ERASMUS—Exploring English Grammar: the world of groups and phrases, SoSe
2022 ERASMUS—Exploring English Grammar: the world of groups and phrases, SoSe
2022ERASMUS---Exploring English Grammar: the world of groups and phrases, SoSe 2022
This course is designed primarily for ERASMUS and other exchange students who are studying Applied Linguistics, Translation, and similar subjects. It is worth 3 ECTS points. It was preceded by a separate Grammar course in winter semester, which was also worth 3 ECTS points. The CEFR Level of both courses is C1.
The course is based on the theoretical and descriptive work of the late British linguist M.A.K. Halliday.
The aim is to cover the whole of English grammar in two semesters:
The course in summer semester begins with a brief review of the syntax of sentences and clauses, but from then on we are concerned with grammatical units "below" the clause, concentrating on the nominal group and the verbal group. We look at the different functions that adjectives have, the rules for ordering adjectives, and how relative clauses work. Several weeks are devoted to English tenses, contrasting them with the tenses of Spanish, Italian, French, and German. Finally, we revisit reported speech and reported thought, and look at chained structures like “she happens to appear to have been trying to want to start looking for a job”.
The companion course, which was offered in winter semester, began with a brief look at the grammatical units of English and the functions they serve. We then studied three different dimensions of English clauses: how they are structured as (i) messages (this affects the order in which the parts of the clause occur); (ii) interpersonal exchanges (here we examine the systems of grammatical mood, including modal verbs and question tags); and (iii) representations of types of processes, participants, and circumstances (time, place, manner, and the like). The winter semester concluded with an overview of what is involved in putting clauses together to form larger complexes (apposition, coordination, subordination, quoting, reporting, and the like). There was also an optional unit on the various forms that nouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs can have (morphology); this unit is also available in summer semester.
In each semester, there are weekly exercise sheets, a final exam, and a mini-assignment to complete.
Due to the pandemic, the final exam (which is normally a written exam) will be replaced by
either an oral exam, or a portfolio of work, or an additional written assignment, or else some
combination of these options. This is negotiable, in the light of the expected low participant
numbers.
STOP PRESS !!! :
The unexpectedly high number of students taking the course in summer 2022 will result in a
number of restrictions. The most probable result will be a compulsory online oral exam, with
no worksheets handed in and no written mini-assignment.
The most important course materials are here:
PLAN
http://www.spence.saar.de/courses/grammar/plan2201/plan2201grammar.pdf
UNIT 1
http://www.spence.saar.de/courses/grammar/gram2201topic01/grammar20220502-beamer.pdf
http://www.spence.saar.de/courses/grammar/gram2201topic01/grammar20220502-druck.pdf
UNIT 2
http://www.spence.saar.de/courses/grammar/gram2201topic02/grammar20220509-beamer.pdf
http://www.spence.saar.de/courses/grammar/gram2201topic02/grammar20220509-druck.pdf
UNIT6a
http://www.spence.saar.de/courses/grammar/gram2201topic06a/grammar20220523-beamer.pdf
http://www.spence.saar.de/courses/grammar/gram2201topic06a/grammar20220523-druck.pdf
UNIT6b
http://www.spence.saar.de/courses/grammar/unit06b/finite.png
http://www.spence.saar.de/courses/grammar/unit06b/handout_06b.pdf
http://www.spence.saar.de/courses/grammar/unit06b/English36TenseSystem.pdf WARNING! 105.5 MB!!
http://www.spence.saar.de/courses/grammar/unit06b/tense_gapfill_2201_twoup.pdf
See also p. 5 of the past exams below.
UNIT7
http://www.spence.saar.de/courses/grammar/CLAUSECOMPLEXES/clause_complexes.pdf
http://www.spence.saar.de/courses/grammar/unit07a/
http://www.spence.saar.de/courses/grammar/unit07b/
PAST EXAM(S) and OTHER MATERIAL FOR THE ORAL EXAM
http://www.spence.saar.de/courses/grammar/exam1801real/exam1801real1-5.pdf
http://www.spence.saar.de/courses/grammar/exam1901/exam1901_for_teaching.pdf
http://www.spence.saar.de/courses/grammar/A_Nice_Cup_of_Tea.pdf
MORPHOLOGY (OPTIONAL):
http://www.spence.saar.de/courses/grammar/morphology_nominal/morphology_nominal.pdf
http://www.spence.saar.de/courses/grammar/morphology_verbal/morphology_verbal.pdf
http://www.spence.saar.de/courses/grammar/morphology_rules/morphology_rules.pdf
ERASMUS---Exploring English Grammar: the world of clauses, WS 2021/2022
This course is designed primarily for ERASMUS and other exchange students who are studying Applied Linguistics, Translation, and similar subjects. It is worth 3 ECTS points. It is followed by a separate Grammar course in summer semester, which is also worth 3 ECTS points. The CEFR Level of both courses is C1.
