Linguistic Theory

WS 2006/2007

Background information on Grundmodul 1.1. "Linguistic Theory" "GM 1.1 bietet einen Überblick über das Spektrum linguistischer Analyse- und Modellierungsmethoden, insbesondere im Hinblick auf die Rolle der Sprache im heutigen globalen Medienkontext, und vermittelt vertieftes Wissen über Sprache, ihre Strukturen, kommunikativen Funktionen und Varietäten. Der Einsatz theoretisch fundierter linguistischer Beschreibungs- und Dokumentationsmethoden zusammen mit problem-, projekt- und korpusorientierten Arbeitstechniken und individueller Web-Portfolio-Erstellung dient dem Ziel, den interkulturellen Stellenwert der englischen Sprache als heutige lingua franca in der Praxis internationaler Kommunikation sowie als Medium globaler literarischer und kultureller Interaktion herauszuarbeiten."
Goals
The Linguistic Theory seminar aims to provide a research-level introduction to the domains and methods of linguistics and its applications, with emphasis on theory formation procedures and argumentation in contrast to the ready-made "facts" which are often introduced for pedagogical reasons at earlier qualification stages. (eKVV)

English in the Information Society

SS 2007

The main goal of the class is to provide a basis for investigating the English language and its use in modern Information and Communication Technology contexts, such as the following:
1. the dialog-like language of emails, chat, sms, ...
2. electronic publishing (an area of interdisciplinary cooperation between Applied Text Linguistics, Computational Linguistics, Text Technology and Creative Writing)
3. specific issues like the role of English and of linguistics in the global society such as advertising and product branding.

The main emphasis will be on electronic publishing, and in the course of the class, participants will be required to produce evidence of active participation and achievement in the form of a book publishing project on a topic of their choice, with the following products:
1. a short book (fact or fiction),
2. a slide presentation (PowerPoint, OpenOffice, etc.) about the topic of the book,
3. an advertising poster for the book,
4. an advertising flyer for the book,
5. a CD accompanying the book (data or audio CD).
6. An MA term paper describing the theoretical principles and practical procedures involved in the production of the above products.
(eKVV)

How to Make a Dictionary

WS 2007/2008

Goals:
The goal of the class is to provide answers to questions such as the following:
- What kinds of information is required in order to create a word?
- How is this information represented in dictionaries?
- What kinds of other information do dictionaries contain?
- How are dictionaries constructed?
- What kinds of dictionaries there are, and what is the difference between a "normal" dictionary, a glossary and an encyclopedia?
- Which are the best dictionaries? In more general terms, the class is concerned with the theory and practice of lexicography, a field in which all language teaching and other linguistics professionals are involved in different ways.
(eKVV)