Research Seminar "Issues in Contemporary Linguistics"

Master 2019/2020

Type: Compulsory course (Foreign Languages and Cross-cultural Communication)

Area of studies: Linguistics

Delivered by: School of Foreign Languages

Where: School of Foreign Languages

When: 2 year, 1-3 module

Mode of studies: offline

Instructors: Galina Gumovskaya, Alexandra Nagornaya, Ekaterina Yakovenko

Master’s programme: Иностранные языки и межкультурная коммуникация

Language: English

ECTS credits: 8

Contact hours: 72

Full Syllabus

Abstract

The discipline rests on three aspects. 1) Communicative and Paradigmatic Syntax. The core of Syntax is the study of the sentence. Syntax embraces, on the onehand, the structure of the sentence: that is its components, their structure and relations between these components, and, on the other hand, structural and communicative types of sentences. Anything that is said in the act of communication is called an utterance. Most utterances are sentences, although there are some, which are not sentences and are called non-sentence utterances. 2) Faces and Facets of Linguistic Creativity. The course addresses the phenomenon of linguistic creativity, which is seen as a complex type of mental and speech activity resulting in an unusual interpretation of an object or a phenomenon and its unconventional representation in speech. Linguistic creativity inevitably involves the “breaking, restructuring and transformation of stable patterns” (S.K. Maynard) and saves the language from “IKEAfication” (T. Veale), preventing it from becoming a set of ready-made parts which are put together mechanically, according to the preset scheme and make up practical but primitive structures. This activity, however, is not fully arbitrary and it follows certain rules which are shaped by cultural and language traditions and are largely determined by the social function of communication. Within the course, linguistic creativity is interpreted as a systemic phenomenon which is observed at all the levels of the language system: from phonetics to syntax. Special emphasis is laid on metaphorical creativity understood as an ability to construct new metaphors at the conceptual (mental) and verbal levels. The course rests upon the most recent theories, hypotheses and approaches advanced in Western Linguistics. The language material comes from fiction, as well as mass media and academic texts. 3) History and Current State of Germanic Languages. The course focuses on an in-depth study of the characteristics of the Germanic group of languages as a part of the Indo-European language family, the main stages of development and the distinctive features of each of the Germanic languages. This course contributes to the expansion, deepening and systematization of knowledge of Germanic languages and cultures in diachronic and synchronous aspects.

Learning Objectives

to form a systemic view of linguistic creativity as a type of activity which can be performed at different levels of the language system
to master terminology relevant to linguistic creativity as a line of research within General Linguistics
to lay theoretical foundations for conducting research in the sphere of linguistic creativity
to teach the basic principles and procedures of interdisciplinary research
to develop the skills of working with contemporary theoretical sources in English (analysis, translation, rendering, writing a literature review)
to develop skills of selecting and analyzing language material
to develop and refine professional discursive skills within the conceptual framework of the course
to develop research presentation skills
to develop and refine linguistic creativity skills
to study the characteristics of the Germanic group of languages as part of the Indo-European language family, main stages of development and the distinctive features of each of the Germanic languages
to expand, deepen and systematize knowledge of Germanic languages and cultures in diachronic and synchronous aspects

Expected Learning Outcomes

to identify the major perspectives in the field of Theoretical Grammar
to acquire the mechanisms of grammatical formation of utterances out of the words in the process of speech making
to gain insights into the inner structure of the sentence and expose the mechanism of its functioning
to critically assess the views held by various authors (institutional and individual)
to know the general and specific properties of Germanic languages, their history and current status
to be able to use various methods of analyzing the linguistic material of ancient and modern Germanic languages
to know history, the most important monuments, phonetic, lexical and grammatical features of ancient Germanic languages
to detect creative language forms in written and oral speech
to use language potentialities to construct creative forms at the lexical, morphological and syntactical levels
to conduct qualitative linguistic research and present it
to create novel metaphors at the conceptual and verbal levels

Course Contents

Syntax as part of Grammar. Paradigmatic Syntax.
Valency of the Word. Kernel Sentence.
Syntactic Derivation of Sentences.
Syntactic Paradigm.
Sentence as the Principle unit of Syntax.
Structural Types of the Sentence. Monopredication. Polypredication. Non-sentence Utterances.
Communicative Type Classification of Sentences.
Semantic Type Classification of Sentences.
Actual Division of the Sentence. Linguistic Categories of the Theme and Rheme.
Types of Relation between the Components in the Simple Sentence.
Syntagmatic Connections of Words
The Phrase. Types of Syntagmatic Connection.
The Composite Sentence, Its Structure and Derivation.
The Compound Sentence.
The Complex Sentence.
The Semi-Composite Sentence.
The Structure of the Text.
The Categorical Aspects of the Text.
Basic mechanisms of linguistic creativity.
Creative similes.
Mechanisms of metaphorical creativity.
Creative use of allusive names.
Morphological creativity.
Syntactic creativity.
Ancient Germanic languages.
Introduction. Classification of ancient and modern Germanic languages. Information from the history of ancient Germanic peoples. Written monuments of ancient Germanic languages. Phonetic system of ancient Germanic languages. Ancient Germanic vowels and consonants. The grammatical structure of the ancient Germanic languages (general review). Vocabulary of ancient Germanic languages.
Modern languages.
History and current state of the German language. Dialects and national variants of the German language. Dutch, Afrikaans, Frisian, Yiddish languages. Scandinavian languages.