The course is based on the theoretical and descriptive work of the late British linguist M.A.K. Halliday.
The aim is to cover the whole of English grammar in two semesters:
In winter semester, we begin by taking a brief look at the grammatical units of English and the functions they serve. We then study three different dimensions of English clauses: how they are structured as (i) messages (this affects the order in which the parts of the clause occur); (ii) interpersonal exchanges (here we examine the systems of grammatical mood, including modal verbs and question tags); and (iii) representations of types of processes, participants, and circumstances (time, place, manner, and the like). The winter semester concludes with an overview of what is involved in putting clauses together to form larger complexes (apposition, coordination, subordination, quoting, reporting, and the like). There is also an optional unit on the various forms that nouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs can have (morphology).
The companion course, which is offered in summer semester, begins with a brief review of the syntax of sentences and clauses, but from then on we are concerned with grammatical units “below” the clause, concentrating on the nominal group and the verbal group. We look at the different functions that adjectives have, the rules for ordering adjectives, and how relative clauses work. Several weeks are devoted to English tenses, contrasting them with the tenses of Spanish, Italian, French, and German. Finally, we revisit reported speech and reported thought, and look at chained structures like “she happens to appear to have been trying to want to start looking for a job”.
In each semester, there are weekly exercise sheets, a final exam, and a mini-assignment to complete.
Due to the pandemic, the final exam (which is normally a written exam) could be replaced by either an oral exam, or a portfolio of work, or an additional written assignment, or else some combination of these options. This is negotiable, in the light of the expected low participant numbers.
Here you can find the first chunk of the course notes for winter semester 2021/2022.
http://www.spence.saar.de/courses/grammar/coursenotes202102/index.pdf
http://www.spence.saar.de/courses/grammar/morphology_nominal/morphology_nominal.pdf
http://www.spence.saar.de/courses/grammar/morphology_verbal/morphology_verbal.pdf
http://www.spence.saar.de/courses/grammar/morphology_rules/morphology_rules.pdf
Here you can find the slides from 08.11.2021:
http://www.spence.saar.de/courses/grammar/gram2102topic00/grammar20211108-beamer.pdf
and here are the content of the slides in a format more suitable for printing:
http://www.spence.saar.de/courses/grammar/gram2102topic00/grammar20211108-druck.pdf
At this session, we discussed the organization of the course, set the date for the exam, played a game in which students tried to guess a sentence written on a piece of paper in a sealed envelope, and made sure that everyone had completed the initial survey or at least the short version of it.
Here is the link to the short version of the initial survey:
http://www.spence.saar.de/courses/grammar/shortinitialsurvey/shortinitialsurvey.pdf
It contains some questions on grammar that are designed to stimulate discussion. Most of you will probably have already answered these questions, as they were part of the longer initial survey I sent before the classes started.
There is no homework to before the next class, other than to go through your initial test again and think again about the questions you got wrong the first time.
Here you can find the slides from 15.11.2021:
http://www.spence.saar.de/courses/grammar/gram2102topic01/grammar20211115-beamer.pdf
and here are the content of the slides in a format more suitable for printing:
http://www.spence.saar.de/courses/grammar/gram2102topic01/grammar20211115-druck.pdf
plus the extra, final page of the printout which was too complicated to be printed at the point where it is needed:
http://www.spence.saar.de/courses/grammar/unit01/GRAMMARUNIT01EXTRASLIDE.png
In this session, we begin with a theoretical introduction to functional grammar. Then, taking up the results from last week’s guessing game, we explore the broad outlines of English grammar as they appear when they are organized around the notion of choice.
Here is the Exercise Sheet to do BEFORE the third class:
http://www.spence.saar.de/courses/grammar/questions01/questions01.pdf
It touches on a variety of different issues from all over English grammar.
Here you can find the slides from 22.11.2021:
http://www.spence.saar.de/courses/grammar/gram2102topic02/grammar20211122-beamer.pdf
and here are the content of the slides in a format more suitable for printing:
http://www.spence.saar.de/courses/grammar/gram2102topic02/grammar20211122-druck.pdf
In this session, we conclude the theoretical introduction.
Here is the Exercise Sheet to be completed BEFORE the fourth class:
http://www.spence.saar.de/courses/grammar/questions02/questions02.pdf
We may decide to start on this during the session on 22 November, in order to get a slight head start for next week.
Here you can find the slides from 29.11.2021:
http://www.spence.saar.de/courses/grammar/gram2102topic03/grammar20211129-beamer.pdf
and here are the content of the slides in a format more suitable for printing:
http://www.spence.saar.de/courses/grammar/gram2102topic03/grammar20211129-druck.pdf
Additional material relating to Unit 03 can be found here:
http://www.spence.saar.de/courses/grammar/unit03/
This session is devoted to the concepts Theme and Rheme.
