3 ECTS credits
75 h study time
Offer 1 with catalog number 1020985BNR for all students in the 1st semester at a (B) Bachelor - advanced level.
The electronic collection of spoken and written language into machine-readable corpus data has provided linguists with new ways of analysing linguistic data. This course introduces the student to the exciting and expanding field of corpus linguistics, which combines corpus data and data analytics to investigate linguistic variation.
Upon successful completion of this course the student will have acquired the basic knowledge and skills to study synchronic variation in present-day British English by means of corpus data. This course specifically focuses on lexical variation (e.g., child vs. infant). Using data from the British National Corpus, we evaluate the motivations behind the speaker’s choice of options. For instance, what factors motivate the speaker to prefer child rather than infant? We look at inter-linguistic as well as extra-linguistic motivations. Collocational analysis is an important part of this study.
The organization of the course follows the flow of a research project. We start with an introduction to lexical variation in English and an overview of the methodology associated with performing a corpus study. In the second and largest part of the course, some fundamental data skills are developed, including: data retrieval using BNCweb, data annotation in MS Excel and data analysis with BNCweb, MS Excel, and statistical software. Students are required to perform a small corpus linguistics study. The results of this case study are presented in an oral presentation and a written report.
See CANVAS for details about the concrete organization of this course.
Upon completion of this course the student will be able to:
1. describe the difference between linguistic rules and preferences/norms in reference to lexical and morphosyntactic variation;
2. define, illustrate and apply the appropriate terminology associated with lexical variation variation, such as: semantic prosody, lexeme, hyponym, plesionymy, collocation, etc.;
3. perform a small scale corpus linguistic study under the limited guidance of an instructor;
4. apply the acquired data analysis methods to real language data using statistical software on a self-reliant basis;
5. present the results of a corpus linguistic study
The final grade is composed based on the following categories:
Oral Exam determines 20% of the final mark.
Written Exam determines 30% of the final mark.
Other Exam determines 50% of the final mark.
Within the Oral Exam category, the following assignments need to be completed:
Within the Written Exam category, the following assignments need to be completed:
Within the Other Exam category, the following assignments need to be completed:
I. Late submissions
Late submissions of the written report a penalised as follows: -5% for this part per day late; a zero mark is given if the report is not submitted 5 days after the deadline.
II. Nonattendance
Unlawful absence of the presentation or the written exam results in a zero mark
III Second exam session
No second exam session is possible for the presentation
A pass mark can be trensferred to the next exam session and to the following academic year.
To retake the written report, students submit an updated version of the report.
A retake of the written exam is offered in the second exam session.
The final mark of the two parts in the second exam session is calculated as follows: written exam (50%) + written report (50%)
IV Covid 19 measures
The oral presentation sessions will be organized online (one CANVAS, with Big Blue Button) in case on campus presentations are not possible.
This offer is part of the following study plans:
Bachelor of Linguistics and Literary Studies: Dutch-English (only offered in Dutch)
Bachelor of Linguistics and Literary Studies: English-German (only offered in Dutch)
Bachelor of Linguistics and Literary Studies: English-French (only offered in Dutch)
Bachelor of Linguistics and Literary Studies: English-Italian (only offered in Dutch)
Bachelor of Linguistics and Literary Studies: English-Spanish (only offered in Dutch)
Preparatory Programme Master of Arts in Linguistics and Literary Studies: one language - TTK (only offered in Dutch)
Preparatory Programme Master of Arts in Linguistics and Literary Studies: two languages (only offered in Dutch)
Preparatory Programme Master of Arts in Linguistics and Literary Studies: one language (only offered in Dutch)
Preparatory Programme Master of Arts in Linguistics and Literary Studies: one language - after third lng (only offered in Dutch)