Linguistics: Analysis of Language in Context

Teacher(s)

Dister Anne (compensates Fairon Cédrick); Fairon Cédrick; Simon Anne-Catherine;

Language

French

Prerequisites

LFIAL1530 Introduction to linguistics 

The prerequisite(s) for this Teaching Unit (Unité d’enseignement – UE) for the programmes/courses that offer this Teaching Unit are specified at the end of this sheet.

Main themes

Discourse is fashioned by the context in which it is used. This course provides theoretical and methodological tools for analysing language choices in terms of the situation of production, in written texts and in verbal interactions. We will therefore seek to note who is speaking or writing, to whom, and why. In terms of theory, we will study concepts such as: context, register, textual and discursive genre, domain, terminology, structure of a discourse, interaction, etc., while showing how these concepts may be understood at different levels of linguistic analysis (vocabulary, syntax, prosody, discourse, etc.). In terms of methodology, the course will equip students with tools to analyse the effects of recognition of a genre, a domain or a register in written texts and verbal interactions. In this respect, the course constitutes an introduction to research in linguistics (especially in the context of the Bachelor's paper).

Aims

At the end of this learning unit, the student is able to :
1	By the end of the course, students will be able to : ¿ Define and compare with each other the concepts studied in the course (for example, genre, register, domain, context). ¿ Frame a research question regarding the effects of context on language usage. ¿ Select, with reasons, a suitable methodology for dealing with a research question. ¿ Identify the linguistic or discursive markers characteristic of genres, domains or registers. ¿ Use a variety of methods to collect and analyse language in context (texts and discourse).

The contribution of this Teaching Unit to the development and command of the skills and learning outcomes of the programme(s) can be accessed at the end of this sheet, in the section entitled “Programmes/courses offering this Teaching Unit”.

Content

The following content areas will be covered:
'    Theoretical concepts (context, discourse, terminology, domain, register, genres, verbal interaction, etc.).
'    Methods (lexicometry, textometry, representation of the structure of discourse, relations between elements of discourse, sequential analysis of verbal interaction, critical analysis of discourse, etc.) including the use of computer software for linguistic analysis.
'    Reflection on methods (notion of the text as a 'bag of words' or as a sequence of words, contribution of annotation to the analysis of texts, implications of the researcher's subjectivity, etc.).

Teaching methods

Formal lectures, individual student assignments and flipped classroom.

Evaluation methods

Continuous assessment (methodological exercises); individual assignment and written examination in the January exam session. The September examination may be oral or written, depending on the number of students enrolled

Other information

Instruction in French linguistics has been designed in a progressive fashion over the three annual units of the Bachelor's degree. The first unit focuses on command of standard language at the same time as taking a critical distance in relation to the standard (LROM1111 Linguistics: mastery and analysis of Standard French). The second annual unit is devoted to the study of the French language in its variation, social or geographic (LROM1221 Linguistics: variation in contemporary French) and historical (LROM1222 Linguistics: historical approach to French in the Latin Empire). The third annual unit is a training in the analysis of the French language as it used in context, in particular in the identification of genres (and of registers) in texts and discourse (LROM1331 Linguistics: analysis of French in context ).

Online resources

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Faculty or entity

ROM