early and late bilingualism and explain the biological basis of learning a second language and whether there is a critical period for that. It will further discuss language organisation in the bilingual mind, mechanisms of language access and language control, as well as code-switching. It will also explore the relationship between language and thought and what bilinguals’ speech errors can tell us about language interaction. Finally, we will review evidence on the consequences of bilingualism for cognitive development. Course content is delivered through lectures and discussions with the students, and course assessment is based on the final exam and complementary oral or written assignments. Anonymous student feedback is solicited midway through the course.

SEMANTICS AND LEXICOGRAPHIC APPLICATIONS

The aim of the course is to familiarize students with basic topics in lexical semantics and associate them with current lexicographic practice. More specifically, the course aims to analyse word meaning, discuss semantic relations such as synonymy, antonymy and hyponymy, and discuss their representation in monolingual and bilingual dictionaries. Special emphasis is placed on polysemy as a linguistic phenomenon which, on the one hand characterizes semantic change and, on the other, affects lexicographic practice. In this framework, polysemy is discussed in relation to metaphor and metonymy as mechanisms of semantic extension. Moreover, the course addresses the category of multi-word expressions, such as collocations and idioms, and focuses on their representation in dictionaries.

The course is offered in the form of lectures and is based partly on study material practised in class and partly on the use of dictionaries and electronic language corpora. Class discussion is strongly encouraged. Teaching materials include an extensive bibliography and selected readings. All study materials are uploaded on e-class. Students are evaluated in terms of an end-of-term exam. The course is assessed by the students’ completion of an evaluation form anonymously.

MULTILINGUALISM & FΟREIGN LANGUAGE DIDACTICS IN EUROPE

This course aims at familiarizing students with new forms of languaging and communication emerged in multilingual societies (e.g., translanguaging, polylanguaging, metrolingualism, cross-language mediation, code-crossing, code-meshing) and at enabling them to generate syllabi and educational materials the goal of which will be to achieve their learners’ multilingual literacy.

By the end of this course, students will be able to:

effectively use the terms: multilingualism and plurilingualism. adopt new teaching methods in today's multilingual classrooms focusing on

languages as resources rather than on languages as systems to be taught, thus facilitating a shift from monolingualism to multilingualism. Trainees will be able to organise the class and activities in such a way as to facilitate the use of different resources that pupils may bring in the classroom.

design materials aiming at developing their learners’ translanguaging strategies. creatively use a variety of European tools for developing and assessing

multilingual competence (e.g., the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR), The European Language Portfolio (ELP) etc).

Students will be provided with a range of articles and other documents in the course e-class which relate to the various themes and topics covered. They will be evaluated throughout the semester for work they do inside (through tasksheets or class presentations) and outside of class (i.e., assignments). At the end of the course, they will be assessed for their ability to discuss issues related to the course syllabus intelligently and to exhibit the skills they have developed through a formal final exam.

TEACHING & ASSESSING READING IN THE EFL CLASSROOM

The course is designed to provide students with the basic knowledge of teaching and assessing reading in English as a Foreign Language (EFL) classroom. Through problem-based tasks, the course aims to equip students with the practical skills necessary for developing classroom-based reading material while promoting strategic reading comprehension instruction. First, students are introduced to the theoretical underpinnings of text comprehension and the factors affecting L2 sentence and discourse processing. Following that, students examine the role of reading in the context of foreign language teaching and familiarize themselves with the key principles of creating and evaluating reading activities for English language learning and assessment purposes (e.g. multiple-choice, matching, gap-filling and sentence completion reading tasks). Finally, students are exposed to web-based reading comprehension instruction and assessment resources. This way, they are given the opportunity to investigate ways of designing a hypermedia environment to support comprehension instruction along with integrating strategy instruction in a universally designed digital reading environment and evaluate usefulness of automated interventions to improve reading comprehension strategies for different learner needs and in different teaching contexts.

The course consists of a series of lectures in a lively workshop format, supplemented by practical work on designing and evaluating reading comprehension activities. The teaching material consists of selected book chapters, journal papers, videos and worksheets. Lecture notes and assigned bibliography will be made available through the e-class platform of the university. Students are expected to get actively involved with various types of group activities and quizzes done in class in connection with the course. Course grading is based on a final exam but students are offered the opportunity to undertake optional, extra credit project work.

