COURSE UNIT TITLE

: SYNTACTIC THEORIES I

DEGREE PROGRAMMES

Description of Individual Course Units

Course Unit Code Course Unit Title Type Of Course D U L ECTS
DIL 5097 SYNTACTIC THEORIES I ELECTIVE 3 0 0 9

Offered By

General Linguistics

Level of Course Unit

Second Cycle Programmes (Master's Degree)

Course Coordinator

ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR MURAT ÖZGEN

Offered to

General Linguistics

Course Objective

This course aims at providing information and discussions about the representation levels of grammar, with regard to the theory of Universal Grammar, especially the Minimalist Program; syntactic derivation; components of grammar; and the interfaces.

Learning Outcomes of the Course Unit

1   Identifying the basic devices and mechanisms of Universal Grammar
2   Describing, in detail, the representation levels of the syntactic theory
3   Explaning the significance of devices, such as merge and move, for the theory
4   Questioning the components of Universal Grammar
5   Providing a critical perspective on the interpretation of syntactic derivation at the interfaces

Mode of Delivery

Face -to- Face

Prerequisites and Co-requisites

None

Recomended Optional Programme Components

None

Course Contents

Week Subject Description
1 Grammar: an outline of the concept of grammar, Universal Grammar, Principles and Parameters, parameter setting
2 The architecture of Minimalist Syntax I: Representation levels, reevaluating d-structure and s-structure
3 The architecture of Minimalist Syntax II: Representation levels, reevaluating d-structure and s-structure
4 Phrase Structure: X-Bar theory, bare phrase structure, operation merge, split projections (CP, TP and VP projections)
5 Subjects and VP-Internal Subject Hypothesis, VP shell
6 Empty Categories: PRO, pro, empty T, empty C
7 Movement: Copy and delete, head movement, WH-movement, A-movement
8 Student presentations
9 Agreement, case and feature checking: Agreement, interpretable features and uninterpretable features, feature checking, EPP
10 Phases - I Phases, transitive and intransitive sentences, feature inheritance
11 Phases - II Phases, transitive and intransitive sentences, feature inheritance
12 Phases - III Phases, WH-movement, successive cyclicity
13 Phases - IV Phases, WH-movement, successive cyclicity
14 General Review

Recomended or Required Reading

Boeckx, C. (2007). Understanding Minimalist Syntax: Lessons from Locality in Longdistance
Dependencies. Oxford: Blackwell.
Brody, M. (2003). Towards an Elegant Syntax. London: Routledge.
Chomsky, N. (1981). Lectures on Government and Binding. Dordrecht: Paris.
Chomsky, N. (1993). A minimalist program for linguistic theory. The View from Building
20: Essays in Linguistics in Honor of Sylvain Bromberger içinde (haz.). Kenneth Hale &
Samuel J. Keyser, 1 52. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. 167 217
Chomsky, N. (1995). The Minimalist Program. Cambridge: MIT Press.
Chomsky, N. (2000). Minimalist Inquiries: the Framework. R. Martin, D. Michaels, & J.
U. (eds.) icinde, Step by step (s. 89-156). Cambridge: MIT Press.
Chomsky, N. (2001). Derivation by phase. M. Kenstowicz (ed.) icinde, Ken Hale: A life
in language (s. 1-52). Cambridge: MIT Press.
Chomsky, N. (2004). Beyond Explanatory Adequacy. A. B. (ed.) icinde, Structures and
Beyond. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Planned Learning Activities and Teaching Methods

Presentation
Tutoring via examples and discussion
Question and Answer

Assessment Methods

SORTING NUMBER SHORT CODE LONG CODE FORMULA
1 MTE MIDTERM EXAM
2 STT TERM WORK (SEMESTER)
3 FIN FINAL EXAM
4 FCG FINAL COURSE GRADE MTE * 0.30 + STT * 0.30 + FIN* 0.40
5 RST RESIT
6 FCGR FINAL COURSE GRADE (RESIT) MTE * 0.30 + STT * 0.30 + RST* 0.40


*** Resit Exam is Not Administered in Institutions Where Resit is not Applicable.

Further Notes About Assessment Methods

None

Assessment Criteria

LO 1-5 will be evaluated by the questions in the midterm, final exams and porjects.

Language of Instruction

Turkish

Course Policies and Rules

80% class attendance is obligatory.
Absence from classes will not be considered as an excuse for late submission of the homework assignments/projects.
Cheating and plagiarism attempts in assignments and exams will be evaluated with a 0 (zero) grade.

Contact Details for the Lecturer(s)

Yard. Doç. Dr. Özgün KOŞANER
Edebiyat Fakültesi C Blok C-157
Tel: 0232 30 186 29

Office Hours

Monday 09:00-12:00
Tuesday 09:00-12:00

Work Placement(s)

None

Workload Calculation

Activities Number Time (hours) Total Work Load (hours)
Lectures 14 3 42
Preparations before/after weekly lectures 14 5 70
Preparation for midterm exam 1 15 15
Preparation for final exam 1 20 20
Preparing presentations 1 15 15
Preparing assignments 2 30 60
Final 1 3 3
Midterm 1 3 3
TOTAL WORKLOAD (hours) 228

Contribution of Learning Outcomes to Programme Outcomes

PO/LOPO.1PO.2PO.3PO.4PO.5PO.6
LO.15555
LO.25555
LO.35555
LO.45555
LO.55555

CONTACT INFORMATION
Dokuz Eylül Üniversitesi Cumhuriyet Bulvarı No: 144 35210 Alsancak / İZMİR
Phone: +90(232) 412 12 12 - Fax: +90 (232) 464 81 35

Copyright 2015 DEÜ. BİD

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