| Module title: |
Linguistics
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| SCQF level: |
10: |
| SCQF credit value: |
20.00 |
| ECTS credit value: |
10
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| Module code: |
JAC10110 |
| Module leader: |
MR PHILIP LODGE |
| School |
Arts & Creative Industries |
| Subject area group: |
Art, Design & Communication |
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Prerequisites
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There are no pre-requisites for this module to be added
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 2013/4, Trimester 2, Face-to-Face, Napier University
| Occurrence: | 001 | | Primary mode of delivery: | Face-to-Face | | Location of delivery: | NAPIER | | Member of staff responsible for delivering module: | MR PHILIP LODGE | | Module Organiser: | | | Learning, Teaching and Assessment (LTA) Approach: |
Learning and teaching methods including their alignment to LO'sThe LTA approach is based on encouraging you to develop your own ideas through debate and in writing (LO's1,2,3,4,5), as these are the key forms of theoretical engagement, and each demands particular kinds of academic and scholarly understandings. The main teaching platform is the seminar, where you are encouraged to share your ideas and develop them in response to other contributions (LO's 2,3,4), so a high level of preparation and interactive engagement is crucial. Parts of some seminars will be devoted to breakout activities such as short lecture inputs with the aim of introducing new concepts into the developing seminar themes. (LO's 2,5). Regular summative exercises involving linguistic problem-solving will also be part of the seminar experience, bringing together theoretical and practical understanding and research skills in tackling issues in language (LO's 2,3).Embedding of employability/PDP/scholarship skillsThe ability to read and process amounts of complex material; to develop an independent view based on evidence and sound reasoning, and to present that view in open debate and defend it in reasoned argument, are high-level graduate qualities valued by employers. Throughout your work in the module, scholarship will be emphasised: critical skills, research skills and academic literacy are central to your development as a student, and these skills are highly transferable. An understanding of linguistic concepts is also central to a functioning understanding of communication, as language is clearly the primary mode of communication, and study in this module will enhance your ability across of a broad range of communication activity, for example in advertising and public relations work. Assessment (formative and summative)During the module you will undertake two pieces of assessment, a tutorial paper and an essay. The tutorial paper will be chosen from a range of options outlined in the module guide, and you are expected to lead the group in discussing the issues in your chosen paper. In doing so, you will also present your own arguments on the concepts in the paper and encourage critical debate leading to a constructive and perhaps original view of the central themes. Your tutorial paper can take place at various times within the module programme depending on your individual choice of paper. You will also write and submit an essay, and the essay title will be chosen by negotiation with the module lecturer. This allow you the freedom to chose a topic from within the module which interests you and to develop your interest at some length through researching and writing about it. Scholarly technique is important in both pieces of assessment: extensive research, critical analysis of material, and clear and structured responses to the issues are central to your work. To help you gauge your progress and to provide a further opportunity to discuss your own views, individual feedback will be given on each piece of assessment.Research/teaching linkagesStaff interests will form the basis of teaching in this module. The embedding of research into the module will encourage you to develop your critical thinking and problem solving skills and enable you to communicate effectively in both oral and written forms. A significant amount of contemporary thinking about communication is heavily influenced by ideas derived from linguistics and an understanding of this linkage will enhance your research skills in other modules.Supporting equality and diversityThis module aims to provide information and support related to intercultural initiatives, reflecting the impetus to widen access. Intercultural themes are pursued in the range of material studied, reflecting the nature of the subject where examples are drawn from a diverse range of linguistic contexts.InternationalisationCommunication literally has no boundaries and is, in its academic study, genuinely international. Varying theoretical schools and approaches which reflect national approaches to the discipline are evident and are deliberately explored. The global nature of communication and the communication disciplines results in the recruitment of a wide range of international students, and their learning requirements are acknowledged in the design and delivery of this module. Students whose first language is not English find that this module helps in developing not only a stronger understanding of English as a mode of communication but also gain a valuable insight into cognitive functions in their own language.
| | Student Activity (Notional Equivalent Study Hours (NESH)) | | Mode of activity | Learning & Teaching Activity | NESH (Study Hours) | | FACE TO FACE | Practical / Labs | 48 | | Independent Learning | Individual Learning Activities | 152 | | Total Study Hours | 200 | | Expected Total Study Hours for Module | 200 |
| Assessment | | Type of Assessment | Weighting % | LOs covered | Week due | Length in Hours/Words | | OTHER Tutorial paper | 40 | 1-5 | 1-15 | HOURS= 1 WORDS= | | Essay | 60 | 1-5 | 15 | HOURS= WORDS= 3000 | | Component 1 subtotal: | 40 | | | Component 2 subtotal: | 60 | | | | | Module subtotal: | 100 | | | |
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What you will learn and what this module is about:
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Language is the primary mode of human communication and is central to everything that we do. We make social judgements based on assumptions about accents and dialects, we assess a person's communication competence based on their use of language, we speak about events that have not yet happened or which happened thousands of years ago. In doing so, we deploy a complex system of communication that defines who we are and what we can say and think. In studying language you will learn a great deal about yourself, about how you communicate and about some of the most influential ideas of the past century.
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Description of module content:
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The module purposely explores the borderlines of communication and language in order to give an insight into the mutual dependence of these powerful systems. Issues studied include the idea of language as a communication system, which, in addition to examining the characteristics of language which make it such an effective communication system, such as arbitrariness, will also include discussion of the semiotic ideas which bridge together linguistic and communication concepts. Language exists primarily as sound, and we will look at this characteristic through the International Phonetic Alphabet and the recording of sounds and through our social assumptions based on the sounds we make in using accents and dialects. Language is an impressively rule-governed system, most notably by grammatical and semantic rules, and we will look at how these rules operate through phrase structures, sentence meanings and forms, and compare them with Shimanoff's ideas about communication rules. As a system language is in a process of continuous renewal, and language change, productivity and methods of word formation will allow us to examine that process. Thematically, the various approaches will be linked by the idea that language shapes us and our understandings, and is fundamentally the way in which we create meaning.
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Learning Outcomes for module:
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Upon completion of this module, you will be able to:LO1: Critically reflect on language as a communication system.LO2: Construct a meaningful understanding of the key issues in contemporary linguistic study.LO3: Analyse elements of language.LO4: Discriminate between uses and abuses of language.LO5: Develop confidence in dealing with complex material in written and oral forms.
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Indicative References and Reading List - URL:
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T1: Hudson, G. (2000) Essential Introductory Linguistics, BlackwellT2: Pinker, S. (2000) The Language Instinct, PenguinT3: Pinker, S. (2003) Words and Rules, PenguinT4: Yule, G (1999) The Study of Language, CambridgeT5: Hudson, R. (1990) Sociolinguistics, Cambridge
Click here to view this module's reading list. |
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