LANGUAGE AND DIGITAL MEDIA

This course examines how digital media affect the way we use language. Students are introduced to a range of theories from sociolinguistics, discourse analysis and media studies and learn to apply these theories to analysing authentic texts from various digital media (social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Instagram, blogs, instant messaging services, discussion forums, online reviews, smartphone apps, video games). Among the topics covered in the course are multilingualism, humour and linguistic creativity in digital media, methods for collecting and processing data from digital media contexts, identity and community construction online, trolling and cyberbulling, expression of political opinion online as well as the use of digital media in language teaching. After completing the course students will be able to:

describe and analyse digital media activity from the perspective of language use employing the appropriate theoretical and methodological tools;

reflect critically on and evaluate the multifaceted impact of digital media on language, interpersonal relationships and society by and large;

utilise digital media for research, educational and other professional purposes.

Course content is delivered through lectures, which have a seminar nature enabling dialogue and practical work in class. All study materials are uploaded on e-class and include selected articles and book chapters, worksheets, an extensive up-to-date bibliography and a list of useful online resources. The course will also have an account in a digital media platform (e.g. Facebook Group) where students are invited to post content related to the topics we discuss in class. Students are evaluated on the basis of their weekly contributions to the digital platform of the course, an optional small scale individual research project (which is also presented orally) and an end-of-term exam. Course evaluation takes place at the end of the term via a questionnaire which is completed anonymously.

Spring semester

2 ND SEMESTER

INTRODUCTION TO LINGUISTICS II

The course aims to familiarize students with a) the study of linguistic meaning, and b) the relationship of language to social and cultural parameters of use. More specifically, the course introduces basic concepts pertaining to the semantic, pragmatic and discoursal analysis of language. Moreover, issues in sociolinguistics, such as social and regional variation and language use in specific contexts, are also explained and exemplified.

The course is offered in the form of lectures and is supported by an extensive bibliography on the topics introduced in the course, study material uploaded on e-class and practised in class, and two textbooks, parts of which are generally expected to facilitate the students’ study. Self-assessment tests during the semester are used to monitor students’ understanding of the topics discussed in class. Students are evaluated in terms of an end-of-term written exam. The course is assessed by the students’ completion of an evaluation form anonymously.

TRANSLATION: PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS

The course provides training in Greek-to-English and English-to-Greek translation by focusing on instances of non-equivalence between English and Greek. Non-equivalence is explored at word level, above word level, at grammatical, textual and pragmatic levels. Text fragments are selected to provide (a) evidence of aspects of the transfer process in translation and (b) practice in transferring messages from Greek to English and vice versa, with a view to broadening knowledge of English while exploiting knowledge of Greek. In addition to the 3-hour weekly session, students are involved in a number of complementary activities.

4 TH SEMESTER

GENRES IN ENGLISH

This course deals with various media genres, particularly newspapers and magazines, in order to familiarize students with the structure and the language of these genres. Weekly lectures deal with the compositional structure of various genres and engage in a detailed presentation of the language of magazines and newspapers, covering areas such as lexical features (naming devices, representations of individuals and groups, construction of identities), sentence grammar (transitivity, theme, modality), text grammar (cohesion, coherence and text structure), and pragmatic meaning conveyed (presuppositions, implicatures). An essential part of the course is its Self-Study component, which provides opportunities for additional language practice on issues covered in the course, preparing students to become independent and autonomous learners. Self-study materials are

available in electronic form and include a file with language activities (with key) as well as a list of carefully selected websites, categorized according to topics covered in the course, with online interactive activities. By engaging in self-study work, students are expected to attain a C2 level of proficiency in the English language, a necessary prerequisite for dealing with assignment and exam tasks successfully.

6 TH SEMESTER

ELT METHODS AND PRACTICES

This core course, like the Applied Linguistics course which is its prerequisite, is an important component of the pre-service teacher training programme that the Faculty runs also. It offers future EFL teachers theoretically-based, practical ideas for the teaching of languages and specifically for the teaching of English as an additional language in Greece. Taking into account research on language learning, needs analysis results and various contextual factors, seminar work offers trainees the opportunity to put theory into practice and develop a critical awareness of ELT methodology. Students are encouraged to do reading and practical work on their own, guided project work, and to undertake peer-teaching sessions. Students enrolled in the course can find useful course material for support and self-access learning through our e-class, accessed with a special password.

