Processing Sentences and Discourse
| Code | School | Level | Credits | Semesters |
| ENGL4387 | English | 4 | N/A | April Full Year UK, Full Year UK, January Full Year UK |
- Code
- ENGL4387
- School
- English
- Level
- 4
- Credits
- N/A
- Semesters
- April Full Year UK, Full Year UK, January Full Year UK
Summary
Over the lifespan, humans learn tens of thousands of words that we can quickly and readily combine in new and creative ways. The combinatorial power of language allows us to convey and understand meaning, thoughts and ideas that have never been expressed before. In this pod, we are interested in ‘syntactic processing’ – or how speakers organize sequences of words to convey meaning and what listeners do to figure out how sequences of words relate to one another to impart meaning. We also explore meaning beyond sentences, considering ‘discourse processing’ – or how we produce and understand interrelated sets of sentences by building mental representations that can involve meaning that comes from outside of the discourse. Taken together, the goal of this pod it to understand how we as speakers and listeners take linguistic content to create meaning.
Target Students
Students registered on the School of English online masters scheme.
Assessment
- 100% Participation: Student participation
Assessed by end of designated period
Educational Aims
This module comprises an optional component in the following pathways: Applied English, Applied Linguistics, and Applied Linguistics and ELT. It also forms a compulsory component in the Psycholinguistics pathway. As such, it contributes in its specific aims to the programme-level coverage of these pathways.Learning Outcomes
Demonstrate knowledge of key elements of sentences and discourse and the factors that underpin their representation and processing.
Critically evaluate research on sentence and discourse processing, demonstrating an awareness of the advantages and limitations of various methodologies.
Understand how to design a study on sentence and discourse processing, building on the literature in the area.
Demonstrate knowledge and skills acquired to the appropriate disciplinary and professional standard.
Assimilate and present subject-specific material in an appropriate format (assessed within the ‘Assessment Portfolio’ 1, 2 or 3).
Conveners
- Prof Kathryn Conklin