Here is the Exercise Sheet on Mood Tags to do BEFORE the fifth session:
http://www.spence.saar.de/courses/grammar/questions03/questions03.pdf
You will self-correct this exercise sheet based on the answers you will find in the additional slides on Mood Tags next week.
In addition, it might be a good idea to begin thinking about this gap-fill exercise, in order to save time during next week’s session:
http://www.spence.saar.de/courses/grammar/unit04a/paradigms.pdf
If you find it too technical and/or you don’t like guessing, then don’t worry – we’ll look at it in class next week in any case.
Here you can find the slides from 06.12.2021:
http://www.spence.saar.de/courses/grammar/gram2102topic04a/grammar20211206-beamer.pdf
and here are the content of the slides in a format more suitable for printing:
http://www.spence.saar.de/courses/grammar/gram2102topic04a/grammar20211206-druck.pdf
Here you can find additional materials relating to today’s topic:
http://www.spence.saar.de/courses/grammar/unit04a/
These include the gap-fill exercise paradigms.pdf mentioned above, and an additional set of slides on Mood Tags:
http://www.spence.saar.de/courses/grammar/unit04a/moodtags2021-beamer.pdf
You can click your way through these slides, and they will pause after each question to give you time to think about your answer. When you click again, you will be shown the answer.
Here is the Exercise Sheet on modal verbs to complete to prepare for the sixth class:
http://www.spence.saar.de/courses/grammar/questions04a/questions04a.pdf
Here you can find the slides from 13.12.2021:
http://www.spence.saar.de/courses/grammar/gram2102topic04b/grammar20211213-beamer.pdf
and here are the content of the slides in a format more suitable for printing:
http://www.spence.saar.de/courses/grammar/gram2102topic04b/grammar20211213-druck.pdf
There is a lot of material to cover at this class; to test how much you have learnt, you might like to try answering these questions from a previous final exam paper:
http://www.spence.saar.de/courses/grammar/questions04b/questions04b.pdf
There is no homework over Christmas. In January we commence a new topic: the way the grammar of English clauses represents human experience of the world.
There are no specific plans for the class on 03.01.2022.
Here you can find the slides from 10.01.2022:
http://www.spence.saar.de/courses/grammar/gram2102topic05a/grammar20220110-beamer.pdf
and here are the content of the slides in a format more suitable for printing:
http://www.spence.saar.de/courses/grammar/gram2102topic05a/grammar20220110-druck.pdf
Because some of the diagrams on the slides are too small to see properly, they are reproduced here as well:
http://www.spence.saar.de/courses/grammar/unit05a/handout_5a.pdf
You will need to have the diagrams in front you when we start analysing the transitivity/ergativity structures of English clauses in class:
http://www.spence.saar.de/courses/grammar/questions05a/questions05a.pdf
You can finish some more of this exercise for homework, if you like. Remember: only go into as much detail as you really want to or need to.
There are no slides for the class on 17 January 2022. We will continue working on the worksheets on transitivity:
http://www.spence.saar.de/courses/grammar/questions05b/questions05b.pdf
Most of the important concepts we will need for this topic can be found here:
http://www.spence.saar.de/courses/grammar/unit05b/handout_5b.pdf
The handout for this week’s class is here:
http://www.spence.saar.de/courses/grammar/unit07a/handout_07.pdf
And the most important one-page summary of all is here:
http://www.spence.saar.de/courses/grammar/unit07a/clause_complexes.pdf
The handout for this week’s class is here:
http://www.spence.saar.de/courses/grammar/unit07b/handout_07b.pdf
There is an exercise here, which we will do together in class:
http://www.spence.saar.de/courses/grammar/questions07b/questions07b.pdf
We will decide closer to the time what happens in this last sesssion.
Here is a summary of the logicosemantic relation of expansion as it appears in many guises throughout the grammar of English:
http://www.spence.saar.de/courses/grammar/unit07b/expansion_summary/expansion_summary_2.pdf
Here are some scans that provide a summary of the main types of hypotactic verbal group complexes (“catenative structures”) in English:
http://www.spence.saar.de/courses/grammar/unit07b/verbalgrouphypotaxis/
You may find this useful in analysing the grammatical structures of English texts.
Here is are two exam papers from previous semesters. They may be useful for teaching purposes in this semester’s classes:
http://www.spence.saar.de/courses/grammar/exam1901/exam1901_for_teaching.pdf
http://www.spence.saar.de/courses/grammar/exam1902/exam1902_for_teaching.pdf
ERASMUS---Exploring English Grammar: the world of groups and phrases, SoSe 2021
This course is designed primarily for ERASMUS and other exchange students who are studying Applied Linguistics, Translation, and similar subjects. It is worth 3 ECTS points. It is followed by a separate Grammar course in winter semester, which is also worth 3 ECTS points. The CEFR Level of both courses is C1.
