ENGLISH LINGUISTICS

The goal of this course is to allow students to deepen their knowledge of English syntax by reading the primary literature about a range of syntactic constructions. Students will learn about the development of current syntactic theory and will develop their critical thinking and argumentation skills.

1. Knowledge and understanding
The student knows the minimalist framework and understands the literature that refers to it, with particular regard to the syntax of English.
The student knows the main phenomena that arise in the syntax of English.

2. Applying knowledge and understanding:
The student is able to conduct bibliographical search for a personal research project on an empirical domain negotiated with the instructor, using web resources such as catalogues (Cerca'; Opac; etc.); and digital archives (Wos, Scopus, MLA International Bibliography, Linguistics and Language Behaviour Abstracts, Ebrary, Ebsco, etc.).
The student is able to select bibliographical resources, use them in a critical fashion, pointing out convergences and divergences between alternative hypotheses, spelling out empirical predictions and the contribution of each hypothesis to the understanding of the phenomenon, pointing out the empirical filed work needed to validate alternative hypotheses.
The student is able to design a theoretical or applied research project.
The student is able to collect data through on-line or bibliographical resources.
The student is able to correctly analyse the data in autonomy and with sound methodology.

3. Making judgements:
The student is able to formulate a hypothesis, providing original empirical evidence and original theoretical arguments in favor or against it.
The student is able to capture points of divergence and convergence between alternative hypotheses.
The student is able to distinguish disseminative from scientific sources.

4. Communication skills:
The student is able to argument in oral form and with appropriate terminology an original work of research.
The student is able to present in the form of an abstract the empirical domain, research questions, methodology, and expected results of their project.
The student is able to prepare materials related to her/his presentation
The student is able to present her/his contribution in the given time (20 mins + 10 mins discussion).
The student is able to interact with peers and the instructor, exercising critical capacities and fairness of approach.

5. Learning skills:
The student is able to deepen and update her/his knowledge of English linguistics for the successful completion of the MA course and in the life-long education, to support his/her professional carrier.
The student is able to find and read part of the references present in the handbooks and recommended in the virtual classroom.

A basic knowledge of theoretical syntax, e.g. the BA course English Linguistics (LT2660), or the MA course Introduction to formal syntax (LM5670).

1. The scientific study of language
2. Diagnostics for syntactic structure
3. Lexical projections and functional projections
4. The noun phrase
5. Refining structures: From one subject position to many
6. The periphery of the sentence

The following is a list of references to be taken as the starting point of the student's bibliographical search to ground the final presentation

Bresnan, J. 1973. Syntax of the Comparative Clause Construction in English. Linguistic Inquiry 4, 275–343.
Fodor, J. 1970. Three Reasons for Not Deriving "Kill" from "Cause to Die". Linguistic Inquiry 1, 429-438.
Goodall, G. 2017. Contraction. In Martin Everaert & Henk van Riemsdijk (eds.), The Wiley Blackwell Companion to Syntax, Second Edition. Oxford: John Wiley & Sons.
Harley, H. One-replacement, unaccusativity, acategorial roots and Bare Phrase Structure. Ms. University of Arizona.
Harley, H. 2004. Why is it the CIA but not *the NASA? Acronyms, initialisms, and definite descriptions. American Speech 79, 368–399.

Problem sets 30%
Oral presentation (20 minutes) 30%
Final paper (10 pages) 40%

Classroom lectures
In-class discussions

Italian