Assessment Elements

Class participation (Communicative and Paradigmatic Syntax)
Written assignments (Communicative and Paradigmatic Syntax)
Exam (Communicative and Paradigmatic Syntax)
Итоговый экзамен представляет собой итоговую контрольную работу, выполняемую дома. Собеседование по результатам контрольной работы проводится на платформе https://us04web.zoom.us/ . К экзамену-собеседованию необходимо подключиться согласно расписанию ответов, высланному преподавателем на корпоративные почты студентов накануне экзамена. Компьютер студента должен удовлетворять требованиям: наличие рабочей камеры и микрофона, поддержка Zoom. Для участия в экзамене-собеседовании студент обязан: поставить на аватар свою фотографию, явиться на экзамен согласно точному расписанию, при ответе включить камеру и микрофон. Во время экзамена студентам запрещено: выключать камеру, пользоваться конспектами и подсказками. Кратковременным нарушением связи во время экзамена считается нарушение связи менее минуты. Долговременным нарушением связи во время экзамена считается нарушение минута и более. При долговременном нарушении связи студент не может продолжить участие в экзамене. Процедура пересдачи подразумевает использование усложненных заданий.
Class Participation (Faces and Facets of Linguistic Creativity)
Report (Faces and Facets of Linguistic Creativity)
Class participation (History and Current State of Germanic Languages)
Written assignments (History and Current State of Germanic Languages)
Report (History and Current State of Germanic Languages)

Interim Assessment

Interim assessment (3 module)
0.1 * Class participation (Communicative and Paradigmatic Syntax) + 0.15 * Class Participation (Faces and Facets of Linguistic Creativity) + 0.1 * Class participation (History and Current State of Germanic Languages) + 0.2 * Exam (Communicative and Paradigmatic Syntax) + 0.15 * Report (Faces and Facets of Linguistic Creativity) + 0.1 * Report (History and Current State of Germanic Languages) + 0.1 * Written assignments (Communicative and Paradigmatic Syntax) + 0.1 * Written assignments (History and Current State of Germanic Languages)

Bibliography

Recommended Core Bibliography

Boden, M. A. (2010). Creativity and Art : Three Roads to Surprise. Oxford: OUP Oxford. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsebk&AN=488671
Cultural expression, creativity and innovation / ed. by Helmut Anheier . (2010). Los Angeles, Calif. [u.a.]: SAGE Publications. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edswao&AN=edswao.310484367
Fournier, M., & Sales, A. (2007). Knowledge, Communication and Creativity. London: SAGE Publications Ltd. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsebk&AN=258458
Harbert, W. (2007). The Germanic Languages. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsebk&AN=185822
Hemlin, S., Allwood, C. M., & Martin, B. R. (2004). Creative Knowledge Environments : The Influences on Creativity in Research and Innovation. Cheltenham, UK: Edward Elgar Publishing. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsebk&AN=114767
Kaufman, J. C., & Sternberg, R. J. (2010). The Cambridge Handbook of Creativity. Cambridge: Cambridge eText. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsebk&AN=337689
R.D. Fulk. (2018). A Comparative Grammar of the Early Germanic Languages. Web server without geographic relation, Web server without geographic relation (org): John Benjamins Publishing Company. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsbas&AN=edsbas.9A252214
Ritchie, L. D. (2012). Metaphor. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsebk&AN=508943
Sawyer, R. K. (2012). Explaining Creativity : The Science of Human Innovation (Vol. 2nd ed). New York: Oxford University Press. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsebk&AN=433909
Veale, T. (2012). Exploding The Creativity Myth : The Computational Foundations of Linguistic Creativity. London: Bloomsbury Academic. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsebk&AN=494648
Zeschel, A. (2012). Incipient Productivity : A Construction-Based Approach to Linguistic Creativity. Berlin: De Gruyter Mouton. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsebk&AN=448108
Введение в общий синтаксис : учебник, Тестелец, Я. Г., 2001

Recommended Additional Bibliography

Bahnick, K. R. (2017). The Determination of Stages in the Historical Development of the Germanic Languages by Morphological Criteria : An Evaluation. Berlin/Boston: De Gruyter Mouton. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsebk&AN=1882816
Corradi Fiumara, G. (2013). Psychoanalysis and Creativity in Everyday Life : Ordinary Genius. New York: Routledge. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsebk&AN=668283
Eoyang, E. C. (2012). The Promise and Premise of Creativity : Why Comparative Literature Matters. New York: Continuum. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsebk&AN=479433
Eubanks, P. (2011). Metaphor and Writing : Figurative Thought in the Discourse of Written Communication. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsebk&AN=337640
Fludernik, M. (2011). Beyond Cognitive Metaphor Theory : Perspectives on Literary Metaphor. New York: Routledge. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsebk&AN=375258
Kaufman, J. C., & Sternberg, R. J. (2006). The International Handbook of Creativity. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsebk&AN=149837
Musolff, A. (2016). Political Metaphor Analysis : Discourse and Scenarios. London: Bloomsbury Academic. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsebk&AN=1286426
Reckwitz, A., & Black, S. (2017). The Invention of Creativity : Modern Society and the Culture of the New (Vol. English edition). Cambridge, UK: Polity. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsebk&AN=1535823
Rickards, T., Runco, M. A., & Moger, S. (2009). The Routledge Companion to Creativity. New York: Routledge. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsebk&AN=248369
Santagata, W. (2010). The Culture Factory : Creativity and the Production of Culture. Berlin: Springer. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsebk&AN=338435
Schmid, H.-J., & Handl, S. (2011). Windows to the Mind : Metaphor, Metonymy and Conceptual Blending. Berlin: De Gruyter Mouton. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsebk&AN=388182
Wolfgang Kehrein, & Richard Wiese. (2014). Phonology and Morphology of the Germanic Languages (Vol. Reprint 2013). Tübingen: De Gruyter. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsebk&AN=756499
Текст как объект лингвистического исследования, Гальперин, И. Р., 2016

Course Syllabus