LING6930

Language and Meaning

Faculty of Education and Arts School of Humanities and Social Science

10 Units 6000 Level Course

Available in 2014

Callaghan Campus	Semester 2
WebLearn GradSchool	Semester 2

Previously offered in 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007, 2006, 2005, 2004

The course focuses on the study of the analysis of meaning as it is expressed through elements of language such as words and sentences (the field of semantics)and as it is understood in different real world contexts (the filed of pragmatics). Particular attention will be paid to meaning relations such as synonymy (having the same meaning) and oppositeness, to various types of conclusions that sentences lead to or involve (such as presuppositions), to elements that crucially depend on context for their interpretation (including deictic elements, which are linked to the non-linguistic context, to the meaning of verbal categories such as tense and mood, and to the relation between language and logic.

Objectives

Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to demonstrate:
1) an understanding of nature of meaning as expressed through language;
2) an understanding of basic principles of semantics and pragmatics as applied to English
3) an awareness of the range of linguistic devices for expressing time and space relations;
4) an understanding of the concepts of deixis and anaphora;
5) an understanding of logical relations relevant to linguistic analysis, such as negation, modality, scope, presupposition and implication

Content

Topics to be covered include:
* deixis: reference to the spatio-temporal frame encompassing the speech act
* tense and time reference: tense and aspect systems in the English verb
* mood and modality
* anaphora: textual reference; the function of pronouns and other anaphoric items
* pragmatics: the study of speech acts; presupposition and implication

Replacing Course(s)

n/a

Transition

n/a

Industrial Experience

Assumed Knowledge

LING6910 (or equivalent)

Modes of Delivery

Distance Learning : Paper Based
Internal Mode

Teaching Methods

Lecture

Assessment Items

Essays / Written Assignments	Two take-home assignments, involving problem sets and short answer questions (25% each) - 50% Essay (approx. 3,500 words) - 50%

Contact Hours

Seminar: for 1 hour(s) per Week for Full Term
Lecture: for 2 hour(s) per Week for Full Term

Timetables