University of Sydney Handbooks - 2016 Archive

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Linguistics

Linguistics

CLST2601 Defining the Celts

Credit points: 6 Session: Semester 1 Classes: 2x1hr lectures/week, 1x1hr tutorial/week Prerequisites: 18 Junior credit points from any of Ancient History, Anthropology, Archaeology, Art History, English, French, Ancient Greek, German, Hebrew, History, Italian, Latin, Linguistics, Modern Greek, Sanskrit, Spanish, Studies in Religion or World Religions Assessment: 1x2500wd Essay (50%), 1x2hr exam (50%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
The 'Celts' are any of those peoples of Europe who speak or spoke a Celtic language. By the Iron Age the Celtic peoples were spread across Europe and across the course of millennia have given rise to a number of European nations and cultures-including the Irish, the Welsh and the Bretons. This unit explores definitions of the Celts, examining their history and development, and provides an overview of their languages.
CLST2608 Modern Welsh Language and Culture 1

Credit points: 6 Session: Semester 1 Classes: 2x1hr lectures/week, 1x1hr tutorial/week Prerequisites: 18 Junior credit points from any of Ancient History, Anthropology, Archaeology, Art History, English, French, Ancient Greek, German, Hebrew, History, Italian, Latin, Linguistics, Modern Greek, Sanskrit, Spanish, Studies in Religion or World Religions Assessment: 2x1500wd Essays (46%), 1x2000wd written exam (46%), 1x500wd oral exam (8%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
The Welsh language has one of the oldest literary traditions in Europe. This unit will introduce students to this culture by providing them with the basic structure and vocabulary of the language, with an emphasis on the acquisition of oral and written skills of communication through functionally oriented language activities. The language will be studied in the context of Welsh history, literature and society.
CLST2610 Modern Irish Language and Culture 1

This unit of study is not available in 2016

Credit points: 6 Session: Semester 1 Classes: 2x1hr lectures/week, 1x1hr tutorial/week Prerequisites: 18 Junior credit points from any of Ancient History, Anthropology, Archaeology, Art History, English, French, Ancient Greek, German, Hebrew, History, Italian, Latin, Linguistics, Modern Greek, Sanskrit, Spanish, Studies in Religion or World Religions Assessment: 2x1000wd Essays (46%), 1x1000wd exam (46%), 1x500wd oral exam (8%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
Note: This unit is available as a designated 'Advanced' unit to students enrolled in the BA (advanced) degree program
The Irish language has one of the oldest literary traditions in Europe. The language is widely used today and is the vehicle for a rich culture. In this course the Irish language will be studied in depth in the context of Irish history and culture.
ENGL2653 Western Theories of Language

Credit points: 6 Teacher/Coordinator: Dr Nick Riemer Session: Semester 2 Classes: 2x1-hr lectures/week, 1x1-hr tutorial/week Prerequisites: ((12 junior credit points from English) or (6 junior credit points from English and AMST1001)) or (12 junior credit points from Linguistics) Prohibitions: ENGL2053 Assessment: 1x500wd tutorial notes (10%), 1x2000wd essay (50%), 1x2hr exam (40%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
An introduction to the history of Western ideas about the structure, origin and use of language, with a particular focus on theories of English grammar and on the main theoretical developments of the 20th century. Students will consider the evolution of grammatical and rhetorical thought with reference both to the inherent constraints on linguistic theorizing, and to the varying ideological currents that have shaped Western ideas on language structure and use from antiquity to the present.
ENGL3633 Introduction to Old English

Credit points: 6 Session: Semester 2 Classes: 1x1hr lecture/week, 2x1hr tutorials/week Prerequisites: (18 Senior credit points from English or Australian Literature) or (18 Senior credit points from Linguistics) or (18 Senior credit points from Celtic Studies) Prohibitions: ENGL3621 or ENGL3622 or ENGL3631 or ENGL3632 Assessment: 1x1000wd translation exercise (20%), 1x1500wd Essay (40%), 1x1.5hr exam (40%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
Note: Students who have completed ENGL3621, ENGL3622, ENGL3631, ENGL3632 must consult the unit co-ordinator.
Old English was the language of England from the fifth century until the twelfth. This earliest phase of the English literary tradition evolved against a background of cultural encounters: as the Anglo-Saxons encountered the culture of Rome, as they adopted and adapted the Christian religion, and as they reflected on their origins on the European continent. This unit introduces students to the language spoken and written by the Anglo-Saxons, and presents the opportunity to translate and read Old English texts.
ITLN3668 Issues of Language and Society in Italy

