Unit convenor and teaching staff |
Unit convenor and teaching staff
Unit Convenor
Annabelle Lukin
Contact via annabelle.lukin@mq.edu.au
|
---|---|
Credit points |
Credit points
3
|
Prerequisites |
Prerequisites
3cp from LING units at 100 level
|
Corequisites |
Corequisites
|
Co-badged status |
Co-badged status
|
Unit description |
Unit description
Grammar is the powerhouse of language. The grammar of language emerges over time, as people use language for the varied processes of living. This course will introduce you to the relationship of grammar and meaning, through understanding the three functions of language:- textual function: how we organise our language into coherent text in the many different contexts in which we interact- interpersonal function: how we enact our social relationships through language- ideational function: how we use language to construe our experience of the world around us, and the world inside us.The analysis you will learn about in this unit is used in many different fields of study, including computational linguistics, translation, literary studies, child language development, political and media discourse, the language of health professionals, the language of education, etc. This is a course for people who love language, or who understand that language is important to all aspects of human life.
|
Information about important academic dates including deadlines for withdrawing from units are available at https://www.mq.edu.au/study/calendar-of-dates
On successful completion of this unit, you will be able to:
Late Assignment Submission
Extensions cannot continue beyond the start of the following semester, and students should be aware that long extensions may impact graduation dates.
Moderation of assessment
All assessment is marked by tutors and is moderated using pre-marking forms of standardisation such as the use of marking rubrics, and post-marking moderation such as sample checking and statistical analysis of the spread of marks to ensure fairness and consistency across the unit. Final marks are subject to ratification at the Faculty of Human Sciences exam meeting at the end of semester.
Name | Weighting | Hurdle | Due |
---|---|---|---|
Text analysis assignment (1) | 20% | No | 11.59pm Friday 24/4/19 |
Text analysis assignment (2) | 40% | No | 11.59 pm Thurs 06/06/19 |
Five short online quizzes | 25% | No | Throughout term |
Tutorial participation | 15% | No | Ongoing through semester |
Due: 11.59pm Friday 24/4/19
Weighting: 20%
In this assignment, you will analyse text data for its constituency patterns and its experiential patterns. For 2019, the text data will be the lyrics of Beyoncé's Crazy in Love, and a Shakespeare sonnet on the same topic (sonnet #57). This assignment will start our comparison of these two texts, which will be developed in the second assignment.
Due: 11.59 pm Thurs 06/06/19
Weighting: 40%
In this assignment you will continue with the same short text from assignment 1, but extend the analysis to include the interpersonal and textual metafunctions. You will also write an essay based on your analysis, interpreting the linguistic patterns of the Beyoncé and Shakespeare lyrics, comparing them in the representation of the theme of being 'crazy in love', and discussing similarities and differences. Word length 1300 words.
Due: Throughout term
Weighting: 25%
There will be 5 short quizzes throughout the semester, worth 5% each.
Due: Ongoing through semester
Weighting: 15%
A mark of 15 is allocated for tutorial attendance, preparation and participation in group discussions.
The course has a two hour lecture, plus a one hour tutorial. The iLearn website contains self-paced online learning activities. There is also a glossary of terms on the iLearn site.
NOTE ON LECTURES:
Although the lectures will be recorded via the ECHO360 system, my lectures are interactive. I like students to engage in discussion and activities around the concepts being introduced. Please consider this when deciding whether to attend lectures or listen via ECHO360.
My iLearn website also has ‘mini-lectures’ – short, prerecorded lectures on key concepts from the course, designed for students unable to attend some lectures.
You can choose between the two following books. The first is more detailed and comprehensive; but the second is easier to read. The first is available as an e-book in our library as well as in hard copy. If you can obtain a second hand copy of the 3rd edition this will work just as well.
