Bar Ilan University
English Dept.
LINGUISTICS
Course Descriptions for 2013-14
108.
Basic Reading and Academic Writing for Linguists
Students will study a selection of fundmental readings in Linguistics, writing short essays
on their reading.
184.
Introduction to Linguistics
The course begins from a perspective of general intellectual curiosity and
expects to instill an understanding of modern scientific linguistics. Topics
include: brain and language, morphology, syntax, semantics, pragmatics,
phonetics, phonology, language acquisition, bilingualism, language
processing, computational linguistics, reading, sociolinguistics, language
and aging, and translation. The main goal of the course beyond the content
material is to improve skills in written composition.
286.
Phonetics and Phonology
 Introducing the study of systems and patterns of sounds and structures in human
languages
 Acquiring basic tools for phonetic and phonological analysis of linguistic data
287.
Syntax
An introduction to the generative approach to understanding sentence structure. Elements of
syntactic analysis are introduced: constituents and tree diagrams, X-bar theory,
complements and adjuncts, theta roles and the theta criterion, movement and the Dstructure/S-structure distinction. This course provides the tools to understanding the source
of phenomena such as structural ambiguities and the formation of interrogative sentences.
289.
Semantics
This course is an introduction to Semantics, i.e. to a theory of meaning in natural language.
We will develop a theory of Semantics within the Chomskian framework of generative
grammar. The theory we will focus on is formal (or - modeltheoretic) Semantics, which
gives interpretation to natural language expressions by using formal tools of logic and
philosophy of language, and which has proved to be extremely productive in accounting for
a wide variety of semantic phenomena. Among other things, this theory will enable us (a) to
“understand what we understand” in a precise and noncircular way, (b) to systematically
predict the meaning of complex expressions on the basis of the meaning of their parts (c) to
account for semantic productivity (the fact that we can create and understand the meaning
of sentences we never hear before) (d) to account for a variety of other semantic phenomena
such as entailment, synonymy, contradiction, semantic ambiguity, semantic infelicity,
presuppositions, etc.
466.
Psycho semantics
The study of meaning in natural languages today undergoes a rapid
change- theoretical linguists acknowledge the importance of
quantitive research, while experimentalists (including psychologists
and brain scientists) acknowledge the advantage of getting wellinformed in linguistic theory. We will read papers from the
developed body of theoretically-informed experimental literature,
and aim at in depth discussions of the phenomena they deal with
from the perspective of both theoretical research and empiricalexperimental investigation of language.
468.
Spelling Acquisition
The seminar will review current models of spelling acquisition with focus on English.
Further, with a cross-linguistic lens, it will address cross-linguistic differences in
orthographic structure and linguistic structure and their effect on spelling development in
different languages. The relationship between reading and spelling development will be
addressed.
471.
Applied Text Analysis
This course is designed to provide the tools to analyse different kinds of texts. A number of
levels of analysis will be introduced from both lexico-grammar and discourse structure. The
building of genres will be studied working up from the functions encoded in lexico-grammar.
The methods of analysis are cumulative and so should be mastered in sequence. The work in
the course will consist of presentations, reading, and the analysis of texts. Students will be
expected to prepare an analysis of a text or texts as a seminar paper.
495.
NPs from a cross linguistic perspective
This course will examine basic properties of NPs from a cross linguistic perspective
including the syntax and semantics of bare NPs, definiteness and plurality and interaction
with aspect.
503.
Reading Theory and Practice
The course reviews the history of reading theory and the main developments in
reading theory and practice in an attempt to underscore the contrast between old and
current conceptualizations. With this historical perspective, it aims to explicate the
linguistic basis of reading and the interface in reading development between
language and orthography. The second part of the course will be devoted to a
discussion of cross-linguistic differences in reading acquisition as well as
implications of current reading theory to the teaching and testing of reading ability.
517.
Research Methods
The course provides backgound in research methodology, literature searches,
statistics, academic publishing.
522.
Psycholinguistics
The course examines two main questions about the mind. The first is how children acquire
language. Two main views about language
acquisition will be discussed: the nativist (generative) and the empiricist approaches (in
which we may include the connectionist approach, and the neural networks approach).
The second question is how language is processed in the mind. Several models will be
discussed that deal with such a question. In an attempt to answer both questions, the course
will provide insight to research methodologies used in the field.
582.
Syntactic Representation
A central premise in syntactic theory is that the linear surface realization of natural language
data is the output of a highly structured hierarchical representation. The first part of this
course is devoted to a discussion of various theoretical models of syntactic representations,
the problems that motivate these models and a comparison of alternative models. The
second part of the course deals with computational and methodological issues associated
with using different types of corpora of existing language data as part of research in
theoretical syntax.
584.
Morphology


