King Saud University
Riyadh Teachers College
English Department
UNDERGRADUATE PROGRAM
COURSE SYLLABUS
Course Title: Semantics
Course Code: Eng. 358
Number of credit hours: 2
Instructor: Ahmed Abdel-Shafy
E-mail: aabdallah@ksu.edu.sa
Website: faculty.ksu.edu.sa/75189
I- Course Description:
The course, Semantics Eng. 358 introduces the study of Semantics at the under-graduate level,
being a part of teacher education program. The course aims at the basic study of Linguistic Semantics,
the other Semantics – Philosophic Semantics and Literary Semantics come as a passing reference.
The Semantic components of language, the different forms of meaning and the lexical Semantics will
be studied in details so as to make students understand why the surrounding words sometimes force a
reader to choose one interpretation rather than another. In addition, the course intends to take into
account the philosophical and interpersonal approaches to the study of meaning in a given context.
II- Rationale:
English language teaching brings in its train a lot of constrains in understanding and
communicating the linguistic meaning and the intended meaning of the user of the language. The
course aims at the study of meaning in language. The course tries to teach that level of linguistic
analysis where meaning is analyzed. And, meaning is related very closely to the human capacity to
think logically and understand. So, when meaning is analyzed, the learner is trying to analyze his own
capacity to think and understand, and explores his own capacity to create meaning. The study of
Semantics, therefore, has justification for its inclusion in the study of English in the teacher education
program.
III- Course Objectives:
At the end of the course, English majors are expected to:
(1) Identify the concept of Semantics.
(2) Recognize the historical background of Semantic Study.
(3) Identify the relationships between Semantics and Pragmatics.
(4) Distinguish literal and non-literal use of language.
(5) Identify denotational and connotational difference in meaning.
(6) Recognize how language operates at different levels of meaning.
(7) Submit a comprehensive study of how meaning is structured, expressed in the use of a
language.
(8) Recognize varieties of meaning expressed and understood in the use of language in social
interaction.
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IV- Calendar, Course contents and Assignment Specifications:
Week
Time
Topic
First Week
6-10 Rabi' I
Registration & Preparation
Second Week
13-17 Rabi' I
About Semantics
Third Week
20-24 Rabi' I
Non-Literal Uses of Language:
Figures of Speech
27 Rabi' I –
Quiz 1 &
1 Rabi' II
Some Basic Concepts of Semantics
Fifth Week
4-8 Rabi' II
Antonyms & Synonyms
Sixth Week
11-15 Rabi' II
Mid-term 1
Seventh Week
18-22 Rabi' II
Homonymy & Polysemy
Eighth Week
25-29 Rabi' II
Hyponymy, Collocation & Set
Ninth Week
10-14 Jumada I
Quiz 2 & Ambiguity
Tenth Week
17-21 Jumada I
Eleventh Week
24-28 Jumada I
Twelfth Week
1-5 Jumada II
Thirteenth
8 Jumada II –
Referring & Non-referring &
Week
12 Jumada II
Degree of the Predicate
15-19 Jumada II
Changes in he Meaning of Words
22-26 Jumada II
Revision
Fourth Week
Fourteenth
Week
Fifteenth Week
The Semantics of
Sentence Elements
Mid-term 2
Predicators, Predicates &
Arguments
V- Evaluation:
Time
Type
Mark
4th.. Week
Quiz 1
2
6th.Week Mid-Term 1
15
9th.Week
2
Quiz 2
11th.Week Mid-Term 2
15
Students are given two marks for participation and two for oral examination.
Oral Examinations will be held along with the mid-terms. Two marks are given for a
paper to be presented by the end of the course. The topic of the research paper is
"Speech Act Theory from Searle's Point of View."
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VI- Instructional Procedures:
1. The course will involve effective interaction among the students and the teacher.
2. Lectures will be conducted using the prescribed book.
3. Students participation will take the forms of:
a. Independent reading and writing.
b. Internet research.
c. Classroom discussion.
d. Practical exercises.
e. Written assignments.
f. Sitting for quizzes, mid-terms and final exam.
VII- General Course Requirements:
1. Each student is expected to attend his class-lectures regularly and punctually.
2. He must be a positive participant in discussions, presentations, and hands-on projects in time.
3. Assignment should be done with care and attention, and must not be turned in late.
4. All written assignments and reports should be word processed, double spaced, named and dated.
5. There would be no make-ups for mid-terms and final exam which will be held on a notified date.
VIII- Required texts:
1. A compiled course book prepared in the department by a previous professor.
2. Hurford, James R. & Heasley, Brendan (1983) Semantics: A Course Book, Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press.
IX- References:
1. Austin, J.L. (1961), How to Do Things with Words, Oxford: Oxford University Press
(O.U.P.)
2. Austin, J.L. (1971), "Performative-Constative" in J.R. Searle (ed) The Philosophy of
Language, Oxford: Oxford University Press.
3. Bloomfield, L. (1932), Language, New York: Holt, Rinehart & Winston.
4. Bradley, H. (1904), The Making of English, London: Macmillan.
5. Chomsky, N. (1957) Syntactic Structures, The Hague: Mouton.
6. Chomsky, N. (1965) Aspects of the Theory of Syntax, Cambridge, Massachus etts: MIT
Press.
7. Crystal, D. (1985), A Dictionary of Linguistics and Phonetics, Oxford: Basil Blackwell.
8. Crystal, D. (1987), A Cambridge Encyclopaedia of Language, Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press.
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9. Fodor, J.D. (1982), Semantics: Theories of Meaning in Generative Grammar, Brighton:
The Harvester Press.
10. Jackendoff, R. (1972), Semantic Interpretation in Generative Grammar, Cambridge,
Massachusetts: MIT Press.
11. Katz, J. (1972), Semantic Theory, New York: Harper & Row.
12. Leech, G. (1981), Semantics, Harmondsworth: Penguin.
13. Lyons, J. (1963), Structural Semantics, Oxford: Basil Blackwell.
14. Lyons, J. (1968), Introduction to Theoretical Linguistics, Cambridge: C.U.P.
15. Lyons, J. (1981), Language, Meaning and Context, Chaucer Press, Britain.
16. Lyons, J. (1995), Linguistic Semantics: An Introduction, Cambridge: C.U.P.
17. Ogden, C.K. and Richards, I.A. (1923), The Meaning of Meaning, London: Kegan Paul,
(Tenth edition 1949).
18. Palmer FR, (1976), Semantics: A New Outline, Cambridge: C.U.P.
19. Palmer FR (1981), Semantics, Cambridge: C.U.P.
20. Ullman, S. (1962), Semantics: An Introduction to the study of meaning, Oxford: Basil
Blackwell.
21. Waldron, RA (1967), Sense and Sense Development, London.
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