Empirical English Linguistics - Detailseite

This course provides a broad but concise survey of empirical methods in English linguistics: introspection (diagnostics, minimal pairs), cross-linguistic/dialectal comparisons, corpus studies, experiments, and field work. It consists of three components: 1) lectures, 2) student presentations on a selection of topics that lie at the interface of grammar, pragmatics, processing and acquisition (negation and modality in this term), and 3) hands-on experience of preparing an experiment in groups (from reserach questions to the experimental design and stimuli creation) — In doing so, the students develop their ability to critically reflect on the subject areas, to uncover open questions and research gaps, as well as to collect data and evaluate existing analyses. Through the course, the students can acquire knowledge of English and it varieties, other languages in comparison as well as basic analytical and empirical skills, which are useful for the writing of term papers or BA theses in linguistics.