Halliday, M. A. K., & Matthiessen, C. M. I. M. (2014). An Introduction to Halliday’s Functional Grammar: Fourth Edition (3rd ed.). London: Arnold. [Referred to as 'IFG']
Butt, D, Fahey, R, Feez, S, Spinks, S. 2012. Using Functional Grammar: An Explorer's Guide. Macmillan Australia. [Referred to as 'UFG']
Week |
Lecture topics |
Readings: Either IFG or UFG |
1 |
What is language? What is grammar? We begin this unit by exploring some ideas about the nature of language including how it is that we come to be users of language. We explore the functions of language, and how language relates meaning to context. We began looking at how grammar makes meaning, by looking at what verbs do. Verbs are at the centre of the most important grammatical unit, the clause. The verb is a structure that allows us to represent and construe process, flux and change. So, it’s time to move beyond the ‘verb is a doing word’ definition, to explore the power and beauty of the grammar of verbs. Also, see my column here for a bit of background on the way grammar is explored in this unit. |
Halliday’s Introduction to Functional Grammar (IFG): Chapter 1 Using Functional Grammar (UFG): Chapter 1&2 Halliday, M.A.K. 1985. Language, Context and Text: Aspects of Language in a Social Semiotic, Chapter 1. |
2 |
Constituency 1: units in grammar In week 1, we looked at the forms and functions of a key piece of structure in grammar, the ‘verbal group’. This week we extend our picture by looking at the other important units in grammar. As we know, language can be viewed from different points of view. The units that we study depend on how we are looking at language. If we are looking at sound or writing patterns, then we identify units relevant to those aspects of language. These units are different from units in grammar, or semantics. We will look at the grammatical units of clause, group and phrase, word, and morpheme. To understand what we can 'see' in language structure we have to understand what motivates it, and relate it to the motif of 'choice'. |
IFG: Chapter 2 UFG: Chapter 1&2 |
3 |
Constituency 2: units in grammar In this second week on constituency, we continue our examination of the grammatical units of clause, group and phrase, word, and morpheme. We will talk about grammatical words and content words, and examine the relation between formal and functional ways of understanding grammatical organization in language. We will apply this analysis to a series of everyday short texts. |
IFG: Chapter 2 UFG: Chapter 1&2 |
4 |
What is a clause? To use language in the many and varied ways we interact, we need to put words into structures. The most important grammatical unit is the clause, because it is through the clause we create ‘experiential’, ‘interpersonal’ and ‘textual meanings’. In this lecture, we will build on the two previous weeks by looking at whole clauses, and different types of clauses. We will even see clauses inside (i.e. ‘embedded in’) other clauses. |
IFG: Chapter 2 (section 2.7) UFG: Chapter 3 |
5 |
Clause as representation: language construing experience 1 Humans use language for meaning making of three kinds. This week we begin exploring how grammar allows us to make sense of experience, to turn experience into meaning that we can share with our nearest and dearest, or complete strangers. We will come back to the verbal group, and look at different kinds of verbs/processes, and how we use grammar to construe action, saying and thinking, and relations of identity and similarity. |
IFG: Chapter 5 UFG: Chapter 4 |
6 |
Clause as representation: language construing experience 2 PART 2 |
IFG: Chapter 5 UFG: Chapter 4 |
7 |
Clause as exchange: language enacting social relationships 1 Humans don't produce linguistic structure as an end in itself. We don't just talk, we talk to someone, even when that someone is someone we don't know or can never know. There is always an audience for our talk. There are many dimensions to our social relations. For instance, how do you talk to people who have some kind of power over you? How does your talk reflect a relation of familiarity or intimacy? When you talk to very young kids, or to elderly people, how does your language vary? These kinds of distinctions are reflected and made through linguistic choices. This week we begin looking at the grammar that enables us to enact our social relations. |
IFG: Chapter 4 UFG: Chapter 5&6 |
8 |
Clause as exchange: language enacting social relationships 2 PART 2 |
IFG: Chapter 4 UFG: Chapter 5&6 |
9 |
Clause as message: language for creating coherent text 1 Language allows us to make meanings of two kinds simultaneously: meanings about the world, and meanings about the social relations that pertain to a given situation. How do we make all this hang together? The textual function is the grammar for creating coherent texts. This week we look into the options in grammar for the order of elements in a clause, and how this order has consequences for text structure and coherence. |
IFG: Chapter 3 UFG: Chapter 6 |
10 |
Clause as message: language for creating coherent text 2 PART 2 |
IFG: Chapter 3 UFG: Chapter 6 |
11 |
Building up text Sometimes our interactions are very short. Often they are not. Humans in all kinds of situations create extended texts. They do this by joining clauses together into long stretches of clauses. In this lecture, we look at the grammatical systems which underpin our ways of joining clauses together. |
UFG: Chapter 7 |
12 |
Language in society, society in language We analyse real language data in linguistics to help us understand what language is like and how it is organised. But we also apply our insights to understanding all kinds of language-related issues, from language as an aesthetic resource in the study of literature, to language used to divide communities for political purposes. In this lecture I examine some of the many applications of the tools you have studied in this unit. |
See iLearn for suggested readings |
13 |
Reading week - no lectures, only tutorials. |
Macquarie University policies and procedures are accessible from Policy Central (https://staff.mq.edu.au/work/strategy-planning-and-governance/university-policies-and-procedures/policy-central). Students should be aware of the following policies in particular with regard to Learning and Teaching:
Undergraduate students seeking more policy resources can visit the Student Policy Gateway (https://students.mq.edu.au/support/study/student-policy-gateway). It is your one-stop-shop for the key policies you need to know about throughout your undergraduate student journey.
