This biannual learning unit is being organized in 2025-2026
Teacher(s)
Language
English
> French-friendly
> French-friendly
Prerequisites
- A bachelor's degree in modern or Romance languages, literature and linguistics
- Solid knowledge of academic English, solid introduction to corpus linguistics
Main themes
The focus of this research seminar is on the linguistic and psycho-experimental study of discourse markers.
The “paradox” mentioned in the title of the seminar refers to Discourse Markers as an inescapable linguistic category, occurring with high frequency in any type of human communication, yet escaping consensual linguistic description. descriptive consensus.
An overview of corpus-based and psycho-experimental studies of discourse markers in a variety of languages will be studied throughout the seminar.
The “paradox” mentioned in the title of the seminar refers to Discourse Markers as an inescapable linguistic category, occurring with high frequency in any type of human communication, yet escaping consensual linguistic description. descriptive consensus.
An overview of corpus-based and psycho-experimental studies of discourse markers in a variety of languages will be studied throughout the seminar.
Learning outcomes
At the end of this learning unit, the student is able to : | |
| 1 | Conduct a scientific study in the field of discourse markers, either corpus-based or psycho-experimental |
| 2 | Present the research questions, methods and results of this research project orally |
| 3 | Present the research questions, methods and results of this scientific project in an academic paper |
| This learning unit contributes to the development and command of the following skills and learning outcomes of the ELAL programmes (ELAL learning outcomes): 1.1 ; 1.4 ; 1.6 ; 2.1 ; 2.3 ; 2.4 ; 2.6 ; 3.1 ; 3.2 ; 3.3 ; 3.5 ; 3.6 ; 4.3 ; 4.5 ; 5.1 ; 5.2 ; 5.3 ; 5.6 ; 6.1 ; 6.2 ; 6.3 ; 6.4 ; 6.5 ; 6.6 |
|
Content
The aim of the course is to support students in a collective research project focusing on the category of discourse markers. The theme will be the influence of cognitive load on the production of discourse markers.
Starting from a collective state of the art, students will be invited to design a research plan, focusing on the relationship between a research question and the relevant methods for answering it. In doing so, the concepts of research question, hypothesis and methodology will be defined and put into practice so that students can work on the entire research process, from the research question and hypotheses to data collection and analysis using appropriate methods and discussion of the results.
Starting from a collective state of the art, students will be invited to design a research plan, focusing on the relationship between a research question and the relevant methods for answering it. In doing so, the concepts of research question, hypothesis and methodology will be defined and put into practice so that students can work on the entire research process, from the research question and hypotheses to data collection and analysis using appropriate methods and discussion of the results.
Teaching methods
Research seminar
Students attend classes prepared, i.e. they have read the selected readings (submission of reading notes) and prepared questions to discuss. They present the (preliminary) results of a research project. If possible, a psycho-linguistic experimental design is set up with the whole group. Special attention will go to the students' ability to extract methodological questions from the papers under review.
Students attend classes prepared, i.e. they have read the selected readings (submission of reading notes) and prepared questions to discuss. They present the (preliminary) results of a research project. If possible, a psycho-linguistic experimental design is set up with the whole group. Special attention will go to the students' ability to extract methodological questions from the papers under review.
Evaluation methods
Assessment is based on an individual or co-authored written academic paper (75% of the mark) demonstrating the student's ability to solve problems similar to those presented in class. This project may take the form of a replication study, including the collection and analysis of new data. Active participation in class (oral presentation of the research project, quality of data collection, timely submission of reading notes, etc.) accounts for 25% of the final mark (it is not possible to retake this part of the assessment in August).
Generative artificial intelligence (AI) must be used responsibly and in accordance with the practices of academic and scientific integrity. Scientific integrity requires that sources be cited, and the use of AI must always be reported. The use of artificial intelligence for tasks where it is explicitly forbidden will be considered as cheating.
Generative artificial intelligence (AI) must be used responsibly and in accordance with the practices of academic and scientific integrity. Scientific integrity requires that sources be cited, and the use of AI must always be reported. The use of artificial intelligence for tasks where it is explicitly forbidden will be considered as cheating.
Online resources
Course documents and reading portfolio available on the Moodle platform
Bibliography
cf. Moodle
Faculty or entity
Programmes / formations proposant cette unité d'enseignement (UE)
Title of the programme
Sigle
Credits
Prerequisites
Learning outcomes
Master [120] in Linguistics
