Бакалавриат
2025/2026
Введение в науку о языке
Статус:
Курс по выбору (Прикладной анализ данных)
Где читается:
Факультет компьютерных наук
Когда читается:
4-й курс, 1, 2 модуль
Охват аудитории:
для своего кампуса
Преподаватели:
Руднев Павел Владимирович
Язык:
английский
Кредиты:
5
Контактные часы:
56
Course Syllabus
Abstract
Language is a characteristic property of human cognition, and theoretical linguistics aims to understand what the knowledge of language is, how it is obtained and how it is used. The present course discusses the nature of the knowledge of language, its relation to learning, linguistic diversity and universals, and introduces the fundamentals of linguistic analysis. It also surveys some of the contemporary language-related tools and highlights their successes and limitations.
Learning Objectives
- The course acquaints students with the objectives and methods of contemporary theoretical linguistics.
- The course aims to develop the basic analytical skills that are required for adequately addressing various problems at various levels of language (grammar, meaning, sound/sign).
Expected Learning Outcomes
- familiarity with basic units of language (feature, phoneme, morpheme, word, phrase, clause)
- familiarity with the fundamentals of dependency grammar
- familiarity with the fundamentals of categorial grammar
- ability to discuss phrase structure rules and projection
- ability to name criteria for the identification of syntactic units
- ability to describe a system of argument structure representation
- ability to distinguish heads from their dependents
- ability to represent an arbitrary sentence in terms of constituent structure
- ability to exemplify natural-language data underpinning linguistic theory
- familiarity with computational tools in relation to natural-language tasks
- ability to understand and discuss the range of issues at the core of the course
Course Contents
- Knowledge of language: what it is and what it isn’t
- Representing language and speech: Sound and sign
- Representing grammatical knowledge
- Language in society
- Computational tools
- Representing language and speech: Writing
Assessment Elements
- Assigned homework
- Presentation of external materialAn in-depth individual presentation on a topic briefly covered by lecture material
- QuizQuizzes and tests are short in-class tests with true/false, multiple choice or open-ended questions, designed to check understanding of the material and students' ability to apply it.
- Written exam3-hour open-book written exam
- In-class activityThe students’ class participation is marked on the basis of their participation in seminar discussions. Class participation refers to discussion performance rather than mere attendance. All students are expected to attend seminars and participate by listening attentively, contributing to discussions of class material and each other's individual presentations. The students’ statements and answers to questions must contain well-formulated arguments that clearly show their position. To do this, students must demonstrate a quality preparation for the seminar: do their homework, read the assigned literature and be ready to perform a critical evaluation of it.
Interim Assessment
- 2025/2026 2nd module0.2 * Assigned homework + 0.2 * In-class activity + 0.2 * Presentation of external material + 0.1 * Quiz + 0.3 * Written exam
Bibliography
Recommended Core Bibliography
- An introduction to language, Fromkin, V., 2014
- Carnie, A. (2012). Syntax : A Generative Introduction (Vol. 3rd ed). Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsebk&AN=531592
Recommended Additional Bibliography
- Pinker, S. (2013). Learnability and Cognition : The Acquisition of Argument Structure (Vol. New ed). Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsebk&AN=585970