Back
| Semester | spring semester 2019 |
| Course frequency | Irregular |
| Lecturers | Heike Behrens (heike.behrens@unibas.ch, Assessor) |
| Content | Humans have language, other species don't. In the past 20 years, usage-based models of language have been developed to show that the structural ANDcommunicative properties of language are a product of language use. Usage-based models are part of Cognitive Linguistics and Cognitive Grammar and emphasize the symbolic nature of language (linguistic units as form-function units) rather than assuming a rule system that operates over words. Grammar is seen as an emergent property of language use. Usage-based linguistics focusses on the emergence of linguistic structure and offers a unified account for phenomena as diverse as language evolution and change, structure and meaning, language learning and processing. In this lecture I will address the following issues: Which cognitive properties allow us to form categories and learn languages? How did language evolve from non-language? How does language use change languages historically? These questions assume that language, or the nature of the form-function units, is changing dynamically. Hence the fundamental question is: What does it mean to say that grammar is 'symbolic' or 'semantic'? |
| Learning objectives | Students become familiar with current theory formation in theoretical and applied linguistics. They learn about the mechanisms that change language in the society, and in the individual mind of the language learner and user. |
| Bibliography | - Dabrowska, Ewa, & Divjak, Dagmar (Eds.). (2015). "Handbook of Cognitive Linguistics". Berlin, Boston: de Gruyter. - Diessel, Holger (forthcoming). "The Grammar Network". Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. - Hoffmann, Thomas & Trousdale, Graeme (Eds.) (2013). "The Oxford Handbook of Construction Grammar". Oxford: Oxford University Press. - Littlemore, Jeanette, & Taylor, John R. (Eds.). (2014). "The Bloomsbury Companion to Cognitive Linguistics". London: Bloomsbury. - Taylor, John R. (2018). "Ten Lectures on Applied Cognitive Linguistics". Leiden, Boston: Brill. |
| Language of instruction | English |
| Use of digital media | No specific media used |
| Course auditors welcome |
| Interval | Weekday | Time | Room |
|---|
No dates available. Please contact the lecturer.
| Modules |
Modul: Advanced English Linguistics (Bachelor's degree subject: English) Modul: English Linguistics (Master's degree subject: English) Modul: Forschungspraxis und Vertiefung (Master's degree program: Language and Communication) Modul: Interphilologie: Sprachwissenschaft BA (Bachelor's degree subject: Nordic Philology) Modul: Interphilologie: Sprachwissenschaft BA (Bachelor's degree subject: Spanish Language and Literature) Modul: Interphilologie: Sprachwissenschaft BA (Bachelor's degree subject: Italian Language and Literature) Modul: Interphilologie: Sprachwissenschaft BA (Bachelor's degree subject: English) Modul: Interphilologie: Sprachwissenschaft BA (Bachelor's degree subject: German Language and Literature) Modul: Interphilologie: Sprachwissenschaft BA (Bachelor's degree subject: French Language and Literature) Modul: Interphilologie: Sprachwissenschaft MA (Master's degree subject: Slavic Studies) Modul: Interphilologie: Sprachwissenschaft MA (Master's degree subject: German Language and Literature) Modul: Interphilologie: Sprachwissenschaft MA (Master's degree subject: Spanish Language and Literature) Modul: Interphilologie: Sprachwissenschaft MA (Master's degree subject: French Language and Literature) Modul: Interphilologie: Sprachwissenschaft MA (Master's degree subject: Nordic Philology) Modul: Interphilologie: Sprachwissenschaft MA (Master's degree subject: English) Modul: Interphilologie: Sprachwissenschaft MA (Master's degree subject: Latin Philology) Modul: Interphilologie: Sprachwissenschaft MA (Master's degree subject: Italian Language and Literature) Modul: Sprache als System (Master's degree program: Language and Communication) |
| Assessment format | record of achievement |
| Assessment details | written test |
| Assessment registration/deregistration | Reg.: course registration; dereg.: not required |
| Repeat examination | one repetition, repetition counts |
| Scale | Pass / Fail |
| Repeated registration | as often as necessary |
| Responsible faculty | Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, studadmin-philhist@unibas.ch |
| Offered by | Fachbereich Englische Sprach- und Literaturwissenschaft |