Universidad de Jaén

Module 1: INTRODUCTION: BASIC CONCEPTS IN SYNTAX
1. Definition of syntax and of some basic syntactic notions
2. Constituent structure
3. Syntactic categories
4. Grammatical functions:
4.1. Sentence level
4.2. Phrase level

Module 2: A MULTI-FACETED APPROACH TO SYNTAX: THE SYNTAX-SEMANTICS-PRAGMATICS INTERFACE

Module 2.1: DEPENDENCY, VALENCY AND ARGUMENT STRUCTURE
1. Preliminary notions
2. Definition of key terms: valency, dependency and argument structure
3. Dependents of the verb
4. Syntactic and semantic valency

Module 2.2: X-BAR SYNTAX AND PRINCIPLES-AND-PARAMETERS THEORY
1. Introduction
2. Basic concepts of Chomskyan linguistics:
2.1. Universal Grammar
2.2. The Language Faculty
2.3. Competence
2.4. I-Language and E-Language
3. Principles-and-Parameters Theory
4. X-Bar Theory and the description of English syntax: projections

Module 2.3: A CONSTRUCTIONIST APPROACH TO SYNTAX
1. Introduction
2. Origins of the theory and general tenets
3. Key features of constructions:
3.1. Definition
3.2. The integration of verb and construction
4. Typology of constructions
5. Some common syntactic constructions of English:
5.1. The ditransitive construction
5.2. The caused-motion construction
5.3. The resultative construction
5.4. The way-construction

Module 2.4: EXPLORATIONS IN FUNCTIONAL SYNTAX
1. Introduction
2. Theoretical framework: formalist-functionalist linguistics
3. Functional Sentence Perspective
4. Thematic structure and information structure  of the sentence
5. The packaging of information in the sentence:
5.1. Communicative factors
5.2. Prosodic factors
5.3. Grammatical factors
6. Noncanonical syntactic constructions:
6.1. Preposing constructions
6.2. Postposing constructions
6.3. Processes of preposing and postposing.

Close reading and study of the learning modules and the set readings. Solving doubts in tutorials: 45 hours.

Participation in the discussions on the forum. 15 hours.

Writing an essay in English intended as a critical synthesis of the course contents. 15 hours.

Since this is an online course, the total workload (75 hours) must be handled by students individually at home.

Students with special educational needs should contact the Student Attention Service (Servicio de Atención y Ayudas al Estudiante) in order to receive the appropriate academic support

The assessement of the student training will be based on the following:

1. a) Doing the practical exercises proposed (20%)
2. b) Relevant contributions to the forum (20%)
3. c) Quality of the written essay (60%)