This unit of study is not available in 2016

Credit points: 6 Session: Semester 1 Classes: 1x2hr seminar/week Prerequisites: ITLN1612 or ITLN1632 or ITLN1202 or ITLN1302 or ITLN2611 or ITLN2631 Assessment: 1xTutorial presentation (equivalent to 1500wds) (20%), 1xtutorial test (equivalent to 1500wds) (30%), 1xfinal Essay (equivalent to 3000wds) (40%), Tutorial participation (10%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
This unit will introduce students to current debates on language and language usage in contemporary Italy, and in particular on the changing nature of the country's multilingualism under the influence of various factors. The language impact of immigration, the decline of historical minorities, the position of dialects and Italy's role in the European Union are some of the topics that will be explored.
ITLN3685 Linguistic Issues in Migration

Credit points: 6 Session: Semester 2 Classes: 2x1hr seminars/week Prerequisites: ITLN2611 or ITLN2612 or ITLN2631 or ITLN2632 or ITLN3611 or ITLN3612 or ITLN3631 Prohibitions: ITLN3754 Assessment: Seminar participation (10%), 1xOral Presentation (equivalent to 1500wds) (20%), 1x1500wd class test (20%), 3xTake-home assignments (equivalent to 1000wds in total) (20%), 1x2000wd final Essay (30%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
This unit of study examines the main linguistic phenomena that occur in the contact between majority and minority languages in a context of migration, using the Italo-Australian community as a case.
JPNS3650 Japanese Language and Identity

Credit points: 6 Session: Semester 2 Classes: 1x1hr seminar/week and 1x1hr tutorial/week Prerequisites: JPNS2612 Prohibitions: JPNS2671 or JPNS3621 or JPNS3622 or JPNS3631 or JPNS3632 Assessment: 5xonline quizzes (equivalent to 1000wds) (5%), participation (5%), 1xdata analysis (equivalent to 1000wds (30%), 1x2000wd critical response (30%), 1x2hr exam (30%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
This unit will apply methods of linguistic analysis to explore a number of key language strategies used in Japanese to construct speakers' social identity, and their relationships both with people they are talking to (interlocutors) and people they are talking about (referents). Students will collect and analyse authentic data in a guided research project, and will use the results of that analysis in writing a critical response to the work of other scholars in the field.
LNGS1001 Structure of Language

Credit points: 6 Session: Semester 1 Classes: 2x1hr lectures/week, 1x1hr tutorial/week Assessment: 5x250wd short assignments (40%), 1x1hr mid-term exam (20%), 1x2hr final exam (40%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
This unit explores the fundamental properties of human language, with examples from languages spoken in every part of the world. We look at the sounds of human language: how the speech organs make them, and how different they can be across languages. We gain a detailed understanding of English consonants and vowels, and we learn how to transcribe them phonetically. We investigate the ways in which sounds can convey meanings, through the formation of words and sentences in English and many other languages. We see how and why English is different from Japanese, Swahili, German, or even Irish.
LNGS1002 Language and Social Context

Credit points: 6 Session: Semester 2 Classes: 2x1hr lectures/week, 1x1hr tutorial/week Assessment: 5x250wd short assignments (40%), 1x1hr 1000wd equivalent mid-term exam (20%), 1x2hr 2000wd equivalent Final exam (40%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
This unit introduces the study of the interrelationship between language and society. It is concerned with phenomena of language change and how that leads to varieties in a language. How are these varieties linked to social differences? What distinguishes male speech from female speech or what are the linguistic styles of different social classes or ethnic groups? What is slang, or jargon, and what distinguishes a casual conversation from an interview?
LNGS2603 Functional Grammar

Credit points: 6 Session: Semester 2 Classes: 2x1hr lectures/week Prerequisites: 12 Junior credit points in Linguistics, or ENGL1007, or 12 Junior credit points in Languages Assessment: 5x800wd assignments (50%), 1x2hr exam (50%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
This unit takes a functional view of grammar, considering the ways in which English is organised to build up our picture of reality, to enable us to interact in conversation and to make our contribution coherent and relevant. It is designed to give students analysis skills in the analysis of ideational, interpersonal and textual meaning in the clause, the nature of inter-clausal relations, and the structure of nominal, verbal and adverbial groups and prepositional phrases.
LNGS2611 Australia's Indigenous Languages

