course description

We speak, sign, or write to convey meaning, and we usually understand the speech we hear, the signs we see, or the texts we read. Speaking, signing, writing, listening, and reading takes place in a rich and ever-changing non-linguistic context. In this course, we will look at the complexity of linguistic utterances with an analytic mind. We will try to unravel the different cognitive abilities that allow us to deduce their meaning. The course has a theoretical and an applied part. The theoretical part introduces you to the basic ideas of formal semantics and pragmatics. In the applied part, we will do semantic fieldwork, and may make connections with legal reasoning, language acquisition, communication disorders, philosophy of language, literary theory, or education. This class is for you if you are interested in linguistic meaning, have an analytic mind, enjoy theory building, and are curious about how highly abstract theories connect with everyday situations. Prerequisite: Ling 201, Ling401.

why is this a 500-level class?

LING 510 is an upper-level undergraduate class, but it can also be taken by graduate students who are not linguists. To do well in LING 510, you have to think through the issues we are discussing, you practice a few technical skills, and you have to be interested and engaged in your project. What is the difference between a 500-level class and lower level classes?  There is a difference, and I think that the difference is big enough for some earlier survival strategies not to work any longer. We expect more from you in a 500-level class: More initiative, better writing, better thinking, more responsibility for what you do, questions, consultations, good time management. It's no longer merely a matter of solving problem sets.  It's no longer merely a matter of quickly coming up with the one right answer to a pre-defined question. And in our field, it's never merely a matter of personal thoughts and opinions. This may sound scary, but there is also a higher level of service we provide with the course. If you use the services, it will be much easier to satisfy the expectations. The services help you to make the transition to higher-level classes. 
You can talk to us during eight hours of office hours every week. We are there to help you with your projects. If you have never done a linguistic project on your own, it may be a daunting task to come up with a feasible idea that relates to the class. It might be difficult to think of relevant data, or to come up with a hypothesis. You may have never done field research or psycholinguistic experiments. We don't expect you to know how to go about linguistic research. You need guidance if you want to do research, you can't do it on your own.   You might also need consultations to do well in your take-home exams. This is why you always have at least one week to do them. If you only look at your exam the day before it is due, you have missed a big chance. During the labs, you practice technical skills or think some more about a theoretical issue.

readings

All readings will be made available for download from the course UDrive.   You can access them with your UMail user name and password.         

course requirements

There will be 4 individual take-home exams related to the lectures and the in-class work. You will also work on a small individual or group project (maximally 2 members per group) throughout the semester in several stages. We will work out a suitable project with you individually at the beginning of the semester. Projects may involve fieldwork on a language other than English, could be psycholinguistics projects related to semantics, may explore a semantic phenomenon of English from a more theoretical point of view, or may relate to an issue in legal reasoning or literary theory. At fixed dates, you will present (1) an outline of your group project that makes clear what your individual contribution will be, (2) a draft for a group poster, (3) a group poster presentation, and (4) an individual final paper (at least 5 pages, typed and double spaced). The UMass Academic Honesty Policy applies. Since what is happening in class is important, you will not do well in this class if you don't attend. If you absolutely have to miss a class, make sure you work through the slides or handouts, which you can download from the website. We are also most willing to help you catch up.

grading        

You have to do all four take-home exams and all four stages of the project work to qualify for a grade. We do not accept late or electronic submissions of written work. If you qualify for a grade, it will be computed as follows: Take-home exams: 60% (15% each). Project: Planning 10%. Poster and poster presentation: 10%. Final paper: 20%.

contact info for angelika kratzer

http://people.umass.edu/kratzer/

last_name@linguist.umass.edu

office hours: monday and wednesday from 3:00 to 5:00 pm.

contact info for florian schwarz

http://florianschwarz.net/

first_name@linguist.umass.edu

office hours: monday from 11:00 to 1:00 pm, friday from 1:00 to 3:00 pm.