Duration
30h Th
Number of credits
| Bachelor in translation and interpretation | 3 crédits |
Lecturer
Language(s) of instruction
French language
Organisation and examination
Teaching in the first semester, review in January
Schedule
Units courses prerequisite and corequisite
Prerequisite or corequisite units are presented within each program
Learning unit contents
How can you describe a language? Do we ever really master a language? Besides their considerable diversity, do languages have common properties? How do they work? How are they acquired? Can we lessen their apparent complexity? How do my words, what I'm saying, make sense? These are all questions this course aims to answer. It provides an introduction to the basic concepts and methods of general linguistics. There are two objectives: on the one hand, to initiate students in the fundamental questions concerning the nature and the function of language and languages and, on the other hand, to familiarise students with the analytical tools particular to the field.
The course is based on eight modules:
1) Origins of language and languages
2) Purposes and methods of linguistics
3) The universal properties of languages
4) The structure of languages (I) - Phonetics and phonology
5) The structure of languages (II) - Morphology
6) The construction of meaning (I) - semantics of words - sentences
7) The construction of meaning (II) - pragmatics
8) Language, its use and society - sociolinguistics
Learning outcomes of the learning unit
Students should be able to:
- thoroughly examine the nature of language and how languages work;
- use analytical tools particular to the field and apply them to new situations;
- analyse a speech and separate it into its various linguistic units;
- explain the system of sound production for French;
- analyse and describe the different mechanisms involved in sound production;
- understand the role of the linguistic context and the extralinguistic situation and explain their interaction.
Prerequisite knowledge and skills
Good knowledge of the French language.
Planned learning activities and teaching methods
The course alternates between lectures, learning through problem-solving, doing exercises and reading documents.
Mode of delivery (face-to-face ; distance-learning)
Face-to-face. Students are divided into two groups to facilitate interaction and dialogue. The slides from class and the documents/texts relating to the content are available to students on the university's platform (myULg) a few days before the actual class; students should read them carefully in order to prepare for and facilitate the discussion on said content. In addition to this preparation, students are expected to take part in discussions during theory classes. Students are therefore required to do a certain amount of work by themselves outside these face-to-face classes.
Recommended or required readings
- Notes including theoretical explanations, slides, texts and exercises available on myULg.
- COMPULSORY READING : DORTIER (J.-F.) et JOURNET (N.) (coord.), Les clés du langage : nature, origine, apprentissage, Sciences Humaines Éditions, Auxerre, 2015.
- RECOMMENDED READING :
BOYSSON-BARDIES (B.), Le langage qu'est-ce que c'est?, Paris, Odile Jacob, 2003.
DUCROT (O.), SCHAEFFER (J.-M.), Nouveau Dictionnaire encyclopédique des sciences du langage, Paris, Seuil, 1995.
MOREAU (M.-L.), Sociolinguistique, Sprimont, Mardaga, 1997.
MOESCHLER (J.), AUCHLIN (A.), Introduction à la linguistique contemporaine, Paris, Armand Colin, 2000.
SIOUFI (G.) et VAN RAEMDONCK (D.), 100 fiches pour comprendre la linguistique, Bréal, 2012.
SOUTET (O.), Linguistique, Paris, PUF, 1996.
Assessment methods and criteria
Written exam organised in January, June and September in the form of a MCQ and open questions relating to what the students have learnt (knowledge and understanding of the basic concepts and methods of linguistics) and know-how (knowing how to use the tools particular to the field in the proposed new situations).
Work placement(s)
Organizational remarks
Contacts
Christophe Leveau : christophe.leveau@ulg.ac.be