15EM010 - Information Sentence Structure

Course specification
Course title Information Sentence Structure
Acronym 15EM010
Study programme English Language and Literature
Module
Type of study
Lecturer (for classes)
Lecturer/Associate (for practice)
Lecturer/Associate (for OTC)
    ESPB 6.0 Status
    Condition Oblik uslovljenosti
    The goal The course introduces students to the basic notions of information structure (topic and focus, given vs. new information), their interpretation, their realization in various languages and the ways these notions influence the syntactic and phonological shape of sentences.
    The outcome Students can define key notions in information structure, describe its reflexes in one or more languages, see connections between data and theory with respect to information structure, analyse relevant language data with respect to information structure, present data as evidence in support of a theoretical argument
    Contents
    Contents of lectures Basic notions in Information Structure. Historical development of IS approaches. The Semantics of IS. IS and Intonation. Word Order and Intonation. Information Structure Partitioning. IS Realization Means. Topic-Focus Articulation in Functional Generative Description. Generative approaches. Syntax and IS. Comparison of IS approaches. Formalism vs functionalism.
    Contents of exercises Students investigate one or more notions of information structure by means of a small-scale data collection project, using simple fieldwork elicitation techniques and/or corpus analysis.
    Literature
    1. Krifka, M. (2007). Basic notions in information structure. In C. Fery and M. Krifka (eds.), Interdisciplinary Studies of Information Structure 6, Potsdam. (Original title)
    2. de Swart & de Hoop (1995) “Topic and Focus” GLOT International 1(7):3–7 (Original title)
    3. Gundel, Jeanette (1999). "On different kinds of focus". In Bosch, Peter and Rob van der Sandt (eds.) Focus. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. (Original title)
    4. Lambrecht, Knud (1994). Information structure and sentence form. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. (Original title)
    Number of hours per week during the semester/trimester/year
    Lectures Exercises OTC Study and Research Other classes
    2 2
    Methods of teaching Lectures, classroom discussions, practice classes, student presentations.
    Knowledge score (maximum points 100)
    Pre obligations Points Final exam Points
    Activites during lectures Test paper 50
    Practical lessons Oral examination
    Projects 50
    Colloquia
    Seminars
    Vrh strane