In the last decades, linguistics has ‘jumped the border’ of the sentence and moved towards larger units of description such as text and discourse. In this seminar we will cover some principal linguistic approaches to text, addressing frameworks such as cohesion, rhetorical structure theory and introductory segmented discourse representation theory. Class work will consist of overviews of the theoretical approaches (supported by readings) followed by group-based analysis and discussion of example texts. Final credit for the module can be obtained by carrying out a more detailed analysis of a collection of short texts (possibly in groups) and motivating the decisions made. Considerations of corpus linguistic approaches to discourse structure and organisation will also be addressed and some particular tools for supporting such analyses introduced. Successful participation in the course should enable the analysis and critical discussion of texts in general, as well as raising awareness of current open topics and issues in linguistic discourse research.

Wir werden uns in diesem Seminar mit dem Phänomenen von Sprachtod und -bedrohung vertraut machen. Diese sind nach heutigem Wissen ein universal auftretendes Phänomen, haben sich aber besonders in den letzten Jahrzehnten stark beschleunigt, sodass heute ein Großteil der Sprachen der Welt als bedroht gelten kann. Besonders in kolonialen und postkolonialen Situationen scheint das Problem jedoch zu grassieren, sodass es sich lohnt, den Zusammenhang zwischen Sprachbedrohung und (Post)kolonialismus einmal genauer zu thematisieren.
Im Seminar werden wir Kriterien für die Bedrohung und den Tod einer Sprache erarbeiten. Weiterhin werden wir uns den Gründen für Sprachtod und -bedrohung zuwenden, die fast immer soziopolitisch oder ökonomisch und nicht sprachimmanent sind. Danach stehen soziolinguistische und strukturelle Korrelate bei sterbenden und bedrohten Sprachen im Vordergrund. Gegen Ende der Veranstaltung werden wir uns mit möglichen sprachpolitischen Maßnahmen zur Stärkung bedrohter Sprachen vertraut machen. Auch die Frage, ob Sprachtod wirklich eine schlimme Sache sei, werden wir diskutieren.

Wegen der Pandemie auf das WS 2020/21 verschoben!

In the last decades, critical discourse analysis has moved from the verbal mode toward multimedia and multimodal artefacts. In this seminar we will cover the principal critical discourse approaches to textuality, addressing how these approaches can be extended to analyse narrative presented in visual and audiovisual text such as films, comics, graphic novels and interactive storytelling. After introducing the critical discourse methods, we will address how these methods can be used to construct systematic structures for reflecting media users’ prediction of narrative and genre. Moreover, we will employ the discourse approach to systematically unpack socio-political ideologies embedded in the multimodal texts. We will then explore how different media and genres achieve emotional, immersive and persuasive purposes of these ideologies in different ways drawing on the different media affordances and constraints.

In this course we deal with several issues and debates with regard to using dynamic, interactive media and digital texts for teaching and learning. In particular, we will focus on how texts from different subjects of science and humanities benefit from multimedia materials in different and similar ways. We will start this course with the methods for analysing information representation. We will then examine the relations between information representation and interactive media such as book apps, interactive narratives, online audiovisual texts. We will particularly discuss to what degree media technologies influence the teaching and learning processes in different subjects, when these technologies are employed in the teaching materials. The participants are required to draft research questions on the issues with regard to texts and media, and then address the questions by employing the analytical methods introduced in this course.

Sprachideologien sind dafür verantwortlich, dass Äußerungen wie "Kiezdeutsch ist ein Asozialen-Jargon" oder "Die französische Sprache wird durch die vielen Anglizismen bedroht" vielleicht nicht unumstritten sind; ihr Vorkommen aber doch als selbstverständlich angesehen wird. Sie sind das Bindeglied zwischen sprachlichen Strukturen bzw. Formen des Sprechens und sozialen Strukturen sowohl innerhalb als auch außerhalb der Gruppen, in denen sie gesprochen werden. Sprachideologien repräsentieren die Wahrnehmung von Sprache und Diskurs, die im Interesse einer spezifischen sozialen oder kulturellen Gruppe konstruiert wird (Kroskity 2007). Dabei stehen besonders häufig Fragen von sozialer Macht und Dominanz im Vordergrund. In dieser Überblicksveranstaltung sollen die Anwendungen der Sprachideologieforschung in diversen soziolinguistischen Forschungsfeldern, aber auch solchen der deskriptiv-strukturorientierten Linguistik diskutiert werden, z.B. Ethnographie der Kommunikation, Sprachkontakt und -konflikt, Sprachpolitik und -planung (bes. Purismus und Standardisierung, Schriftlichkeit und Orthographie), (post)koloniale Linguistik sowie Geschichte der Linguistik und Grammatikschreibung. Für möglichst jedes der Anwendungsgebiete werden wir einen programmatischen Text lesen und diskutieren.
In der Veranstaltung können 6 CP für eine ca. 45-minütige Präsentation erworben werden.

