Topic outline

  • General

  • Information on the module/teacher



    Module: Linguistics

    Level: second-year students (L2)

    Semester: 2

    Unit: Fundamental 

    Coefficient:  1

    Credit: 2

    Timetable: Sunday (10h00-11h30)

    Room: 30 

    Teacher: Dr. Imane Berrouba Tani 

    Email address: imaneberroubatani@gmail.com

    Office hours: Sunday and Wednesday: 13h00-14h00 in office 24 or by an appointment.


    • Module content

             This module is composed of three main chapters. Each chapter is concerned with a school of thought and at the end of each chapter students’ learning is assessed though different activities. This assessment aims at ensuring students’ comprehension of the content of each chapter, including language concepts, definitions, studies and theories. The three schools dealt with are as follows: structuralism, behaviorism and mentalism, respectively. Below is a mind map that summaries all the titles, subtitles in the chapters. The mind map gives a general visual overview of the module. 

            


      • Pre-requisite knowledge

        In order for the students to grasp the content of aforementioned chapters, they have to need to have the pre-existing knowledge of levels of linguistic analysis that were tackled in the first semester. These levels consist of: 

         

        1. Phonetics and Phonology 

        2. Morphology

        3. Syntax

        4.Semantics

        5.Pragmatics


      • Learning objectives

        This course is a brief introduction to schools of thought in linguistics, which aims generally at helping students to:

        • Gain knowledge of the different tenets of language structure
        • Gain knowledge of the theories of language acquisition
        • Acquire knowledge of language function

        Upon the end of this course, learners will succeed in achieving the following levels of cognitive learning based on Bloom's taxonomy:

        1. Knowledge; remember or recall previously learned information in micro-linguistics which involves knowledge of language on a small scale. This includes a definition of language itself, and definitions of its levels : phonology, phonetics, morphology, syntax and semantics.

        2. Comprehension; demonstrate an understanding of the main concepts and thoughts of the linguistic schools, view language from different perspectives, and distinguish between language learning and language acquisition. 

        3. Application; use the learned knowledge of language in each linguistic school in real or classroom situations. For example, how to apply behaviorists' techniques of reinforcement and imitation to learn new vocabulary. 

        4. Analyze; break down ideas related to linguistic schools, compare and differentiate between them to come up with the similarities, differences and criticisms of the various linguistic thoughts. For example, the fact that behaviorism focused only on the oral observable linguistic behavior and ignored the mental processes involved in the production of language.




        • Modalities of learning assessments

          1. Continuous assessment 

           Each student will be granted a grade based on his/her regular attendance in the classroom, in addition to the undivided attention during the course as well as hard-work and commitment to be actively engaged in all the tasks. Moreover, showing good behaviour, respect and adequate classroom attitude are of paramount importance in this grade. Finally, at the end of the chapters, students will be required to take a test including different types of exercises. All of these will constitute 50% of the general average. 

           

           2.  Final assessment

          This assessment involves the examination at the end of the semester. It consists of examining students’ understanding of the content of the three chapters dealt with in the second semester. It may assess different knowledge levels, from comprehension, application, to analysis. Students would need to obtain a grade of 10/20 or more to succeed. This final grade will constitute the remaining 50% of the general average. 

           


          • Chapter one: Structuralism

            The first chapter is concerned with the structuralist school of thought which was founded by Ferdinand De Saussure in Europe. Students will deal with Saussure's work, consisting of a set of dichotomies that account for language structure and its nature. The dichotomies involve: signifier vs signified, langue vs parole, synchronic vs diachronic and syntagmatic vs paradigmatic. Moreover, students will deal with two other schools that followed Saussure's structuralist approach, Prague and Copenhagen schools and lastly, American structuralism. 

          • Chapter two: Behaviorism

            This chapter deals with the school of behaviorism. Students will learn about the two types of leaning in behavioral psychology: classical conditioning and operant conditioning. They will also see how language is acquired from a behaviorist perspective. 

          • Chapter three: Mentalism

            This chapter is interested in mentalism, or the mentalist school. It will introduce the Innateness theory put forward by Chomsky, who states that language exists naturally within each human being. He says that linguistic knowledge of the child’s language is innate. Humans already know the complexity of a language and the system behind it. According to the Innateness theory, language acquisition is a natural process; every child goes through it and acquires it. This is possible for humans due to a Language Acquisition Device (LAD). Each human has LAD in mind and acquires language innately. 

          • Final evaluation test

            This is a sample test for the students, to have an idea about their assessment which is part of the TD mark.

            In case of failure to provide answers, correction is provided as part of the re-orientation process. 

            You should re-visit lectures again in case of failure to provide answers, then you can check the correction. 

          • Bibliography


            Akpan, B. (2020). Classical and Operant Conditioning—Ivan Pavlov; Burrhus Skinner. In: Akpan, B., Kennedy, T.J. (eds) Science Education in Theory and Practice. Springer Texts in Education. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-43620-9_6

            Chomsky, N. (1959). Review of B. F. Skinner, Verbal behavior . Language,  35,  26–58.


            de Saussure, F. (1916). Cours de Linguistique Générale, Paris.


            de Saussure,F . 1922 [1916]. Cours de linguistique générale. Charles Bally & Albert Sechehaye (eds.). 2nd ed. Paris: Payot. 


            Ewing, W. (1972). The mentalist theory of language learning. Foreign Language Annals,  5(4),  455–62.


            John E. Joseph & James McElvenny. 2022. Ferdinand de Saussure. In JamesMcElvenny (ed.),Interviews in the history of linguistics: Volume I, 41–49.Berlin: Language Science Press.https://zenodo.org/record/7096294#.ZGN4n3bMKM


            Skinner, B.F. (1985), Cognitive science and behaviourism. British Journal of Psychology, 76: 291-301. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.2044-8295.1985.tb01953.x


            Sturrock, J. (2008). Structuralism: With an Introduction by Jean-Micheal Rabate. John Willey & Sons


            • Chat

              This would allow students to engage in discussions and ask questions about the content of the course. 

            • Course evaluation (testers)

              Find attached below grids evaluation of the course. 

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