Credit points: 6 Teacher/Coordinator: Assoc Prof Jane Simpson Session: Semester 1 Classes: 1x2hr lecture/week, 1x1hr tutorial/week Prerequisites: 12 Junior credit points from Linguistics or Indigenous Australian Studies Assessment: 2x1000wd problem sets (40%), 1x2500wd project (60%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
This unit of study aims to give an overview of the languages of indigenous Australians. Of the 250 distinct Aboriginal languages spoken in 1788, most are dead or dying and just 20 languages are expected to survive another few generations. This unit of study will challenge this grim and oft-quoted statistic. We will see that new Aboriginal languages have emerged, apparently moribund languages have been gaining strength and distinctive Aboriginal ways of talking have survived. We consider why some languages have prospered while others have declined. We explore how Australian languages have responded to the challenges of non-Aboriginal settlement, in such arenas as education, land rights and health.
LNGS2613 Computer Applications in Linguistics

This unit of study is not available in 2016

Credit points: 6 Session: Semester 1 Classes: 2x1hr lectures/week Prerequisites: LNGS1001, or 12 Senior credit points from Digital Cultures Prohibitions: LNGS2007 or LNGS2027 Assessment: 6x1000wd Written assignments (100%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
This unit of study introduces students to the many uses of computers in the humanities with specific reference to linguistics: computer lexicography; building and searching text corpora, examining speech signals, collocations, style, authorship, discourse structure and syntactic constructions. Accessing information on languages and linguistics through library catalogues, electronic mailing lists, FTP sites and the World Wide Web. Other linguistics units (like phonetics, field methods, historical linguistics and semantics) will benefit from some basic knowledge of the use of computers.
LNGS2615 Language, Brain and Mind

This unit of study is not available in 2016

Credit points: 6 Session: Semester 2 Classes: 2x1hr lectures/week Prerequisites: 12 credit points from (LNGS1001 or LNGS1002 or LNGS2620 or LNGS2621) Assessment: 1x3000wd research paper (50%), 1x2000wd mid-term paper (30%), 1x1000wd book review (20%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
We will discuss current findings in the field of psycholinguistics. How is language represented and processed or computed by the brain. We will look at experimental work considering the methods and results in an effort to understand the apparent ease with which language is used in everyday life as well as considering the implications of psycholinguistic research for linguistic theory. Topics discussed: language and the brain, speech perception, the mental lexicon and lexical retrieval, sentence and discourse comprehension, language production, language and cognition, nativism.
LNGS2617 Cross-Cultural Communication

Credit points: 6 Session: Semester 2 Classes: 1x2hr seminar/week Prerequisites: 12 Junior credit points in Linguistics, or credit average in 12 Senior credit points from languages Assessment: 1x1500wd presentation (25%), 1x1500wd problem set (25%), 1x3000wd Essay (50%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
Note: This unit is available as a designated 'Advanced' unit for students who are already enrolled in the BA (Advanced) degree program.
Intercultural communication is common, especially in today's globalized societies. It is challenging for people who engage in it, as well as for theories of communication in different societies. We consider approaches including conversation analysis, speech act theory, interactional sociolinguistics, linguistic anthropology, and discourse analysis. In analysing samples of cross-cultural communication we attend to how social relationships are reflected in linguistic practices. We explore applied perspectives on intercultural communication in educational, courtroom and workplace interactions.
LNGS2624 Grammar in the World's Languages

Credit points: 6 Session: Semester 1 Classes: 2x1hr lecture/week, 1x1hr tutorial/week Prerequisites: 12 Junior credit points from Linguistics Assessment: 5x500wd problem sets (50%), 1x2hr problem-based exam (40%), participation (10%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
All languages can be used to build meanings of roughly equivalent complexity, but they often do this in very different ways. This core unit focuses on morphology and syntax, exploring the nature of these aspects of language, and showing how they are related to other aspects of language such as discourse and the lexicon.
LNGS2625 Language and Reality