What do you have to know if you want to master a language? Your gut feeling might tell you that, at least, you need to know the words and the rules about how to combine these words in a grammatical and meaningful way. Traditional grammarians may say the same, but Construction Grammar (or CxG, for short) is a rebel! It rejects the traditional “dictionary-and-grammar model” and claims that the only thing you need to know is constructions. Essentially, a construction is an extension of the Saussurean sign (i.e. a conventionalized pairing of form and meaning), including morphemes, words, phrases and clausal patterns. CxG thus provides a holistic picture of grammar.
In this class, we will deepen your understanding of English constructions. We will define key concepts in CxG (session 2) and revise empirical evidence for CxG (session 3). We will then take a look at particular English constructions and their relations, running the gamut from clausal (session 4 and 5), to morphemic (session 7) and pragmatic (session 8), to discourse-level constructions (session 9). During the last couple of sessions, you will be given the opportunity to do small-scale research on a construction of your choice.

Course requirements
Module WD2 – 3CP (SL): Poster
Module WD2 – 3CP (PL): Poster + written assignment (~5 pages)
Module MMII – 6CP (PL): Poster + written assignment (~10 pages)

In the last decades, critical discourse analysis has moved from the verbal mode toward multimedia and multimodal artefacts. In this seminar we will cover the principal critical discourse approaches to textuality, addressing how these approaches can be extended to analyse narrative presented in visual and audiovisual text such as films, comics, graphic novels and interactive storytelling. After introducing the critical discourse methods, we will address how these methods can be used to construct systematic structures for reflecting media users’ prediction of narrative and genre. Moreover, we will employ the discourse approach to systematically unpack socio-political ideologies embedded in the multimodal texts. We will then explore how different media and genres achieve emotional, immersive and persuasive purposes of these ideologies in different ways drawing on the different media affordances and constraints.

In this course we deal with several issues and debates with regard to using dynamic, interactive media and digital texts for teaching and learning. In particular, we will focus on how texts from different subjects of science and humanities benefit from multimedia materials in different and similar ways. We will start this course with the methods for analysing information representation. We will then examine the relations between information representation and interactive media such as book apps, interactive narratives, online audiovisual texts. We will particularly discuss to what degree media technologies influence the teaching and learning processes in different subjects, when these technologies are employed in the teaching materials. The participants are required to draft research questions on the issues with regard to texts and media, and then address the questions by employing the analytical methods introduced in this course.

In this course we deal with several issues and debates with regard to using dynamic, interactive media and digital texts for teaching and learning. In particular, we will focus on how texts from different subjects of science and humanities benefit from multimedia materials in different and similar ways. We will start this course with the methods for analysing information representation. We will then examine the relations between information representation and interactive media such as book apps, interactive narratives, online audiovisual texts. We will particularly discuss to what degree media technologies influence the teaching and learning processes in different subjects, when these technologies are employed in the teaching materials. The participants are required to draft research questions on the issues with regard to texts and media, and then address the questions by employing the analytical methods introduced in this course.

Der BA-Workshop ist eine Pflichtveranstaltung für alle Profilfachstudierenden der Linguistik, die im Sommersemester 2020 ihre Abschlussarbeit beginnen. In der Mitte des SoSe ergeht eine schriftliche Einladung zu einer Vorbesprechung an alle Studierende, die sich bis dahin bei Stud.IP angemeldet haben. Bei der Vorbesprechung wird gemeinschaftlich der Termin des Workshops festgelegt, der meist in den Semesterferien liegt. Beim Workshop sollen die Studierenden ein kurzes (ca. 30 min.) Exposé ihrer Arbeit präsentieren, das anschließend im Plenum diskutiert wird. Die Abschlussarbeit muss zum Zeitpunkt des Workshops noch nicht abgeschlossen sein, vielmehr geht es um die Darstellung von work in progress. Die Präsentation der Abschlussarbeit ist unbenotet.