ENGL306A - Intro. to Linguistics
In this course we do a brief introduction to 6 of the major areas of linguistic study:
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Language cognition and the brain
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Phonetics & Phonology
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Morphology & Syntax
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Semantics & Pragmatics
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Sociolinguistics & Discourse Analysis
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Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA)
Students have a chance of getting a "feel" of each of these areas as we spend approximately two weeks on each topic. A central component of the course is the inclusion of the practice exercises which are done at each class and, on occasion, lead by various student groups. The practice exercises are intended to operationalize lecture content by using data to solve problems (mostly English, but also from other languages present in the class, and one assignment even uses Klingonni - from the "Star Trek" race Klingon). By the end of the course, most students would've identified at least two or three areas of linguistics which they liked and might prove relevant in their other courses or career endeavours.