587.
Introducing basic concepts in morphology and its interface with other components of the
grammar
Providing tools for morphological analysis
Advanced Syntax
Continuation of 287. Introduction to the central components of modern syntactic theory:
functional projections in X-bar theory, Theta theory, Case theory, Binding theory, locality
and movement. Abstract notions such as empty categories (PRO, trace) and levels of
representations are developed, with the goal of arriving at a systematic theory of syntax that
can not only describe the language but also explain why it has the observed properties.
Prerequisite: Grammatical analysis (287)
589.
Advanced Semantics
In this course we will extend and improve the basic theory of interpretation of natural
language so:

it is much more systematically compatible with the principle of compositional
interpretation

it enables us to translate and define the meaning of interesting constructions in
English and to solve some semantic puzzles about natural language.

you get familiar with notions, techniques, formal tools and symbols
which are used a lot in current semantic theories, so you can read
current articles and
The course will be divided into two parts:
Part 1: Welcome to typesland and lambadaland ! functions and sets, “compositional
interpretation as functional application”, the framework of semantic types. The lambda
operator (lambda abstraction and conversion)
Part 2: Welcome to quantifierland ! Quantification in Predicate Calculus, and its
shortcomings, the theory of generalized quantifiers and its representation using the lambda
operator. Interesting distinctions between quantifiers, type shifting operations with NPs.
855.
Bilingual Codeswitching
The seminar will examine individual bilingualism in the framework of my
sociopragmatic model of bilingual processing. The model distinguishes among the
general constructs of structure, function, and processing and draws on linguistic,
psycholinguistic, and sociolinguistic theories in bilingualism. An attempt will be
made to get at some of the unique aspects of bilingualism, this year focusing in
particular on codeswitching and code interference in the context of children’s
narratives. Readings will include the work of Auer, Clyne, Green, Grosjean, Kroll,
Myers-Scotton, Walters and many others. The seminar will devote a large share of
time to methods in bilingual research.
Students will improve their research skills in the following areas:
1. reading, synthesis and writing in order to compose a literature review
2. data analysis and interpretation of experimental and qualitative data
3. scientific writing
861.
Graduate Research Seminar
This seminar aims to equip students with advanced tools and criteria for analyzing
scientific research, and to provide guidance and peer support for the student through
her work on the PhD proposal and research. The seminar focuses on clarification of
research questions, the match of theory and data, and means for scientific analysis;
these may include additional readings beyond the student's particular research. The
seminar is based on group meetings in which each PhD students gets an opportunity
to present and discuss her research. In each meeting, one student presents her
proposal, and at a later stage, her research, and gets feedback from the other students
and the lecturer. Every student will submit his presentation a week in advance to all
students and the lecturer, so everyone can read it before the meeting and prepare
comments and questions. A discussion will take place after the in class presentation,
where the students can raise further questions.
879.
Focused Operators at the Semantics-Pragmatics Interface
In this seminar we will look at various operators in natural language (mainly
English, German and Hebrew) which yield interesting and surprising effects when
they are focused / stressed. In the seminar we will try to use theories dealing with
focus sensitivity, scalarity and discourse and information structure to explain and
predict such fascinating effects in a systematic and precise way. We will examine
the more general implications of our explanations towards our understanding of the
semantics-pragmatics interface.
922.
Psycholinguistics and Research Methods for Graduate Students
The course will focus on clinical aspects of psycholinguistics with a strong emphasis
on language acquisition and language impairments (both developmental and acquired). The
course will discuss both theoretical and empirical issues from different theoretical
perspectives: developmental psycholinguistics, the generative (nativist) theory and the
connectionist perspective. The course will explore methodological issues related to
experimental design and statistical analysis of findings.
977.
Acquired Language and Reading Impairment
Acquired language and reading impairments arise as a result of brain damage, such as
stroke or disease. The research on these deficits has two complementary goals: First, to
deepen our understanding of healthy language organization by identifying selective patterns
of language impairments. Second, from a clinical perspective, better understanding of the
deficit provides a clue into effective treatment methods. In this seminar we will discuss
different types of acquired language and reading deficits, and review current findings in
light of different models of language and brain. Further, we will examine the use of
advanced imaging methods, such as structural and functional MRI, in the study of brain
reorganization following brain damage.
981.
Language in Psychiatry
The relationship between language and psychiatric disorders, based on systemic theory,
theoretical issues and the analysis of texts
.
983.
Verbal Relations
This course examines the morpho-phonological processes (or lack of them) that manifest
valance changing operations, comparing betweenverbal relations in Germanic
languages like English and in Semitic languages like Arabic and Hebrew
(as well as other types of languages). We will examine topics such as the productivity of
valence changing, blocking of valence changing and the component(s) in the grammar
where they can take place.
987.
Introduction to syntax and semantics
This course gives the basics of syntactic and semantic theory within generative
(Chomskian) semantics. In the syntax part we will develop tools to account for a variety of
syntactic phenomena (such as ungrammaticality, ambiguity, infinite structures, etc.). We
will look at the notion of syntactic constituents and use tree diagram representations to
capture syntactic structures. In the semantic part we will learn how to use formal tools
(adopted from logic and philosophy of language) to build compositional interpretations of
complex expressions, and to account for semantic phenomena such as
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