The course is based on the theoretical and descriptive work of the late British linguist M.A.K. Halliday.
The aim is to cover the whole of English grammar in two semesters:
The course in summer semester begins with a brief review of the syntax of sentences and clauses, but from then on we are concerned with grammatical units "below" the clause, concentrating on the nominal group and the verbal group. We look at the different functions that adjectives have, the rules for ordering adjectives, and how relative clauses work. Several weeks are devoted to English tenses, contrasting them with the tenses of Spanish, Italian, French, and German. Finally, we revisit reported speech and reported thought, and look at chained structures like “she happens to appear to have been trying to want to start looking for a job”.
The companion course, which is offered in winter semester, begins with a brief look at the grammatical units of English and the functions they serve. We then study three different dimensions of English clauses: how they are structured as (i) messages (this affects the order in which the parts of the clause occur); (ii) interpersonal exchanges (here we examine the systems of grammatical mood, including modal verbs and question tags); and (iii) representations of types of processes, participants, and circumstances (time, place, manner, and the like). The winter semester concludes with an overview of what is involved in putting clauses together to form larger complexes (apposition, coordination, subordination, quoting, reporting, and the like). There is also an optional unit on the various forms that nouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs can have (morphology).
In each semester, there are weekly exercise sheets, a final exam, and a mini-assignment to complete.
Due to the pandemic, the final exam (which is normally a written exam) will be replaced by either an oral exam, or a portfolio of work, or an additional written assignment, or else some combination of these options. This is negotiable, in the light of the expected low participant numbers.
Students who prefer to “have everything in one place on Moodle” can start here:
https://lms.sulb.uni-saarland.de/moodle/course/view.php?id=2149
Links to all course materials will be available here by the beginning of classes (12 April).
ERASMUS---Exploring English Grammar: the world of clauses, WS 2020/2021
This course is designed primarily for ERASMUS and other exchange students who are studying Applied Linguistics, Translation, and similar subjects. It is worth 3 ECTS points. It is followed by a separate Grammar course in summer semester, which is also worth 3 ECTS points. The CEFR Level of both courses is C1.
The course is based on the theoretical and descriptive work of the late British linguist M.A.K. Halliday.
The aim is to cover the whole of English grammar in two semesters:
In winter semester, we begin by taking a brief look at the grammatical units of English and the functions they serve. We then study three different dimensions of English clauses: how they are structured as (i) messages (this affects the order in which the parts of the clause occur); (ii) interpersonal exchanges (here we examine the systems of grammatical mood, including modal verbs and question tags); and (iii) representations of types of processes, participants, and circumstances (time, place, manner, and the like). The winter semester concludes with an overview of what is involved in putting clauses together to form larger complexes (apposition, coordination, subordination, quoting, reporting, and the like). There is also an optional unit on the various forms that nouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs can have (morphology).
The companion course, which is offered in summer semester, begins with a brief review of the syntax of sentences and clauses, but from then on we are concerned with grammatical units "below" the clause, concentrating on the nominal group and the verbal group. We look at the different functions that adjectives have, the rules for ordering adjectives, and how relative clauses work. Several weeks are devoted to English tenses, contrasting them with the tenses of Spanish, Italian, French, and German. Finally, we revisit reported speech and reported thought, and look at chained structures like "she happens to appear to have been trying to want to start looking for a job".
In each semester, there are weekly exercise sheets, a final exam, and a mini-assignment to complete.
Due to the pandemic, the final exam (which is normally a written exam) will be replaced by either an oral exam, or a portfolio of work, or an additional written assignment, or else some combination of these options. This is negotiable, in the light of the expected low participant numbers.
Here you can find the course notes for winter semester 2020/2021. The document is to be uploaded chapter by chapter. Here is the first instalment:
http://www.spence.saar.de/courses/grammar/coursenotes202002/fascicles/fascicle_00.pdf
http://www.spence.saar.de/courses/grammar/morphology_nominal/morphology_nominal.pdf
http://www.spence.saar.de/courses/grammar/morphology_verbal/morphology_verbal.pdf
http://www.spence.saar.de/courses/grammar/morphology_rules/morphology_rules.pdf
Here you can find the slides from 09.11.2020:
http://www.spence.saar.de/courses/grammar/gram2002topic00/grammar20201109-beamer.pdf
and here are the content of the slides in a format more suitable for printing:
http://www.spence.saar.de/courses/grammar/gram2002topic00/grammar20201109-druck.pdf
At this session, we discussed the organization of the course, set the date for the exam, played a game in which students tried to guess a sentence written on a piece of paper in a sealed envelope, and made sure that everyone had completed the initial survey or at least the short version of it.
