Delivered at:: School of Foreign Languages

Course type:: Compulsory course

When:: 2 year, 1-4 module

Instructors

Иванова Юлия Владимировна

Lutkova, Elena

Makarova, Natalia E.

Putilina, Natalya

Full Syllabus

Abstract

The course has a twofold practical goal of developing skills in analyzing and understanding academic and literary texts based on their semantic and textual features, structural components and context, and compressing them according to accepted formats (such as plot summary and abstract); and of constructing effective written and oral argument in accordance with standard academic requirements.

Learning Objectives

This course aims to introduce students to basic concepts of text linguistics and literary analysis as well and to explore how these theoretical premises can be practically applied to identifying, analyzing and generating texts belonging to different functional styles and literary genres, as well as their implications for learning and teaching a foreign language.

Expected Learning Outcomes

understand basic concepts in text linguistics and text analysis, including standards of textuality, functional styles and genres and the role of context and their implications for understanding, analyzing and generating oral and written texts, as well as for intercultural communication and foreign language learning and teaching
be familiar with the requirements of the academic writing style and to academic presentations, including the types, structure and elements of academic text
understand the purpose, principles and formats of text compression and acquire practical skills in creating academic abstracts and summaries for literature reviews, as well as literary plot summaries
be able to read texts closely, think critically, and respond to texts in their writing/oral assignments
acquire practical skills in making academic presentations
learn to use different methods of text interpretation and literary analysis: textual (considering literary elements used in the text to create meaning) and contextual (considering elements that are outside the text, but which also influence the writing and perception of texts, such as historical, cultural and biographical)
be able to identify, understand and analyze texts of different functional styles and genres
be able to construct effective (written and oral) argument with thesis, supporting ideas and evidence
acquire practical skills in writing elements of academic texts

Course Contents

Topic 1. Course overview.
Basic concepts: Text and discourse.
Topic 2. Text as a language unit.
Text as a unit of communication. Standards of textuality. Implications for analysis. Implications for language teaching and language learning. Standards of textuality and plagiarism.
Topic 3. Register, genre and functional style.
Audience, purpose and content. Standards of textuality and their manifestation across texts of different types and genres.
Topic 4. Text and meaning.
Role of the audience. Open and closed texts. Literary text and the role of the reader. Fake news and underlying linguistic mechanisms.
Topic 5. Academic text and academic discourse.
Textual standards in academic texts. Text organization and text structure. The structure of the academic text: intercultural analysis of student dissertations. Text compression in academic context: Abstract and literature review.
Topic 6. International standards of academic and professional communication.
Presentation, context and audience. Comparative analysis of presentations (academic, business, TED). Writing an academic paper.
Topic 7. Skills for making presentations in international academic environment.
Presentation and defense of an academic project proposal.
Topic 8. Literary text and literary analysis.
Literary genres. Literary text and the reader. Text and context in literature. Literary elements and their interaction. Analysis of a short story.
Topic 9. Plot and plot elements.
Plot structure (dramatic structure or Freytag’s pyramid). “Basic plots” in literature and in life. Analysis of a short story.
Topic 10. Setting, its types and elements.
Setting in literature and beyond. Analysis of a short story. Writing a response to a literary text.
Topic 11. Character.
Types of character. Comparative analysis of short stories.
Topic 12. Narrative in literature and beyond.
Narrator. Point of view. Tone. Comparative analysis of short stories.
Topic 13. Symbolism.
Literary symbol. Figures of speech. Comparative analysis of poems. Symbols beyond literature (art, politics, marketing, etc.).
Topic 14. Literary elements and their interaction.
Overview. Fiction and non-fiction. Is non-fiction a literary genre? Analysis of non-fiction prose samples.
Topic 15. Interaction of literary elements.
Contrastive analysis of literary elements across literary genres. Literary analysis of a novella

Assessment Elements

Test
Match or supply terms and definitions; identify text type and genre of given samples; explain how textual standards are realized in a given sample
Presentations
Three-minute oral presentation of an academic proposal. Oral presentation on a topic of study (individual or cultural context of a literary text such as author’s biography and literary career, literary and cultural trends, etc.)
Draft of academic text
A written draft of a part of project proposal, including abstract
Written analysis of literary element
Written response to a set of questions about the was a literary element is manifested in a short story
Written response to questions about literary text
Written analysis of the manifestation and interaction of two literary elements and the manner in which they affect theme and meaning (based on a set of questions)
Final test
Match terms and definitions, identify textual standards, elements of text structure, literary elements, genre, etc. in given text samples, compress a text (part of text), analyze a literary element in a short text (part of text)
Quizzes
The questions are closed-ended (multiple choice, matching, true/false, write term (example) to match definition, etc.)

Interim Assessment

Interim assessment (4 module)
0.15 * Draft of academic text + 0.25 * Final test + 0.1 * Presentations + 0.1 * Quizzes + 0.1 * Test + 0.1 * Written analysis of literary element + 0.2 * Written response to questions about literary text

Bibliography

Recommended Core Bibliography

Developing Short Story Writing Technique Book Based on Reader Response to Literature. (2019). Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsbas&AN=edsbas.BADCFAEB

Recommended Additional Bibliography

Benoit, K., Conway, D., Lauderdale, B. E., Laver, M., & Mikhaylov, S. (2016). Crowd-sourced Text Analysis: Reproducible and Agile Production of Political Data. American Political Science Review, (02), 278. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsrep&AN=edsrep.a.cup.apsrev.v110y2016i02p278.295.00

Bachelor’s Programme 'Foreign Languages and Intercultural Communication'

Literary Analysis and Interpretation