THEORIES ON ENGLISH INTONATION

The importance of intonation - the different pitch contours of falls and rises of human voice - has long been understood; ‘I don’t mind what you said, but the way you said it’ we often say in everyday speech.

This course targets at enabling students acquire comprehensive knowledge about the prosodic and suprasegmental units of the Intonation of Standard English. The course includes a systematic description and an in-depth illustration of the various functions of English intonation in spoken language. In this way, students will fully comprehend the interrelationship between intonation and syntax/grammar, pragmatics, attitude and non-verbal communication. Students’ exposure to different intonational theories will broaden their understanding on the crucial role played by intonation in interpreting the meaning of spoken discourse. The course is taught through a series of lectures and practical, in-class tasks on English intonation during which it is hoped that students will engage in critical dialogue. In addition, students may do optional written assignments and engage in class presentations. The teaching materials include selected articles and book chapters based on a series of printed and electronic, multi-media sources. The students are evaluated on the basis of a final, written examination. Extra credit will be given to students who will have completed optional, written assignments and class presentations. At the end of the semester, the course will be evaluated through a questionnaire administered in class and/or electronically.

LANGUAGE CHANGE AND THE HISTORY OF ENGLISH

No description provided.

ENTERPRENEURSHIP AND INNOVATION

Upon completion of their studies, Faculty of English graduates usually obtain jobs in FL teaching, in (foreign) book publishing, translation and editing, and—increasingly—in the informatics and digital education sector. The course aims to guide students in examining those professional options and contemplating how they can best maximize their acquired knowledge and skills in the work place, perhaps by setting up their own business or by participating in innovative projects. Students will be introduced to basic business concepts, to the elements of successful management of human and material resources, to the principles of business viability and growth, and to other such issues concerning the running of an innovative business. Classes will be held in English and Greek, via lectures by invited experts in the above fields.

THEORY OF SYNTAX

The aim of this course is to introduce students to the basic concepts, the technical terminology and the necessary criteria for the analysis, description and production of English syntactical structure and sentences within the framework of Chomsky’s Generative Grammar, placing particular emphasis on X-bar syntax. The presentation of the fundamental theoretical principles of the model is accompanied by practical exercises that aim to familiarize students with the construction of phrase structure rules and the creation of tree-diagrams for the representation of the phrase marker and structural relations of sentences.

SPECIAL TRAINING AND ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHING

No description provided.

TOPICS IN PRAGMATICS

The aim of the course is to examine and discuss how language is used to structure perceived reality into meaningful experience, by focusing on both cognitive and social parameters of linguistic communication. The aspects of pragmatic meaning investigated include deixis (e.g. why “this Sunday” refers to the first Sunday after the speaker’s current utterance); speech acts (e.g. how utterances perform acts such as ordering, asking, inviting, apologizing, thanking, etc., directly or indirectly); presuppositions (i.e. inferences that arise from the use of certain expressions, such as “stop” in “She stopped smoking”, implying that “She used to smoke”); and conversational implicatures (e.g. how it is possible to understand the utterance “Johnny was in your room a while ago” as an answer to the question “Where are my chocolates?” and as implying “Probably Johnny ate your chocolates”). In this framework, tautology, irony, hyperbole, meiosis, and metaphor are also examined from a pragmatics perspective.

The course is offered in the form of lectures and is supported by an extensive bibliography, selected readings and study material practised in class. All study materials are uploaded on e-class. Students are evaluated in terms of an end-of-term exam. The course is assessed by the students’ anonymously filling-in of relevant evaluation forms.

STYLISTICS

No description provided.

8 TH SEMESTER

PRACTICE TEACHING IN TEFL

A component of the Faculty’s Pre-service EFL teacher-training programme, this is one more course that builds on the knowledge and skills that students developed by having successfully completed, in previous semesters, two relevant core courses (Applied Linguistics to Foreign Language Teaching and Learning; ELT Methods and Practices). Its purpose is threefold. Firstly, it aims at providing trainees with the opportunity to take the position of an informed observer in an EFL classroom in a Greek school and to systematically follow and reflect on the processes of teaching and learning therein. Secondly, it aims at familiarizing them with classroom conditions and the discursive practices of participants in the teaching/learning process from the position of a teaching assistant. Thirdly, it aims at providing them with an opportunity to carry out supervised teaching for a short period of time. The trainees are evaluated by the EFL class teacher that they assist, but also by the course instructor who assesses trainees’ experience recorded by them in written form and evaluated in seminars. The final exam on required reading counts towards the overall course grade.

