Unit convenor and teaching staff |
Unit convenor and teaching staff
Unit Convenor
Annabelle Lukin
Contact via annabelle.lukin@mq.edu.au
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Credit points |
Credit points
3
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Prerequisites |
Prerequisites
3cp from LING units at 100 level
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Corequisites |
Corequisites
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Co-badged status |
Co-badged status
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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.
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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
Unless described as "peer-evaluated", 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 |
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Assignment 1 | 10% | No | 12 midnight Friday 16/3/18 |
Assignment 2 | 20% | No | 12 midnight Friday 20/4/18 |
Assignment 3 | 30% | No | 12 midnight Monday 28/5/18 |
Final exam | 40% | No | Exam period |
Due: 12 midnight Friday 16/3/18
Weighting: 10%
In this assignment we are assessing your ability to identify grammatical units in a short stretch of text and to relate a text to its social context.
Due: 12 midnight Friday 20/4/18
Weighting: 20%
In this assignment, you will extend the analysis in Assignment 1. The text will be slightly longer, and you will add in the analysis of the constituent elements of the text, and their experiential functions.
Due: 12 midnight Monday 28/5/18
Weighting: 30%
In this assignment you will continue with the same short text from assignment 2, but extend the analysis to include the interpersonal and textual metafunctions. You will write an essay based on your analysis, interpreting the linguistic patterns and relating them to the social function of the text (max 1000 words).
Due: Exam period
Weighting: 40%
The final exam will be conducted during the examinations period. The exam will be open book.
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.
Halliday, M. A. K., & Matthiessen, C. M. I. M. (2014). An Introduction to Halliday’s Functional Grammar: Fourth Edition (3rd ed.). London: Arnold.
Butt, D, Fahey, R, Feez, S, Spinks, S. 2012. Using Functional Grammar: An Explorer's Guide. Macmillan Australia.
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 MONDAY PUBLIC HOLIDAY - SEE ONLINE LECTURE AND TUTORIAL RECORDING FOR MONDAY TUTORIALS |
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 context: spoken and written language Language varies according to context. One key dimension of variation is the mode of contact e.g. whether we are communicating face-to-face, or via a written mode. If written, we could be writing a formal letter or texting a friend. The grammatical patterns in a text change, depending on the mode of contact. This week we will review the concepts and terminology introduced in this course, through looking at the grammatical differences between speaking and writing. |
Halliday, MAK. 1985. Spoken and Written Language. Geelong: Deakin University Press. (e-Reserve) |
13 |
Grammar and meaning: summary and revision In this final week, we review the content of this unit, and explore its applications. I also give examples of typical exam questions and discussion preparation for the open book exam in the examination period. |
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