NAE 111 : An Introduction to Linguistics

Description

This course introduces students to the study of language and linguistics. After an introduction to the nature of language and the various fields of linguistics, the module aims to give students a foundation in core areas of the study of the English language, including morphology, syntax, and semantics.

Objectives

On completion of the course, students will:

• understand the nature of language
• be familiar with the fields of linguistics
• be able to break down English words into their constituent morphemes
• be able to classify the lexical categories of words in simple English sentences
• understand the morphology and semantics of English verbs
• be familiar with the semantic relationships between English words
• understand how new words are introduced into English, and how meanings change
• have studied how sentences occur in actual usage

Topics

1. fields of linguistics
2. the nature and properties of human language
3. morphology
4. lexical categories
5. the verb in English
6. semantics
7. language change
8. pragmatics

For a weekly outline, see NAE 111 : Weekly Outline.

Reading

Required reading

Crystal D (1996) Rediscover Grammar, Longman. For worksheets, see Rediscover Grammar.

Yule G (1996) The Study of Language (2^nd Edition), Cambridge University Press.

Supplementary Reading

Crystal D (1988) The English Language, Penguin.

Fromkin V & Rodman R (1993) An Introduction to Language (5^th Edition), Harcourt Brace Jovanovich.

Assessment

There is one test (30%), in which students demonstrate a competence in lexical categorization and basic syntactic analysis of English verbs, and an examination (70%).

Coordinator: Dr David Deterding, Blk A room 210, tel 460 5241, email: dhdeter@nie.edu.sg