If you would like to see all the policies relevant to Learning and Teaching visit Policy Central (https://staff.mq.edu.au/work/strategy-planning-and-governance/university-policies-and-procedures/policy-central).
Macquarie University students have a responsibility to be familiar with the Student Code of Conduct: https://students.mq.edu.au/study/getting-started/student-conduct
Results published on platform other than eStudent, (eg. iLearn, Coursera etc.) or released directly by your Unit Convenor, are not confirmed as they are subject to final approval by the University. Once approved, final results will be sent to your student email address and will be made available in eStudent. For more information visit ask.mq.edu.au or if you are a Global MBA student contact globalmba.support@mq.edu.au
Macquarie University provides a range of support services for students. For details, visit http://students.mq.edu.au/support/
Learning Skills (mq.edu.au/learningskills) provides academic writing resources and study strategies to improve your marks and take control of your study.
Students with a disability are encouraged to contact the Disability Service who can provide appropriate help with any issues that arise during their studies.
For all student enquiries, visit Student Connect at ask.mq.edu.au
If you are a Global MBA student contact globalmba.support@mq.edu.au
For help with University computer systems and technology, visit http://www.mq.edu.au/about_us/offices_and_units/information_technology/help/.
When using the University's IT, you must adhere to the Acceptable Use of IT Resources Policy. The policy applies to all who connect to the MQ network including students.
We want our graduates to have emotional intelligence and sound interpersonal skills and to demonstrate discernment and common sense in their professional and personal judgement. They will exercise initiative as needed. They will be capable of risk assessment, and be able to handle ambiguity and complexity, enabling them to be adaptable in diverse and changing environments.
This graduate capability is supported by:
Our graduates will have enquiring minds and a literate curiosity which will lead them to pursue knowledge for its own sake. They will continue to pursue learning in their careers and as they participate in the world. They will be capable of reflecting on their experiences and relationships with others and the environment, learning from them, and growing - personally, professionally and socially.
This graduate capability is supported by:
Our graduates will take with them the intellectual development, depth and breadth of knowledge, scholarly understanding, and specific subject content in their chosen fields to make them competent and confident in their subject or profession. They will be able to demonstrate, where relevant, professional technical competence and meet professional standards. They will be able to articulate the structure of knowledge of their discipline, be able to adapt discipline-specific knowledge to novel situations, and be able to contribute from their discipline to inter-disciplinary solutions to problems.
This graduate capability is supported by:
We want our graduates to be capable of reasoning, questioning and analysing, and to integrate and synthesise learning and knowledge from a range of sources and environments; to be able to critique constraints, assumptions and limitations; to be able to think independently and systemically in relation to scholarly activity, in the workplace, and in the world. We want them to have a level of scientific and information technology literacy.
This graduate capability is supported by:
Our graduates should be capable of researching; of analysing, and interpreting and assessing data and information in various forms; of drawing connections across fields of knowledge; and they should be able to relate their knowledge to complex situations at work or in the world, in order to diagnose and solve problems. We want them to have the confidence to take the initiative in doing so, within an awareness of their own limitations.
This graduate capability is supported by:
We want to develop in our students the ability to communicate and convey their views in forms effective with different audiences. We want our graduates to take with them the capability to read, listen, question, gather and evaluate information resources in a variety of formats, assess, write clearly, speak effectively, and to use visual communication and communication technologies as appropriate.
This graduate capability is supported by:
As local citizens our graduates will be aware of indigenous perspectives and of the nation's historical context. They will be engaged with the challenges of contemporary society and with knowledge and ideas. We want our graduates to have respect for diversity, to be open-minded, sensitive to others and inclusive, and to be open to other cultures and perspectives: they should have a level of cultural literacy. Our graduates should be aware of disadvantage and social justice, and be willing to participate to help create a wiser and better society.
This graduate capability is supported by:
For this year assessment tasks were modified. Instead of a final exam, we now have a series of short quizzes, and a mark for tutorial attendance, preparation and participation.