Credit points: 6 Session: Semester 1 Classes: 1x2hr seminar/week Prerequisites: 12 Junior credit points in any of the subject areas: Linguistics Psychology, Anthropology, Philosophy or Languages Assessment: 1x1500wd in-class presentation (30%), 1x3500wd research paper (50%), 1x1000wd chapter/article review (20%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
Categorization is a fundamental cognitive process. Without it we would not be able to distinguish food from non-food, relate to others in meaningful ways, or find solutions to problems. This interdisciplinary course approaches categorization from different perspectives including those of psychology, linguistics, philosophy and anthropology.
LNGS2626 Language Diversity and Universals

Credit points: 6 Session: Semester 2 Classes: 1x2hr seminar/week Prerequisites: 12 Junior credit points from Linguistics Assessment: 4x500wd assignment (40%), 1x2500wd final essay (30%), participation (10%), 1x1500wd midterm essay (20%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
Human languages show a great range of diversity in every level of structure: phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics, and more. Yet at the same time this diversity is constrained by universal or near-universal properties. This unit examines the nature and extent of diversity in the world¿s languages, exploring how this diversity can be best described, analysed, and explained. Principles of Language Typology and techniques for discovering patterns and generalizations are introduced. Explanations for diversity and universals are considered.
LNGS3601 Semantics and Pragmatics

Credit points: 6 Session: Semester 2 Classes: 2x1hr lectures/week, 1x1hr tutorial/week Prerequisites: (LNGS2601 and LNGS2624) or (18 Senior credit points from English or Australian Literature) Assessment: 1x500wd equivalent exercise (15%), 1x1000wd equivalent exercise (25%), 1x3000wd Essay (60%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
Semantics deals with the meaning of words, phrases, sentences and texts, and the relations between those meanings. Pragmatics deals with how speakers use context and shared information to convey information additional to the semantic content of what they say, and with how hearers make inferences on the basis of this information. Our goal is to explore the diversity of ways in which meaning can be expressed linguistically in different languages, as well as of what constitutes evidence for meaning.
LNGS3605 Structure and Use of a Language

This unit of study is not available in 2016

Credit points: 6 Session: Semester 1 Classes: 1x2hr seminar/week Prerequisites: LNGS1001 and LNGS1002 and (LNGS2620 or LNGS2621) and (LNGS2602 or LNGS2603) Assessment: 1x1000wd equivalent tutorial paper (20%), 2x1000wd problem sets (30%), 1x3000wd Essay (50%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
Note: This unit is available as a designated 'Advanced' unit to students enrolled in the BA (Advanced) degree program.
A language other than English is chosen for analysis (phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics and discourse), and for description of the ways it is used (ethnography of speaking including speech acts, speech events, registers and genres). It is examined in its areal, genetic, historical, social and typological context. We also examine sources of data and their reliability, and the way findings are presented (reference and teaching grammars and linguistic papers).
LNGS3608 Computers, Discourse, Language

Credit points: 6 Session: Semester 2 Classes: 1x2hr lecture/week, 1x1hr tutorial/week Prerequisites: LNGS2624 Assessment: 1x1000wd corpus design and building (20%), 1x1000wd corpus analysis (20%), 1x2500wd research report (60%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
'Language looks different when you look at a lot of it at once.' This unit of study introduces you to the use of computer software to look at a lot of language at once: Do we refer to 'men' and 'women' equally often? What are the five most frequent words in the English language? What is the difference between 'pure' and 'sheer'? How does television dialogue differ from real-world dialogue? And how does a computer help us to answer these and similar questions?
LNGS3609 Text and Context

Credit points: 6 Session: Semester 1 Classes: 2x1hr lectures/week, 1x1hr tutorial/week Prerequisites: LNGS2601 and LNGS2624 Assessment: 1x1000wd discourse analysis (20%), 1x1000wd discourse analysis (20%), 1x2500wd Essay (60%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
Discourse analysis is concerned with analysing how people create meaning(s) in a given social context. In this unit students will learn to apply linguistic methods to the analysis of discourse. 'Discourse' includes both spoken and written language as well as images. Students will learn to apply a range of advanced linguistic methods to explore different discourse varieties and to study their organisation above the sentence level. A particular focus will be on the kinds of insights provided by different analytical techniques.
LNGS3612 Dynamics of Sound

Credit points: 6 Session: Semester 1 Classes: 1x2hr seminar/week Prerequisites: 12 senior credit points of LNGS Assessment: 3x1000wd assignment (50%), 1x3000wd essay (50%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
Language is a dynamic system, under constant pressures and continually evolving. Sounds and sound systems of human languages are incredibly diverse yet at the same time there are identifiable principles or factors that seem to constrain the diversity found in the phonetic and phonological systems of language. This unit examines sound systems in language, from a holistic point of view, looking at phonetic and phonological properties of sounds. Techniques are introduced to help analyse linguistic sound systems in terms of synchronic patterns and also their diachronic development.
LNGS3694 Language and Identity

