We study the English Language in all its manifestations and variants.
Linguistics helps us describe pronunciation, word forms, sentence patterns, meanings and functions of talk and text, and styles of discourse. Here in Saarbrücken we are particularly interested in careful analysis of spoken and written discourse. We look at language use in real, everyday dynamic contexts, focusing on its functions of developing and maintaining relationships and personal identity as well as its role in sense-making, organizing behavior and accomplishing goals of individuals, groups and corporations in society at large.
Consequently, we work with real language data, often in the form of large collections of texts called corpora, which we can investigate on a computer. We have our own corpus here called the Saarbrücken Corpus of Spoken English (SCoSE), which contains examples of conversational storytelling, classroom interaction, and even jokes in American and British English, and we share lots of other corpora with talk and written texts from all varieties of English with colleagues around the world.
What's new?SS 2013
- Prof. Dr. Neal R. Norrick
- VL Discourse Analysis
- Time: Di 16-18
- Room: Geb. B3 1, Hörsaal I
Tutorial (Ian Schwarz)- Time: Mo 12-13
- Room: Geb. C5 3 Raum 408
This lecture offers a general overview of research in Discourse Analysis from its origins up to current trends and schools. Topics include context, coherence, presupposition, inference, spoken versus written discourse, narrative, frame theory, Conversation Analysis, Interactional Sociolinguistics, and Critical Discourse Analysis.
The tutorial with Ian Schwarz offers students an opportunity to further discuss issues raised in the lecture and to develop skills in comparing linguistic theories and analyzing discourse from various theoretical perspectives. In order to obtain course credit, a student must pass a test at the end of the semester.
Please check the English Linguistics homepage regularly for up-to-date information regarding deadlines and room changes.
SS 2013
- Prof. Dr. Neal R. Norrick
- HS Spoken Language
- Time: Mi 10-12
- Room: Raum U13, Geb. C5 3
Tutorial (Selina Schmidt)- Time: Di 15-16
- Room: Geb. C5 3, U10
In this seminar, we will review current research on speaking and listening versus writing and reading, on orality and methods of representing speech. We will investigate both speech and written varieties with speech-like features in mediated communication contexts such as television, film, e-mail, text messaging, facebook and blogs.
In order to obtain course credit, a student must pass a short quiz in the third week of the tutorial, give two oral presentations in class and write a 12-15 page term paper. The first presentation is a reading report on a book or a few articles, and the second is on work in progress leading to the term paper. More information will be available on the English Linguistics homepage.
The tutorial with Selina Schmidt offers students an opportunity to explore methods of analyzing literary style and describing rhetorical effects in written texts generally as well as to gain practice in academic writing and oral presentation. Students who would like to participate in the seminar should contact: hsl[DELETE_ME]ingu[DELETE_ME]isti[DELETE_ME]cs@gma[DELETE_ME]il.co[DELETE_ME]m
SS 2013
- Prof. Dr. Neal R. Norrick
- HS Variation in English
- Time: Do 16-18
- Room: Raum U13, Geb. C5 3
Tutorial (Steffen Witt)- Time: Di 15-16
- Room: Geb. C5 3, U10
This seminar will investigate variation in English over time, by area and social group, by discourse type, context and medium. We will explore issues in diachronic and areal ling (dialectology) along with questions of register, sociolect and style.
In order to obtain course credit, a student must pass a short quiz in the third week of the tutorial, give two oral presentations in class and write a 12-15 page term paper. The first presentation is a reading report on a book or a few articles, and the second is on work in progress leading to the term paper. More information will be available on the English Linguistics homepage.
The tutorial with Steffen Witt offers students an opportunity to explore current descriptions of language development and theories of second language acquisition as well as to gain practice in academic writing and oral presentation. Students who would like to participate in the seminar should contact: stw[DELETE_ME]i500[DELETE_ME]2@stud[DELETE_ME].uni-sa[DELETE_ME]arlan[DELETE_ME]d.de.
SS 2013
- Prof. Dr. Neal R. Norrick
- Research Colloquium
- Time: Di 18-20
- Room: Raum 120, Geb. C5 3
The colloquium offers writers of theses and dissertations a forum for presentation of their work-in-progress. Special contact hours and sessions for oral-exam candidates will be held during the colloquium as well. All exam candidates are encouraged to attend regularly.
