Upon completion of this course unit, the student will be able to:
understand, define, and apply the concepts of functional and cognitive linguistics covered in class,
read and interpret academic texts (articles, chapters, book excerpts) in functional and cognitive linguistics with a certain ease,
design and carry out a linguistic analysis of textual data extracted from a corpus.
The overall aims of this course are as follows:
to introduce students to a range of linguistic topics approached from a so-called "functional" and/or "cognitive" linguistic angle, both theoretically and across more applied studies
to introduce students to the basic methods used in corpus linguistics,
to stimulate and activate a number of skills, notably reading skills to a scientific level, conceiving and presenting a piece of linguistic argumentation, and orally presenting research results,
more generally in terms of language skills, to help students to attain (or exceed) proficiency levels C1 for receptive skills, and B2 for productive skills, as defined in the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages.
This course introduces students to a number of basic concepts in functional and cognitive approaches to language and corpus linguistics on the basis of articles and book chapters. The main topics include the notion of a 'construction' as a form-meaning pairing, the distinction between 'representational' and 'interpersonal' constructions, aspects of cognitive semantics, and corpus linguistics. The theoretical notions taught will each time be applied to descriptive problems in English grammar. In this way, it is hoped students will acquire the ability to construct a linguistic argumentation on the basis of corpus data.
Key concepts studies int he course include:
introduction to functional and cognitive linguistics (situated vis-à-vis formal linguistics),
so-called 'representational' and 'interpersonal' structures in language,
the notion of a 'construction',
the dimensions of idiomaticity in language,
corpus linguistics.
The exercise module entitled "Doing and reporting on corpus studies" aims to help students think out and carry out their own small case study using the methods of corpus linguistics.
English from sounds to sentences [LANGB101]
Reading seminar requiring the students' active participation. The exercise module accompanying the course concerns the corpus linguistics part specifically.
Taking part in any activities organised by the department (whether intra muros or extra muros) as part of this course is considered to be part and parcel of the learning experience and is obligatory.
There are two parts to the exam:
an oral exam testing students' knowledge of the concepts from functional and cognitive linguistics studied in the course (weighting: 14/20),
an oral presentation (in small groups) reporting on the results of the case study carried out within the exercise module on corpus linguistics (weighting: 6/20).
Use of AI tools to produce texts or content in either the formative or summative assessment phases will not be tolerated, unless explicitly stated.
Vandelanotte, Lieven. Introduction to cognitive-functional and corpus linguistics: An annotated reader. Part 1: Summaries and background information. University of Namur.
Vandelanotte, Lieven. Introduction to cognitive-functional and corpus linguistics: An annotated reader. Part 2: Reader. University of Namur.
| Training | Block | Credits | Mandatory |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bachelor in Modern Languages and Literatures: German, Dutch and English | 2 | 5 | Yes |