ATS1339: Describing and analysing language and communication

- Morphology (15%)

- Syntax (15%)

- Phonology (30%)

This unit is the second gateway unit for linguistics taught at Monash (Clayton and online). For those of you who have taken ATS1338, I should warn you that this unit is no walk in the park like first semester. This unit is much harder, more in depth and at times can be intense.

The unit is split up into four major topics:

1. Morphology
2. Syntax
3. Phonology
4. Semantics and pragmatics

Basically, these fall under branch of 'pure' linguistics: linguistic theory rather than linguistic application. Not 100% sure whether English Language would be of great use, but it would familiarise you with some topics.

Tutorials were pretty helpful. The generally cover key concepts and allow you to work through pratice questions. The tutors this year were Catherine Cook, Aly Severin, Amanda Young and Lee Murray. I can vouch for Cat and say she is an excellent tutor. Also heard good reviews about Lee. There were mixed reviews about Aly and Amanda, so I guess you can be the judge

Assessment

There were four major assessments plus tutorial participation/attendance. The first assignment I found quite hard and I narrowly avoided a C. It includes a series of short answers on morphology, so pace yourself and you should be fine. The second assignment was on syntax. Again, another challenging assignment, but the marking was relatively fair and forgiving. You are required to draw some syntax trees, answer some short answer questions and examine foreign data. Work carefully through this one, it is easy to lose marks. Assignment 3 is certainly the most daunting one. This covers phonology and requires you to transcribe an audio clip (2:00 mins) into IPA and answer a set of short answers. I would advise starting this one at least 2 weeks in advance, it's very complicated and tricky. Alas, I scored an HD, so not impossible!

In addition, each tutorial (bar week 1), a few people will be asked to present one of the homework questions. This counts as your tutorial participation once combined with your attendance record. My advice would be to pick your question wisely. Make sure you a) don't have any major assignments or events (teaching rounds, parties etc.) in that week, b) pick a question which isn't too short/easy or long/hard (you only have 4 mins to present), and c) are genuinely passionate about the topic.

Exam

This exam was VERY HARD. You are provided with a practice exam, but this is deceivingly easy. Make sure you prepare thoroughly. All topics are covered and you will be presented with a range of data. The exam is more heavily weighted towards semantics and pragmatics because there is no assignment on it.

- 2 hours testing the topics stated above plus semantics and pragmatics (30%)
Note: Online students complete a 4th assignment.

Depended on the week's topic:

- Catherine Cook

Cat is the unit coordinator and one of the tutors. I believe this was her first year running a unit. She did a wonderful job and is a fantastic tutor from my experience (beware; do not bring electronic items to her tutes!) Cat will lecture at the start of the unit (the introductory lecture) and during the semantics and pragmatics part of the unit. Very approachable and endearingly dorky.

- Olav Kuhn

Olav lectures on morphology for the first 2 1/2 weeks of the unit. He is also very engaging and competent. Olav tends to lecture quite fast and can sometimes cram his lectures. He will reappear briefly for a lecture of morphosyntactic analysis.

-Simon Musgrave

Simon is an ok lecturer, but I think he is often hindered by the content of his lectures. He lectures primarily on syntax for this unit (3 weeks) and was scheduled to take us for phonology but this never eventuated. His lectures are heavy in content which could be perceived as boring. I would highly recommend doing the readings prior to his lectures so you understand where he is going.

- Mystery guest lecturer (whose name I have unfortunately forgotten).

The name escapes me, but this man took us for phonology (another difficult topic). He had a relatively interesting style of lecturing and made the content as simple as possible.

- Kate Burridge

Kate made a brief appearance at the end of the semantics and pragmatics lectures. She lectured on the history of semantic change. I won't ramble on, but Kate is simply a whiz at what she does. Very interesting. Note that she does not use lecture slides.

No, however, a sample exam was provided.

3.5 out of 5 (only just, points deducted for the unit's structure)

Yes, with screen capture

As of 2014, we used An Introduction to Language: Australia and New Zealand 7th Ed.. If you studied ATS1338 (The Language Game: Why do we talk the way we do?) in semester 1 you will not have to purchase this book again. Definitely recommended as it contains all the weekly exercises and readings. Although the textbook can drag on, it is useful in explaining more difficult topics.

2x 1 hour lectures per week
1x tutorial per week.

Semester 2, 2014

79, D.