Here is the link to the short version of the initial survey:
http://www.spence.saar.de/courses/grammar/shortinitialsurvey/shortinitialsurvey.pdf
It contains some questions on grammar that are designed to stimulate discussion. Most of you will probably have already answered these questions, as they were part of the longer initial survey I sent before the classes started.
There is no homework to before the next class, other than to go through your initial test again and think again about the questions you got wrong the first time.
Here you can find the slides from 16.11.2020:
http://www.spence.saar.de/courses/grammar/gram2002topic01/grammar20201116-beamer.pdf
and here are the content of the slides in a format more suitable for printing:
http://www.spence.saar.de/courses/grammar/gram2002topic01/grammar20201116-druck.pdf
plus the extra, final page of the printout which was too complicated to be printed at the point where it is needed:
http://www.spence.saar.de/courses/grammar/unit01/GRAMMARUNIT01EXTRASLIDE.png
In this session, we begin with a theoretical introduction to functional grammar. Then, taking up the results from last week’s guessing game, we explore the broad outlines of English grammar as they appear when they are organized around the notion of choice.
Here is the Exercise Sheet to do BEFORE the third class:
http://www.spence.saar.de/courses/grammar/questions01/questions01.pdf
It touches on a variety of different issues from all over English grammar.
Here you can find the slides from 23.11.2020:
http://www.spence.saar.de/courses/grammar/gram2002topic02/grammar20201123-beamer.pdf
and here are the content of the slides in a format more suitable for printing:
http://www.spence.saar.de/courses/grammar/gram2002topic02/grammar20201123-druck.pdf
In this session, we conclude the theoretical introduction.
Here is the Exercise Sheet to be completed BEFORE the fourth class:
http://www.spence.saar.de/courses/grammar/questions02/questions02.pdf
We may decide to start on this during the session on 23 November, in order to get a slight head start for next week.
Here you can find the slides from 30.11.2020:
http://www.spence.saar.de/courses/grammar/gram2002topic03/grammar20201130-beamer.pdf
and here are the content of the slides in a format more suitable for printing:
http://www.spence.saar.de/courses/grammar/gram2002topic03/grammar20201130-druck.pdf
Additional material relating to Unit 03 can be found here:
http://www.spence.saar.de/courses/grammar/unit03/
This session is devoted to the concepts Theme and Rheme.
Here is the Exercise Sheet on Mood Tags to do BEFORE the fifth session:
http://www.spence.saar.de/courses/grammar/questions03/questions03.pdf
You will self-correct this exercise sheet based on the answers you will find in the additional slides on Mood Tags next week.
In addition, it might be a good idea to begin thinking about this gap-fill exercise, in order to save time during next week’s session:
http://www.spence.saar.de/courses/grammar/unit04a/paradigms.pdf
If you find it too technical and/or you don’t like guessing, then don’t worry – we’ll look at it in class next week in any case.
Here you can find the slides from 07.12.2020:
http://www.spence.saar.de/courses/grammar/gram2002topic04a/grammar20201207-beamer.pdf
and here are the content of the slides in a format more suitable for printing:
http://www.spence.saar.de/courses/grammar/gram2002topic04a/grammar20201207-druck.pdf
Here you can find additional materials relating to today’s topic:
http://www.spence.saar.de/courses/grammar/unit04a/
These include the gap-fill exercise paradigms.pdf mentioned above, and an additional set of slides on Mood Tags:
http://www.spence.saar.de/courses/grammar/unit04a/moodtags.pdf
You can click your way through these slides, and they will pause after each question to give you time to think about your answer. When you click again, you will be shown the answer.
Here is the Exercise Sheet on modal verbs to complete to prepare for the sixth class:
http://www.spence.saar.de/courses/grammar/questions04a/questions04a.pdf
Here you can find the slides from 14.12.2020:
http://www.spence.saar.de/courses/grammar/gram2002topic04b/grammar20201214-beamer.pdf
and here are the content of the slides in a format more suitable for printing:
http://www.spence.saar.de/courses/grammar/gram2002topic04b/grammar20201214-druck.pdf
There is a lot of material to cover at this class; to test how much you have learnt, you might like to try answering these questions from a previous final exam paper:
http://www.spence.saar.de/courses/grammar/questions04b/questions04b.pdf
There is no homework over Christmas. In January we commence a new topic: the way the grammar of English clauses represents human experience of the world.