SS 2013
- PD Dr. Stefan Diemer
- HS Lexicology
- Time: Do 10-12
- Room: Geb. C5 3 - 120
Tutorial (Marie-Louise Brunner)- Time: Di 14-15
- Room: Geb. C5 3 - U10 / Geb. C5 3 - 117
What is a word? This superficially simple question has been at the heart of the linguistic discipline of lexicology, the study of meaning and word use.
Lexicology tries to describe, quantify and explain the vocabulary of a language by various means, such as dictionaries, thesauri or corpora. During the last 20 years, this field of research has been fundamentally changed by new technology and methods. Since the advent of corpus linguistics, we have been using larger and larger corpora to catalogue the lexicon of English and other languages. In addition, new trends in linguistic theory such as the rediscovery of onomasiology or the increasing importance of pragmatics mean that our perspective has changed, moving from the analysis of pure lexical items to larger units of meaning, including extra-linguistic features and diachronic aspects.
This seminar will deal with general features of lexicology, such as models of the linguistic sign, types of meaning and classification of morphemes, words or lexemes. We will discuss the internal structure of words, look at word-formation and componential analysis, examine different approaches such as feature and prototype semantics and investigate semantic rules and processes. In the second part of the course, the structure of the lexicon will be discussed using different proposals for the creation of units and classes, syntagmatic and paradigmatic relations. How are dictionaries, thesauri and corpora designed and how can they be adapted to different purposes? How do new linguistic approaches, such as corpus or cognitive linguistics, challenge the traditional notion of the lexicon by introducing psychological categories, frames, cultural models and quantity aspects? What are the most recent trends in this field?
Research topics can be found in the areas described above, e.g. investigating the models of the linguistic sign, dictionary, thesaurus and corpus design, word structure, polysemy, morphological structures and processes such as compounding, suffixation, zero-derivation, nominalization, lexicalization and grammaticalization, semantic processes such as metaphor and metonymy or categorization. A list of topics for presentations and research will be available in the first seminar session. The accompanying voluntary tutorial with Marie-Louise Brunner offers students individual advice on the topics discussed in the seminar. Near the end of the semester, a paper conference will be held to make sure students are headed in the right direction with their term papers. For detailed course requirements please also consult the respective module descriptions. Participants must register online via CLIX. For further questions please contact me at s.di[DELETE_ME]emer[DELETE_ME]@mx[DELETE_ME].uni-s[DELETE_ME]aarland.de.
SS 2013
- PD Dr. Stefan Diemer
- Kolloquium für Examenskandidaten (Sprachwissenschaft)
- Time: Do 14-16
- Room: to be announced
The colloquium is intended (and strongly recommended) for exam candidates in English Linguistics (Bachelor, Master, Lehrämter and Magister) who are writing their thesis or taking their oral or written exams with me. In addition, students with an interest in ongoing research and those who are thinking about writing their thesis in linguistics are welcome to attend. We will consider general issues related to the thesis, discuss current research projects presented by candidates, and explore possible publication and employment opportunities in the field of linguistics.
There will also be special sessions on exam issues (Lehrämter and Magister), including mock oral and written exams. Candidates are encouraged to participate regularly and to present their thesis, including works-in-progress, during the colloquium. Participants must register online via CLIX. For further questions please contact me at s.di [DELETE_ME]emer[DELETE_ME]@mx[DELETE_ME].uni-s[DELETE_ME]aarland.de.
The colloquium is part of the following modules:
- Module Abschl - BA: Course requirements: 30-minute presentation of a topic relevant for the Bachelor thesis, including a thesis paper
- Module Ling final HF MA: Course requirements: 45-minute presentation of a topic relevant for the Master thesis, including a thesis paper
- Module Ling II LS1+2, LS1, LAB, LAG, LAR: Course requirements: 30-minute presentation of a topic relevant for the final thesis (Staatsarbeit) including a thesis paper or, alternatively, a mock exam (15-20 minutes oral)
- Module Ling Ver LPS1: Course requirements: 30-minute presentation of a topic relevant for the final thesis (Staatsarbeit) including a thesis paper or, alternatively, a mock exam (15 minutes oral and 90 minutes written)