LING2066 Variation Analysis Dr. Jonathan Havenhill Advanced Course. Sem 2 , 6 credits Course Description Language is inherently variable. No two people speak the same way, nor does one person use the same speech patterns in all contexts. This type of variation is not random, but structured, and depends on the identities of the speaker and their audience, the topic of conversation, the speaker’s attitude, and a variety of other social and linguistic factors. This course will introduce students to the field of variationist sociolinguistics, which is concerned with the systematic study of language variation and its relationship to linguistic structure [...]

LING2075 Issues in language documentation Dr. Joseph Perry Advanced course. Sem 1, 6 credits Course Description This course will introduce various practical, philosophical and ethical issues involved in language documentation. Topics to be covered include: the goals of language documentation and revitalisation, ethical and practical issues of working with speakers, the social responsibilities of linguists in the field, methods for recording and annotating audiovisual data, working with specialist software aimed at field linguists (including, but not limited to, FLEx and ELAN), and metadata/archiving standards for documentary materials.   Some basic background in morphology, syntax and phonetics is desirable.   Pre-requisite: LING1000 and LING2004 [...]

LING2074 Introduction to second language research Dr. Yoonsang Song Advanced course. Sem 2, 6 credits Course Description This course provides a general introduction to research in second language acquisition (SLA). The goal is to introduce students to important findings from SLA research and a range of contemporary approaches to SLA research. This course involves an independent research project and an in-class lecture component. Pre-requisite: LING1000, LING2004 and LING2050 Assessment: 100% coursework

LING2073 Advanced topics in syntax Dr. Cathryn Donohue Advanced course. Sem 2, 6 credits Course Description In this course, students will learn techniques and strategies for understanding, modeling and explaining syntactic phenomena. Students will be exposed to theoretical models and develop their skills in analysis and argumentation. These skills are necessary for the development of linguistic theory and ultimately to our knowledge of the world's languages. The course consists primarily of lectures and tutorials, with assignments to solidify the students' understanding of the material and a report of an original piece of research. Pre-requisite: LING1000, LING2032 and LING2050 Assessment: 100% coursework

LING2071 Introductory statistics for the humanities Dr. Christophe Coupé Advanced course. Sem 1, 6 credits Course Description Quantitative studies are growing more and more common in the humanities, and a knowledge of statistics is quickly becoming a valuable asset to follow and conduct research in fields such as linguistics, history or literature. This course aims to equip students with a solid understanding of fundamental concepts and tools in statistics, so they can better approach statistical analyses in research studies and conduct their own research with common basic statistical tools. Flipped classroom will be used for most of the lectures to allow [...]

LING2060 Languages of China Dr. Marcelo Sevilla Advanced Course, Sem 2, 6 credits Course Description This course surveys languages spoken in China (including Taiwan). These languages belong to various families such as the Sinitic, Tibeto-Burman, Tai-Kadai, Hmong-Mien, Mongolic, Turkic, Tungusic and Austronesian etc. The emphasis of the course will rest on the structure of selected languages from these families rather than the historical relationship between them. The course involves practical work and provides useful background for other courses in linguistics. Pre-requisite LING1000 Assessment 100% coursework

LING2070 Historical Linguistics: Languages, Genes and Human Migrations Dr. Marcelo Sevilla Advanced. Sem 2, 6 credits Course Description The history of the world’s languages is deeply linked to our history as a species of diverse and inter-connected human communities. This course provides a survey of the latest developments in historical linguistics, with a focus on computational approaches to the relationships between languages, genes and cultures. Students will cover traditional principles of historical linguistics, before getting acquainted with more recent phylogenetic algorithms and other modelling attempts. Debates around the origins of modern languages (e.g. the question of monogenesis versus polygenesis) will be [...]

LING2069 Origins of Language Dr. Christophe Coupe Advanced Course. Sem 1, 6 credits Course Description How and why how human beings acquired language in prehistory is fundamental to an understanding of who we are today. This course adopts a broad perspective on language and approaches it as one communication system among others, which emerged in our ancestors under specific conditions, and for specific purpose(s). In the course, concepts and methods pertaining to various scientific fields beyond linguistics will be investigated, including paleo-anthropology, archaeology, ethology and comparative psychology. Students will first reflect on animal and human communication contrastively, as well as on [...]

