Duration
30h Th
Number of credits
Lecturer
Language(s) of instruction
English 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
The course is based on a 'close reading' approach to a recent English text, namely Bill Bryson's Mother Tongue: The Story of the English Language (Penguin, 2009), and to a series of articles excerpted from newspapers or magazines and written in a complex language.
Learning outcomes of the learning unit
A deeper look at how morpho-syntactic and semantic 'rules' are exemplified in running text; an effort at improving the lexical competence of non-native speakers of English.
Prerequisite knowledge and skills
Very good command of the English language.
Planned learning activities and teaching methods
The (thematically varied) texts the students are requested to prepare at home are then analysed and commented upon in class.
After several introductory sessions, each group of 2 to 3 students must make an oral presentation (approximately 30 minutes) aiming at applying the methodology developed in class (identification of lexical, morphological, syntactic and stylistic specificities, etc.) to Bill Bryson's text.
Mode of delivery (face-to-face ; distance-learning)
face-to-face
Recommended or required readings
A selection of recent articles (addressing a range of topics and offering a variety of linguistic difficulties) are emailed to the students, posted on MyULiège or handed out in class.
The students are also invited to get a copy of Bill Bryson's Mother Tongue.
Assessment methods and criteria
The oral presentation will account for 20% of the final mark.
Written and oral exams at the end of the course (80% of the final mark): the written exam will be based on a text that has not been discussed collectively but deals with issues covered in class (and requiring the use of the analytical methodology applied throughout the semester). The final exam may also include questions (translation of excerpts, analysis of specific linguistic problems) on texts examined in class.
Work placement(s)
Organizational remarks
This course is taught in English (Thursday 2-4pm, Q1).
Contacts
Marie Herbillon, chargée de cours
Marie.Herbillon@uliege.be
Département de Langues modernes: linguistique, littérature et traduction
Place Cockerill 3-5 (A2 building, 6th floor)
Items online
Online Notes
Notes are available online. See link below.