Wikisida, AF1211 V23 Typologi och språkliga strukturer i afrikanska språk: Course guide

Wikisida
2022-10-28T07:28:27+02:00

Welcome!

take time to read through this guide, and come back to it now and then so as to make sure that you're on track with everything that needs to be done in this course.

I am Eva-Marie, your teacher this spring. Please include a picture of yourself in Canvas, along with a short presentation. It is nice to know a bit more about each other!

Communication

Do you have a question about the course, the schedule, the literature? Do you have a question about what is meant with 'the figure' in existential constructions? For ALL course-related questions, use the discussion forum! As you know, there is no such thing as a stupid question. Don't think that everyone else gets it and you don't. There is a very high likelihood that someone else will be happy that you asked that question. Also, you are very welcome to answer each others questions and to discuss issues that pop up. Take this opportunity to learn more!

If you need to contact me for something that concerns only you; mail me here in Canvas.

Study pace

Following that this course is 7,5 ECTS and runs during the whole spring term, you are expected to spend 25% of your study time on this course; i.e. 10 hours per week. Please keep up, so that we are all on the same pace and can have meaningful discussions.

What to learn

We are going to learn more about the structure of African languages in terms of sound systems (phonology, including tone and intonation), the structure of words (morphology) and the structure of sentences (syntax). Following the research profile of the department, we will at times focus on the Bantu language family (where we find e.g. Swahili) and the Cushitic language family (where we find e.g. Somali), but our main text book is general so you will get examples from many more language families of the world.

This information will be put in a comparative perspective. This means that we will learn about, say, ejective consonants, and then find out how common these are in a world-wide perspective, and what can be said about these consonants more generally.

You need to be able to use all relevant linguistic terminology, and this is something we will practice.

For further details on the aims of this course, read the syllable (follow link on Home page).

How we learn this

The course is structured around 2-week lessons.

For each lesson, you will:

read the literature listed for the lesson

discuss one question regarding the literature. This question will be listed each lesson by the teacher. For any language on the African continent, you will look for details regarding this linguistic category (e.g. how are agentive nominatives formed in the language?)

solve linguistic problems. You write your proposed solution in the discussion forum. When you have posted, you can see the solutions of your peers. Following this, you discuss each other's proposals.

We will also have meetings on Zoom. These meetings will be an opportunity to ask questions. We will also discuss linguistic problems, in order to solidify your knowledge. Hence, the meetings are not traditional lessons. We usually stick to an hour. Use the following link for all our Zoom meetings: https://gu-se.zoom.us/j/61246996144?pwd=Y1ZKTmplOEZrd2NWSUZYaHlEc3N4UT09

Literature

The literature you need to read will be listed on the page for the lesson in question.

When you look for details regarding a certain language, or need to solve linguistic problems, you need to mainly refer to published linguistic articles, book chapters and books! Please make use of published sources, and not Wikipedia and other webpages with unclear authorship. Reliable sources include: reference grammars, book chapters from recognized publishers, journal articles from peer-reviewed journals. A good idea is to check the criteria for inclusion in the Norwegian register for scientific journals, series and publishers. See https://kanalregister.hkdir.no/publiseringskanaler/OmKriterier.action?request_locale=en

It is OK to refer to scholarly websites/databases such as Ethnologue, Glottolog and WALS.

To get support and help, make use of the services of the University library.

Course requirements

In order to pass this course, you need to pass the module tests as well as the final exam. You also need to complete all assignments.

The tests after lesson 3 and 6 as well as the final exam will be take-home exams. The exams will be available for a limited time during a number of days, e.g. any time from Thursday morning to Sunday evening, but only for 60 minutes. Once you open the test, you have 60 minutes to complete it. That means that you will have time to look up the answer for some of the questions, but there will not be enough time to look up everything.

Each module test consists of 20 multiple choice questions for 5 points each, totaling 100 points. You have to pick the correct answer among a number of suggested answers.

75 % is enough to pass. To pass the module tests is compulsory (there will be the possibility to do a retake). The test is only graded with Fail or Pass.

The final exam will consist of two parts:

1. one with multiple-choice questions such as in the module tests,

This quiz takes a random sample of questions from a question bank, covering all the chapters we have read in Vellupilai. Everyone will get a different selection of questions. Some of the questions come from module 1 and 2, and you might recognize them. The questions from module 3 are new in the final quiz.

2. one part with open questions.

The questions relate to issues discussed in Vellupilai, but also to the other literature that we have read in this course. Questions have to be answered with examples from African languages. You are allowed to use the literature and cite from it. However, you will need to have read everything to know where to find the information you want to refer to, because time is short. NO googling, and NO copy + paste! The answers will be automatically checked for plagiarism.

75 % is enough to pass. To get Pass with distinction (VG) on this course you need to have 90% or more on the final test.

There will be a retake for each module test, see the schedule for when this takes place.

The retake of the final exam takes place in August.

If you have a NAIS decision, let me know at the beginning of the course!

Tip! The module and final exam questions are based on the study questions of this course. If you read the material and answer the study questions, you are ready to go for the quiz tests.

The exercises and linguistic questions will prepare you for the open questions, and you get language examples from the additional literature of this course. These examples can be used when you answer the open questions of the final exam.

Structure of the course

See the Home page for an outline and the dates. You will find more details in Modules, and this information will be published step by step.