TRAD0096-1 : Comparative method in linguistics, English-French

Study Programmes 2015-2016

TRAD0096-1

Comparative method in linguistics, English-French

Duration :

30h Th

Number of credits :

Master in multilingual communication (120 ECTS)		5
Master in multilingual communication (120 ECTS)		5
Master in multilingual communication (120 ECTS)		5
Master in multilingual communication (120 ECTS)		5
Master in French and Romance languages and literatures : French as a second language (120 ECTS)		4
Master in interpreting (120 ECTS)		4
Master in French and Romance languages and literatures : general (120 ECTS)		4
Master in French and Romance languages and literatures : general (120 ECTS)		4
Master in translation (120 ECTS)		4

Lecturer :

Lieselotte Brems

Language(s) of instruction :

English language

Organisation and examination :

Teaching in the first semester, review in January

Units courses prerequisite and corequisite :

Prerequisite or corequisite units are presented within each program

Course contents :

selected case studies on (bi)nominal and/or verbal structures in both languages that allow for comparison, e.g. size noun expressions (bunch/load(s)/lot(s)/heap(s) of vs. un tas/fatras de, une flopée/masse/foule de); type nouns (sort/kind/type of vs. sorte/type/genre/espèce de); faire vs. make/do; actually/actuellement, etc.

Learning outcomes of the course :

The students gain insight into corpus-based contrastive analysis by means of in-depth case studies of specific constructions which in present-day English and French display variation and may pose challenges to translators.
The insight obtained from this course is twofold and serves to answer the following interlocking questions:
Do similar-looking expressions/structures function (partially) analogously in French and English? In which ways do they differ in usage and why so, given for instance the typological differences between these languages (e.g. structure of prenominal slots in the NP; word order and periphrasis)
How are expressions, for which structural 'cognates' exist, translated between English and French in specific genres or registers? (e.g. It was a sort of robot vs. C'était une sorte/genre de robot or It was like a robot?; I will text you every day vs. Je te texterai tous les jours or Je t'enverrai des sms tous les jours?). How do translated and non-translated varieties of English/French differ?

Prerequisite knowledge and skills :

Very good knowledge of English and French

Planned learning activities and teaching methods :

The course combines theoretical sessions with hands-on exercises on the basis of various kinds of corpus data, which yield insight into different aspects of contrastive analysis.
The students have to read the articles before they are discussed in class. They have to email questions on the texts before class.

Mode of delivery (face-to-face ; distance-learning) :

See : http://cipl82.philo.ulg.ac.be/horaires