LINGUISTICS

1. Language and speech; human communication; langue and parole linguistics, linguistic competence, descriptive and prescriptive approaches; levels of linguistic analysis: phonetics/phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics, pragmatics, discourse analysis

2. Formal linguistics, applied linguistics. Main schools of thought in formal linguistics. The notion of applied linguistics, main areas of research. Interdisciplinary relations: sociolinguistics, psycholinguistics, computational linguistics, stylistics, philosophical linguistics, anthropology.

3. Linguistics and the social context of language use. The notion of sociolinguistics. Context of speech (components of the speech event, Hymes model).

4. Language variation. Varieties of English according to users: regional and social varieties. Use-related varieties of English: field of discourse, medium, attitude.

5. Languages of the world. The norions of language, dialect, accent, idiolect. Languages of the world (typological and genetical classifications). The Indo-European language family. English and the Germanic languages.

6. Main periods in the development of English. Old English, Middle English, Modern English. English as a native, a second and a foreign language. Similarities and differences between British English and American English. Pidgin and creole, lingua franca.

7. Language functions and language use. The functions of language, models (e.g. Jakobson). The relationships between function and form. Pragmatics, langue/parole, competence/performance. Speech act theory, direct and indirect speech acts.

8. Discourse analysis. The notions of discourse and text, coherence and cohesion. Lexical and grammatical devices of cohesion. Contextual analysis, pragmatic, semantic and syntactic level analysis.

9. Multilingualism, multiculturalism. The notions of language and culture. Anthropological linguistics, Sapir-Whorf hypothesis. Forms of multilingualism, multiculturalism.

10. Language planning, planning EFL education. Language planning: corpus planning, status planning. Language and education, foreign language education. Planning English as a foreign language education. The Common European Framework of Reference.

11. Literacy and oracy studies: the visual and auditory-vocal channels of communication. Varieties according to medium: writing, speech, mixed-medium varieties. Main characteristics. Levels of formality: formal and informal varieties in speech and writing. Conversation analysis. The cooperative principle (Grice).

12. Lexicology, word structure. The notions of lexicology, lexicon, lexeme, word structure. Inflection, derivation, affixation, suffixation, prefixation.

13. Word formation processes in English. Compounding, conversion, acronyms, clipping, backformation, blending. Lexical relations: synonyms, antonyms, hyponyms, homophones, homonyms, homographs.

14. Main influences on the development of English words. Major and minor influences on the development of English (Old English, Middle English, Modern English). Borrowing in English. The influence of English in the world.

15. Types of dictionaries, main tendencies in the development of lexicography. The notion of lexicography. Dictionaries as sources of information (relations to levels of phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics, pragmatics). Main stages in the development of dictionaries. Outstanding American and British dictionaries. The use of dictionaries in EFL education.

LITERATURE – METHODOLOGY

1. American Literature: American Literary Modernism – historical background, general features

Children’s Literature: The beginnings of children’s literature – the early history

Methodology: Teaching listening – authentic and realistic material, listening teaching techniques

2. American Literature: American Literary Modernism – European influence (G. Stein)

Children’s Literature: Defining children’s literature

Methodology: Teaching listening – “gist listening”, extensive and intensive listening; pre-, while- and post-listening activities

3. American Literature: Modernism in American Poetry – American poetry between the wars – general features – Imagists – general features; the two main representatives and the overview of their works (E. Pound, T. S. Eliot)

Children’s Literature: Folk Tales – definition and classification – characteristics of folk tales – structure and style

Methodology: Teaching reading – authentic and realistic material, reading strategies

4. American Literature: Modernism in American Poetry main representatives and the overview of their works (W. Stevens, e. e. cummings)

Children’s Literature: Fairy Tales – definition and classification – characteristics of fairy tales – structure and style

Methodology: Teaching reading the main reading skills; pre-, while- and post-reading tasks

5. American Literature: Modernism in American Poetry – main representatives and the overview of their works (Wallace Stevens, William Carlos Williams)

Children’s Literature: The Poetics of Literary Nonsense – characteristics of nonsense as a literary genre – limericks – E. Lear

Methodology: Teaching speaking – different speaking activities, error correction, teaching pronunciation

6. American Literature: Modernism in American Prose – “You are a lost generation” – general features – main representatives and the overview of their works (E. Hemingway, F. S. Fitzgerald)

Children’s Literature: The Poetics of Literary Nonsense – characteristics of nonsense as a literary genre – “logical nonsense” – L. Carroll

Methodology: Teaching writing – writing activities, text types, error correction

7. American Literature: Modernism in American Prose – main representatives and the overview of their works (John Dos Passos; William Faulkner)

Children’s Literature: Symbolic tale, Oscar Wilde, aestheticism and symbolism – Oscar Wilde – aestheticism and symbolism

Methodology: Teaching vocabulary – aspects of a word, ‘items’ vs. ‘words’, denotation – connotation, lexical selection, lexical set, collocations

8. American Literature: Modernism in American Drama – general features – experimental elements in the plays of E. O’Neill

Children’s Literature: Fantasy in Children’s Literature – types and forms of fantasy – main representatives and the overview of their works

Methodology: Teaching vocabulary – techniques for introducing new vocabulary

9. American Literature: Modernism in American Drama – general features – Tennessee Williams – realist and non-realist theatre

Children’s Literature: Controversial elements in Roald Dahl’s fantasy

Methodology: Teaching grammar – different techniques for teaching grammar, introducing new language structure

10. American Literature: Modernism in American Drama – general features – the existential elements in drama by E. Albee

Children’s Literature: Nature and Animal World – animal fantasy – unrealistic stories about highly humanized animals (H. B. Porter, etc.)

Methodology: Teaching grammar – teaching models

11. American Literature: The Beats – general features – main representatives and the overview of their works (Allen Ginsberg)

Children’s Literature: Nature and Animal World – animal biological stories (R. J. Kipling, etc.)

Methodology: Course and lesson planning – a lesson plan, planning ‘well-balanced’ lessons

12. American Literature: The Beats – general features – main representatives and the overview of their works (Jack Kerouac)

Children’s Literature: Realistic Fiction – social and racial motives (Ch. Dickens, M. Twain, H. Beecher-Stowe)

Methodology: Language teaching aids, the types of visuals, educational technology

13. American Literature: Postmodernism – brief characteristics of postmodernist literature – main representatives and the overview of their works (Joseph Heller)

Children’s Literature: Young adult novels – general features of juvenile literature

Methodology: Evaluation and assessment – test types, test construction, reliability and validity

14. American Literature: Postmodernism – brief characteristics of postmodernist literature – main representatives and the overview of their works (Kurt Vonnegut)

Children’s Literature: Young adult novels – general features of juvenile literature – stories with boy protagonists

Methodology: Mistakes and feedback, dealing with spoken and written errors, correction

15. American Literature: Postmodernism – brief characteristics of postmodernist literature – main representatives and the overview of their works (Richard Brautigan)

Children’s Literature: Young adult novels – general features of juvenile literature – stories with girl protagonists

Methodology: Classroom management – pairwork and groupwork, individual work