English : Linguistics and Practical Exercises I

Teacher(s)

Thewissen Jennifer;

Language

English

Learning outcomes

At the end of this learning unit, the student is able to :

The English linguistics course in year 1 provides a detailed analysis of the key aspects of English grammar. By the end of the course, the students will be able to master: • the metalanguage needed to identify and explain the grammatical and linguistic phenomena under study; • the verb phrase (use of tenses, the passive, reported speech, use of modal verbs, patterns with the gerund, the infinitive and participles); • the noun phrase (e.g. ‘countable vs uncountable' nouns, use of determiners and pronouns); • the adjective phrase and the adverb phrase. The exercise sessions enable students to reinforce the grammatical areas covered in the course proper. The exercises aim to help students: • identify and accurately use the grammatical and syntactic phenomena discussed in the course proper; • apply the grammatical phenomena to competences proper (speaking & writing skills); • create a series of podcasts on pre-defined topics to train oral proficiency (continuous assessment); • write well-structured (cohesion, paragraphs) and accurate formal and informal texts (formal and informal letters and messages, narrative and descriptive text, opinion pieces, summaries) to tain writing proficiency.

Content

In year 1, the course proper zooms in on the following main areas of English grammar:
- Parts-of-speech
- Tense and aspect
- Modal verbs
- The passive
- Subject-verb agreement
- The conditional

- Nouns and pronouns
- Articles and determiners
- Adjectives and adverbs
- Complementation patterns
- Relative clauses
- The subjunctive

The exercise sessions will take place in parallel with the course proper and will concentrate on the same grammatical points so as to encourage their acquisition. The exercise sessions will include tasks such as the following:
• practicing the structures and patterns covered in the main course through translation or fill-in exercises. Some exercises are also designed to enhance the students' use of bilingual and monolingual dictionaries.
• writing well-structured (cohesion, paragraphs) and accurate formal and informal texts (formal and informal letters and messages, narrative and descriptive text, opinion pieces, summaries) in line with register conventions.
• podcast development on a weekly basis to actively practice oral proficiency skills (continuous assessment).

Teaching methods

The course proper and exercise sessions both heavily depend on active student participation and interaction. Students are constantly required to engage in the materials.
The theoretical course will include some teacher-led activities but student-led sessions are prioritized to increase uptake.

Evaluation methods

Written exam in January on the material covered in term 1 and written exam in June on the material covered in term 2. Both the January and June exams count for 50% of the total score for this course.

Weighting of the course proper and exercise session material: 50% and 50%.
Weighing of the production of podcasts (global score): 40% of the total score for the exercise section of the exam both in January and in June.

Other information

Many materials are posted on Moodle but students are expected to actively take notes.

Bibliography

Leech, G. (2004) Meaning and the English Verb. Pearson Education.
Macmillan English Dictionary for Advanced Learners (2007 - second edition) Macmillan Education.
Gairns, R. & Redman, S. (2008) Oxford Word Skills (Advanced). Oxford University Press. (with CD-ROM)
Roach, P. (2009) English Phonetics and Phonology. Cambridge University Press.
Schrampfer Azar, B. (1999) Understanding and Using English Grammar. Longman.
Swan, M. (2016) Practical English Usage. Oxford University Press.
Van Roey, J. (1982) English Grammar. Advanced Level. Didier Hatier.
Vince, M. (2008) Macmillan English Grammar in Context (Advanced). Oxford: Macmillan Education.
Wardhaugh, R. (2003) Understanding English Grammar. A Linguistic Approach. Blackwe

Teaching materials

• Swan, M. & Walter, C. (2019). Oxford English Grammar Course Advanced

Faculty or entity

PHLB