Here you can find the slides from 04.01.2020:
http://www.spence.saar.de/courses/grammar/gram2002topic05a/grammar20210104-beamer.pdf
and here are the content of the slides in a format more suitable for printing:
http://www.spence.saar.de/courses/grammar/gram2002topic05a/grammar20210104-druck.pdf
Because some of the diagrams on the slides are too small to see properly, they are reproduced here as well:
http://www.spence.saar.de/courses/grammar/unit05a/handout_5a.pdf
You will need to have the diagrams in front you when we start analysing the transitivity/ergativity structures of English clauses in class:
http://www.spence.saar.de/courses/grammar/questions05a/questions05a.pdf
You can finish some more of this exercise for homework, if you like. Remember: only go into as much detail as you really want to or need to.
There are no slides for the class on 18 January 2021. We will continue working on the worksheets on transitivity:
http://www.spence.saar.de/courses/grammar/questions05b/questions05b.pdf
Most of the important concepts we will need for this topic can be found here:
http://www.spence.saar.de/courses/grammar/unit05b/handout_5b.pdf
The handout for this week’s class is here:
http://www.spence.saar.de/courses/grammar/unit07a/handout_07.pdf
And the most important one-page summary of all is here:
http://www.spence.saar.de/courses/grammar/unit07a/clause_complexes.pdf
The handout for this week’s class is here:
http://www.spence.saar.de/courses/grammar/unit07b/handout_07b.pdf
There is an exercise here, which we will do together in class:
http://www.spence.saar.de/courses/grammar/questions07b/questions07b.pdf
We will decide closer to the time what happens in this last sesssion.
Here is a summary of the logicosemantic relation of expansion as it appears in many guises throughout the grammar of English:
http://www.spence.saar.de/courses/grammar/unit07b/expansion_summary/expansion_summary_2.pdf
Here are some scans that provide a summary of the main types of hypotactic verbal group complexes (“catenative structures”) in English:
http://www.spence.saar.de/courses/grammar/unit07b/verbalgrouphypotaxis/
You may find this useful in analysing the grammatical structures of English texts.
Here is are two exam papers from previous semesters. They may be useful for teaching purposes in this semester’s classes:
http://www.spence.saar.de/courses/grammar/exam1901/exam1901_for_teaching.pdf
http://www.spence.saar.de/courses/grammar/exam1902/exam1902_for_teaching.pdf
Exploring English Grammar --- the world of groups and phrases, SoSe 2020
Important notice:
Due to the SARS-CoV-2/COVID-19 pandemic, this course will only be offered if there is a sufficient demand for it, with at least the first few units being offered online (asynchronous remote learning) rather than in person.
Any students interested in taking the course should register online via LSF and also contact me by email.
Stay safe and healthy!
Exploring English Grammar --- the world of clauses, WS 2019/2020
This course is specifically designed to be useful to students of translation and interpreting.
This course provides an overview of English grammar from a SYSTEMIC FUNCTIONAL perspective, and is designed to help students develop their own repertoire of strategies for answering the following questions:
The course is designed for native or near-native speakers of one of the Romance languages French, Spanish, or Italian, and is intended specifically for Erasmus students. Other students are welcome to attend the course provided they have a reasonably sound knowledge of English. It is also assumed that students taking the course have some knowledge of German.
The main language of instruction is English, but sometimes German will be used, depending on the nature of the particular problem under discussion.
The course devotes special attention to the things that can go wrong when it is the grammar of a Romance language that is interfering with the grammar of English, but we will also look at some of the things that can go wrong when the source of the interference is the grammar of German.
The course runs for one 15-week semester (1 x 2 SWS = 2 SWS) and is held each Tuesday from 10:15 to 11:45. In summer semester, a companion course (Exploring English Grammar — the world of groups and phrases) is offered, which covers all the material that could not be covered in winter semester. Most of the material covered in summer is based around nominal or verbal groups, including a great deal of work on tense.
The course held in winter covers the structures that clauses have due to their function in construing experience, enacting interpersonal relationships, and enabling coherent text. It also covers the logical relations involved in putting clauses together to produce clause complexes (i.e. sentences consisting of more than one single clause).
In more detail:
In winter semester, we begin by taking a brief look at the grammatical units of English and the functions they serve. We then study three different dimensions of English clauses: how they are structured as (i) messages (this affects the order in which the parts of the clause occur); (ii) interpersonal exchanges (here we examine the systems of grammatical mood, including modal verbs and question tags); and (iii) representations of types of processes, participants, and circumstances (time, place, manner, and the like). The winter semester concludes with an overview of what is involved in putting clauses together to form larger complexes (apposition, coordination, subordination, quoting, reporting, and the like). There is also an optional unit on the various forms that nouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs can have (morphology).
(The course held in summer covers the structure and functions of nominal groups, including demonstratives, the order of adjectives, defining (restrictive) relative clauses, etc.; the functions of prepositions in prepositional phrases; and the systems such as aspect and tense that are encoded in verbal groups. Several weeks are devoted to contrastive exercises in which the English tense system is examined from the perspective of tense in French, Italian, Spanish, and German. After this, we revisit reported speech and reported thought, and look at chained structures like "she happens to appear to have been trying to want to start looking for a job”. If time permits in summer semester, we will also look at aspects of English grammar that extend “beyond” the clause and also some of the grammatical functions of English prosody.)
