Linguistics 1

 Course Description

This course aims at introducing students to the basic concepts and main branches of linguistics. Students are introduced to theories pertinent to the origins of language, the development of writing, and the properties of language. Then, the five main branches of linguistics, namely phonetics, phonology, morphology, syntax, and semantics, are presented. Sociolinguistics, psycholinguistics, and language acquisition are also introduced.

Course Aims

1. Define the field of ‘linguistics’.
2. Describe English sounds using phonological terminology
3. Transcribe simple words .
4. Conduct research about a  certain topic or issue related to argument.
5. Differentiate between some similar concepts: phonology/phonetics, phoneme/allophone, morpheme/allomorph, derivational/inflectional morphemes, deep structure/surface structure, etc.
6. Explain phonological processes

Learning Outcomes

1. Perform morphological analysis of words
2. Explain basic principles of the various syntactic theories.
3. Perform syntactic analysis of sentences using tree diagram and transformational rules
4. Reference text expands students understanding of the well-organized and abundant core of material.
5. Introduce students to a wide range of exercises designed to get students to talk about their ideas, their everyday lives, and their environment.
6. Ability to retain information by understanding material
7. Provides interesting and lively new exercise material especially for pair and group work.
8. Ability to think critically.
9. Ability to learn communicative English.
10. Identify basic principles underlining some semantic theories.
11. Ability to use English in daily life events.
12. Explain the various theories of meaning.