LING2067 Natural Language Processing Dr. Christophe Coupé Advanced Course. Sem 1, 6 credits Course Description Natural Language Processing (NLP) addresses how machines analyze, produce and understand natural language. The field lies at the crossroads of linguistics and computer science and encompasses a wide range of techniques including automatic speech recognition, text mining, machine translation, and speech synthesis. The goal of this course is to provide a thorough introduction to basic methods and issues of NLP, with a specific focus on text mining. No previous experience in programming is required for this course. The acquisition of basic programming skills is an expected [...]

LING2060 Languages of China Dr. Marcelo Sevilla Advanced Course. Sem 2, 6 credit Course Description This course surveys languages spoken in China (including Taiwan). These languages belong to various families such as the Sinitic, Tibeto-Burman, Tai-Kadai, Hmong-Mien, Mongolic, Turkic, Tungusic and Austronesian etc. The emphasis of the course will rest on the structure of selected languages from these families rather than the historical relationship between them. The course involves practical work and provides useful background for other courses in linguistics. Pre-requisite LING1000 Assessment 100% coursework

LING2048 Language and Cognition Dr. Heeju Hwang Advanced Course. Sem 1, 6 credits Course Description This course examines various issues regarding cognition and language. Topics to be covered are: How is language processed and represented in the mind and the brain? Commonalities and particularities of cognitive and neuro-cognitive processing of different languages (e.g., English and Chinese). First and second language learning. What are the critical factors that facilitate language learning? The Chinese language and the brain; language and reading disorders. Applied cognitive psychology of language. Headline designs for newspaper, TV program, and advertisement. Cognitive basis of persuasion. Pre-requisite LING1000 and LING2034 [...]

LING2055 Reading Development and Reading Disorders Dr. Wai Ting Siok Advanced Course. Sem 2, 6 credits Course Description This course aims to provide a deep understanding of reading development and reading disorders in different written languages. Through attending the course, students should be able to understand how different cognitive processes contribute to the development of skilled word reading and text comprehension and what possible problems children may encounter during the course of reading development. Effective treatment and instruction approaches will also be discussed. Pre-requisite: LING1000 Assessment: 100% coursework

LING2036 Child Language Dr. Wai Ting Siok Advanced Course. Sem 1, 6 credits Course Description The focus of this course is on how children acquire a first language, including a consideration of the stages of language development, the biological basis of language acquisition, language disorders and cross-linguistic differences in language acquisition. Pre-requisite: LING1000 Assessment: 100% coursework

LING2013 Language Typology: The Study of Linguistic Diversity Dr. Joe Perry Advanced Course. Sem 2, 6 credits Course Description Typology investigates the structural diversity of the world’s languages. Topics covered include: notions of language type with particular reference to morphology case marking, and word order; areal distribution of features; universals of language and their explanation. Pre-requisite: LING1000 and LING2009 Assessment: 100% coursework

LING2012 Experimental Phonetics Dr. Jonathan Havenhill Advanced Course. Sem 2, 6 credits Course Description The course covers the theoretical and instrumental study of the acoustic properties of speech sounds; classificatory criteria; speech analysis and synthesis; experimental techniques; and laboratory work. Pre-requisite LING1000 and LING2004 Assessment 100% coursework

LING2058 Topics in Cantonese Linguistics Prof. Stephen Matthews Advanced Course. Sem 1, 6 credits Course Description This course focuses on distinctive aspects of the Cantonese language as spoken in Hong Kong. The language will be viewed in its areal and historical context. Grammatical topics will include parts of speech in Cantonese, verbal aspect, noun classifiers, and sentence-final particles, with a particular focus on aspects of syntax which diverge from written Chinese and Putonghua such as dative, passive and comparative constructions. Topics of sociolinguistic interest such as the use of Cantonese as a written language, ‘lazy pronunciation’ and the growth of ‘trendy [...]

LING2040 Languages in Contact Prof. Stephen Matthews Advanced Course. Sem 1, 6 credits Course Description This course is an introduction to the linguistic and social dimensions of language contact and change. Topics include multilingualism, lexical and grammatical borrowing, code-switching, language shift and the emergence of new languages, among them the creole languages of Asia, the Americas and Africa. Presentations, film viewings, in-class discussions and online and offline exercises during lectures and tutorials will provide the opportunity to apply and learn concrete techniques of linguistic analysis. The course is especially relevant to students interested in East-West contacts, the Americas and Africa, colonialism [...]