This unit of study is not available in 2016

Credit points: 6 Session: Semester 1 Classes: 1x2hr seminar Prerequisites: Credit average in 18 Senior credit points from Linguistics, or the following foreign languages (French, Japanese, Chinese, Italian, Arabic, Spanish, German, Latin, Modern Greek, Ancient Greek, Indonesian, Malay, Korean, Thai, Yiddish, Hebrew, Syriac, Aramaic, Sanskrit, Anglo-Saxon, Old Norse) Prohibitions: LNGS3907 or LNGS3927 Assessment: 1x1000wd assignment (15%), 1x2000wd assignment (30%), 1x3000wd assignment (45%), participation (10%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
Note: This unit is available as a designated 'Advanced' unit to students enrolled in the BA (Advanced) degree program.
The unit explores expressions of social identities and relationships through language, including the connection between social groups (e.g. gender, ethnicity, age) and language use. It familiarises students with theories that explore relationships between language and identity construction/perception. The unit also equips the students with the necessary tools to critically engage with and analyse the issues of language and identity in various contexts.
LNGS3699 Linguistics Research Issues

Credit points: 6 Session: Semester 1 Classes: 1x2hr seminar/week Prerequisites: Credit average in 18 Senior credit points from Linguistics Assessment: 1x6000wd research paper which will be done in stages and reported on through each stage and presented formally in seminar (100%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
Note: Department permission required for enrolment
Note: This unit is available as a designated 'Advanced' unit to students enrolled in the BA (Advanced) degree program.
This advanced seminar aims to prepare students for independent research in linguistics through critical reading and discussion of current issues and approaches in theory, data, methodologies, and criticism in linguistics and related research domains.
LNGS4011 Linguistics Honours A

Credit points: 12 Session: Semester 1,Semester 2 Classes: 1x2hr seminar/week Assessment: 1x18000-20000wd thesis (50%) and 2 seminars x 6000-8000wds of written work or its equivalent per seminar (50%) OR 1x12000-15000wd thesis (40%) and 3 seminars x 6000-8000wds of written work or its equivalent per seminar (60%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
Honours is an intensive year-long program of advanced study based around research. Honours is undertaken after successful completion of a Bachelor degree and where the overall mark is a minimum credit average (70%). Entry into Honours is selective and work at this level is challenging. Honours is available in most subjects areas taught in the Faculty, and which are listed under Tables A and B in the Handbook. Students will complete a thesis and coursework seminars throughout the year. For further information contact the Honours Coordinator in the department or consult the Handbook entry for the relevant subject area.
LNGS4012 Linguistics Honours B

Credit points: 12 Session: Semester 1,Semester 2 Corequisites: LNGS4011 Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
Refer to LNGS4011
LNGS4013 Linguistics Honours C

Credit points: 12 Session: Semester 1,Semester 2 Corequisites: LNGS4012 Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
Refer to LNGS4011
LNGS4014 Linguistics Honours D

Credit points: 12 Session: Semester 1,Semester 2 Corequisites: LNGS4013 Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
Refer to LNGS4011
PSYC3012 Cognition, Language and Thought

Credit points: 6 Session: Semester 1 Classes: Two 1 hour lectures and one 2 hour practical per week. Prerequisites: (PSYC2013 or PSYC2113) and 6 credit points from (PSYC2011 or PSYC2911 or PSYC2012 or PSYC2014). Prohibitions: PSYC3205 Assumed knowledge: PSYC2012 or PSYC2112 Assessment: One 2 hour exam, 2000 word prac report, practical exercise(s) (100%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
This unit extends the theories and methods of investigating memory and attentional processes discussed in PSYC2013 to consider a number of domains of higher cognitive processing. One strand of the course will focus on the cognitive processes involved in speech perception, language comprehension, language production, and reading. The remainder of the course will deal with the cognitive processes involved in reasoning and skill acquisition. The practical program will expose students to a variety of the research methods used to investigate higher cognitive processes, develop their understanding of how these methods can be used to investigate hypotheses about mental processes and consider applications of cognitive research to real-world problems and issues.