After each class (15 x 2 hours) there is a small amount of homework, consisting of exercises designed to review what has just been learnt and prepare the ground for what is to come. The total extent of the course is thus 30 (15 x 2) contact hours, plus an additional 45 to 60 hours devoted to homework, making a total of 75 to 90 hours for 3 credit points. (An equivalent amount of work is involved in the summer semester course, which is also worth 3 credit points.)
All students taking the course should make sure that their correct email address is on the
course mailing list. (Online registration is available via LSF, but please try to get to the first
lesson so that I can meet you in person!) When sending an email to the course leader, please
make sure that the piece of text
[grammar]
(including the square brackets!) is included in the subject line. (This will happen
automagically if you are reading any email I have already sent you concerning this course and
you simply hit the “Reply” button.)
Students are expected to attend regularly. If you are unable to attend one of the lessons, it is vital that you contact me beforehand to let me know. Missing more than two lessons altogether would seriously compromise your chances of successfully completing the course.
Each lesson is accompanied by a worksheet of questions which students are expected to answer. These questions will be discussed in class, but in general the worksheet does not need to be handed in.
Assessment for the course will be on the basis of a final examination (to be held during the normal class time in the last week of lectures) plus a small number of hand-in exercises (including one mini-assignment) spread throughout the semester. The examination itself will be based entirely on the questions contained in the weekly worksheets.
Most of the course materials, including the weekly worksheets, will be included in the course notes and placed on the website; certain additional materials will be distributed in the lessons; and other materials can be accessed by following the links on the course website.
The website will be updated frequently, so please check back regularly.
The course notes are still in preparation.
Here you can find the course notes for winter semester 2017/2018. The document will be uploaded chapter by chapter. Here are the first instalments:
http://www.spence.saar.de/courses/grammar/coursenotes201802/fascicles/fascicle_00.pdf
http://www.spence.saar.de/courses/grammar/coursenotes201802/fascicles/fascicle_01.pdf
Here you can find the slides from 16.10.2018:
http://www.spence.saar.de/courses/grammar/gram1802topic00/grammar20181016-beamer.pdf
and here are the content of the slides in a format more suitable for printing:
http://www.spence.saar.de/courses/grammar/gram1802topic00/grammar20181016-print.pdf
Here is the link to the initial survey:
http://www.spence.saar.de/courses/grammar/initialsurvey/initialsurvey.pdf
Here is the Exercise Sheet to do BEFORE the second class:
http://www.spence.saar.de/courses/grammar/questions01/index.pdf
In this class, general information about the course was provided, and students did an initial assessment test.
In this class we discussed all the issues that came up in the initial test.
This was the first week in which it became clear just how many students were taking the course – a record number.
Here you can find the slides for the class of 24.04.2018:
http://www.spence.saar.de/courses/grammar/gram1801topic01/grammar20180424-beamer.pdf
and here are the contents of the slides in a format more suitable for printing:
http://www.spence.saar.de/courses/grammar/gram1801topic01/grammar20180424-print.pdf
There was no class on 1 May, due to the public holiday.
In this class we spent most of the time discussing the rest of the slides from 24.04.2018.
The printout of the slides for this week was handed out in class:
http://www.spence.saar.de/courses/grammar/gram1801topic02/grammar20180508-print.pdf
Students were asked to look at this week’s slides on their own:
http://www.spence.saar.de/courses/grammar/gram1801topic02/grammar20180508-beamer.pdf
and refer back to them while completing the following exercise:
http://www.spence.saar.de/courses/grammar/SFG_Analysis_Exercise/SFG_Analysis_Exercise.pdf
In this class we discussed the analysis of the SFPCA structures in the exercise handed out the week before.
In this class we began discussing nominal groups:
http://www.spence.saar.de/courses/grammar/gram1801topic06a/grammar20180521-beamer.pdf
http://www.spence.saar.de/courses/grammar/gram1801topic06a/grammar20180521-print.pdf
At the end of the class, students arranged words to make nominal groups that had the adjectives in the correct order.