PSYCHOLINGUISTICS

We use language everyday in the form of speaking, reading and listening, but little do we know about the processes that underlie language function or malfunction. This course will introduce and contrast theories of how children acquire, understand, and produce language, and what happens when the language system breaks down. We will discuss a variety of methods used in the field of psycholinguistics to investigate language processing in children and adults and explore the connections between language and other aspects of human cognition and behaviour. Course content is delivered through lectures complemented with demonstrations of a range of experimental techniques. Course assessment is based on the final exam and group oral presentations. Anonymous student feedback is solicited midway through the course.

FUNCTIONAL APPROACHES TO LANGUAGE

The aim of the course is to familiarise students with the basic principles and concepts of the functional rather than formal approach to language as these were established mainly by the traditional Prague School Theory of Functional Sentence Perspective (FSP) (e.g. Mathesius, 1928, Daneš, 1964, 1968, 1970, 1974, Firbas, 1964, 1966, 1981) and M.A.K. Halliday’s (1985/2001) Systemic Functional Grammar. In the light of the basic principle of Functional Grammar, according to which the primary function of language is communication, functional concepts on the grammatical and semantic level are examined. Particular emphasis is given to issues related to the order of sentence constituents. On the basis of data drawn from English and Greek, a comparative and contrastive analysis of the two languages is attempted for pedagogical reasons.

APPROACHES TO DEVELOPING WRITING SKILLS

The course familiarises students with instructional approaches to teaching EFL writing, such as product, process, genre and literacy approaches to writing. It presents the theoretical basis of each instructional approach, it discusses the role of writers, writing materials and teachers, and it analyses writing activities from each of one of the approaches. Τhe aim of this first part is to develop an understanding of the various approaches to the teaching of writing so that future teachers be in the position to select the most appropriate one depending on their students’ needs each time. The second part of the course presents different types of writing activities and tasks as well as ways of assessing performance based on two different theories of language, i.e. formalism and functionalism. The third and final part of the course provides students with opportunities for practice and project work on a variety of topics, such as how to teach writing to younger and older learners, assess classroom writing vs. test writing, assess and score writing in different settings, give feedback on students’ writing performance, produce and assess multimodal texts, use digital tools to enhance writing production.

UNIVERSAL GRAMMAR

The course is an introduction to Chomsky’s theory of Universal Grammar (UG). It aims at giving an integrated account of Chomsky’s ideas about language based chiefly on the current version of his Government/Binding (GB) theory. A brief outline of the subtheories of GB and their relationship is presented focusing on topics such as the x-bar theory of syntax and syntactic movement. Students are presented with the fundamental concept of UG as a property of the human mind consisting of universal principles of language and parameters that vary within limits across languages.

LINGUISTIC MEANING: APPLICATIONS

The course will deal with a variety of non-truth-conditional types of meaning which words and other linguistic expressions can encode. Drawing on varieties of non-truth conditional meaning – such as sentence adverbials, parentheticals, discourse connectives, mood indicators – different approaches to non-truth-conditional meaning are examined

with emphasis on problems with such accounts and arguments for developing alternative ones.

DISCOURSE ANALYSIS

The aim of this course is to familiarise students with issues concerning the study of language as it is used in daily interactions. These include principles governing the production and interpretation of both spoken and written language, and contextual features like participants and setting. The class investigates the internal organisation of sentences in terms of both theme and rheme and given and new information as well as the cohesion and coherence of texts. The last issue explored is that of the organisation of conversation within the framework of conversation analysis. Students are encouraged to collect and analyse their own data.

INTRODUCTION TO LEXICOGRAPHY

Within the context of cross- cultural studies, dictionaries are both a cultural source and a valuable tool for the learning of one’s native tongue or a foreign language. This course aims to familiarize students with the scientific field and, especially, the practical applications of Lexicography. It adopts a linguistic approach to the lexicographical practice, where morphological, syntactic, semantic, pragmatic and sociolinguistic data influence crucially the planning of dictionary parameters and the creation of entries.