Here you can find the course notes for winter semester 2017/2018. The document will be uploaded chapter by chapter. Here are the first instalments:
http://www.spence.saar.de/courses/grammar/coursenotes201702/fascicles/fascicle_00.pdf
http://www.spence.saar.de/courses/grammar/coursenotes201702/fascicles/fascicle_01.pdf
Here you can find the slides from 17.10.2017 (updated with the revised timetable):
http://www.spence.saar.de/courses/grammar/gram1702topic00/grammar20171017-beamer.pdf
and here are the content of the slides in a format more suitable for printing:
http://www.spence.saar.de/courses/grammar/gram1702topic00/grammar20171017-print.pdf
Here is the link to the initial survey:
http://www.spence.saar.de/courses/grammar/initialsurvey/index.pdf
Here is an Exercise Sheet to do BEFORE the third class:
http://www.spence.saar.de/courses/grammar/questions01/index.pdf
Here you can find the slides from 24.10.2017:
http://www.spence.saar.de/courses/grammar/gram1702topic01/grammar20171024-beamer.pdf
and here are the content of the slides in a format more suitable for printing:
http://www.spence.saar.de/courses/grammar/gram1702topic01/grammar20171024-print.pdf
Here are the additional slides for Unit 02—we skipped over these due to the public holiday on
31 October, and in favour of a deeper discussion of the initial survey and of exercise sheet
01:
http://www.spence.saar.de/courses/grammar/gram1702topic02/grammar20171024a-beamer.pdf
and here are the content of the slides in a format more suitable for printing:
http://www.spence.saar.de/courses/grammar/gram1702topic02/grammar20171024a-print.pdf
There was no class this week, due to a one-off extra public holiday (Reformation Day).
This week we concluded the theoretical introduction to the course, and discussed problems that arose from the examples in the initial survey and the first exercise sheet.
Here is the Exercise Sheet to do be completed BEFORE Unit 3:
http://www.spence.saar.de/courses/grammar/questions02/index.pdf
Here you can find the slides from 14.11.2017:
http://www.spence.saar.de/courses/grammar/gram1702topic03/grammar20171114-beamer.pdf
and here are the content of the slides in a format more suitable for printing:
http://www.spence.saar.de/courses/grammar/gram1702topic03/grammar20171114-print.pdf
Additional materials on this week’s class can be found here:
http://www.spence.saar.de/courses/grammar/unit03
Here is the Exercise Sheet to do BEFORE the fourth class:
http://www.spence.saar.de/courses/grammar/questions03/index.pdf
Here you can find the slides from 21.11.2017:
http://www.spence.saar.de/courses/grammar/gram1702topic04a/grammar20171121-beamer.pdf
and here are the content of the slides in a format more suitable for printing:
http://www.spence.saar.de/courses/grammar/gram1702topic04a/grammar20171121-print.pdf
The worksheet on modal verbs to be completed before next week’s class (on modality) is here:
http://www.spence.saar.de/courses/grammar/questions04a/index.pdf
Additional materials relating to this week’s class can be found here:
http://www.spence.saar.de/courses/grammar/unit04a/moodtags.pdf
–these slides contain all the answers to the questions of the Exercise Sheet 03 on mood tags that was set for homework last week. In the final exam, there will be two questions on mood tags; they will be based on the questions on Exercise Sheet 03.
http://www.spence.saar.de/courses/grammar/unit04a/moodtags-print.pdf
– this is the printout of the slides on Mood Tags.
http://www.spence.saar.de/courses/grammar/unit04a/paradigms.pdf
– this was the table-completion exercise that was set for homework. The answers are available in the plastic frame next to my office (A2 2, 2.02.1).
Here you can find the slides from 28.11.2017:
http://www.spence.saar.de/courses/grammar/gram1702topic04b/grammar20171128-beamer.pdf
and here are the content of the slides in a format more suitable for printing:
http://www.spence.saar.de/courses/grammar/gram1702topic04b/grammar20171128-print.pdf
Here is the Exercise Sheet on Modality (Exercise Sheet 5), which should be done for homework:
http://www.spence.saar.de/courses/grammar/questions04b/index.pdf
Additional materials relating to this week’s class can be found in:
http://www.spence.saar.de/courses/grammar/unit04b/
That material will be helpful in completing Exercise Sheet 4b.
Here you can find the slides from 05.12.2017:
http://www.spence.saar.de/courses/grammar/gram1702topic05a/grammar20171205-beamer.pdf
and here are the content of the slides in a format more suitable for printing:
http://www.spence.saar.de/courses/grammar/gram1702topic05a/grammar20171205-print.pdf
The 3-page handout for this week’s class, containing more legible versions of the diagrams, can be found here:
http://www.spence.saar.de/courses/grammar/unit05a/handout_5a.pdf
The exercise sheet we worked on in class can be found here:
http://www.spence.saar.de/courses/grammar/questions05a/index.pdf
The handout for this week’s class, containing tables and diagrams, can be found here:
http://www.spence.saar.de/courses/grammar/unit05b/handout_5b.pdf
There is no separate exercise sheet for Unit 5b; you should continue working on the extensive exercise sheet for Unit 5a.
The handout for this week’s class, containing tables and diagrams, can be found here:
http://www.spence.saar.de/courses/grammar/unit05/handout_5b.pdf
