Phonetics and Phonology

This course introduces students to general phonetics and phonology from a theoretical perspective. Students will be introduced to the theory of phoneme and the articulatory features of speech sounds from phonetic and phonological perspectives. The students will touch on the topic of acoustic phonetics. Topics such as phonological alternations (allophonic variation), phonological rules and rule ordering are dealt with. A discussion of the major theoretical frameworks in the field will cover theories such as feature geometry and underspecification, in addition to the basic elements of optimality theory.

Syntax

This course introduces students to the study of the theory of the syntax of human language and the methods of syntactic analysis. We begin with considering fundamental theoretical linguistic notions about the form of human language and general syntactic concepts and move towards identifying and classifying syntactic units: words, phrases and clauses. The course will also treat the concept of structure, how it is formed, assigned, represented and tested. We will follow this by examining major syntactic processes. Lectures, discussions, group presentations and exercises will be our main learning vehicles in this course.

Introduction to Linguistics

The course introduces students to the basic concepts in phonology, morphology, syntax, and semantics, as well as to some of the other subfields of linguistics, such as psycholinguistics, sociolinguistics and historical linguistics. Data and examples from numerous languages, particularly English and Arabic, are used to illustrate these concepts. The course helps students approach language in a scientific way.

Introduction to Language

This is an introduction to the general study of language. The course deals with the origin, nature and function of language as a uniquely human phenomenon. That is, what is common to all human speakers no matter what specific language they speak. Topics such as the structure of language, its role in society, and how it is learned are surveyed. Linguistic phenomena and their links to other disciplines such as artificial intelligence, psychology, society, culture, and brain, among others, are discussed.

Capstone (Integrated Skills)
Students take this course during the first or second term of their senior year. In this course, students embark on a research project under the supervision of their instructor. To enhance their collaboration skills, more than one student may embark on one project. Students are given the liberty to select their project, with the approval and guidance of their instructor. The Capstone project is supposed to reflect the skills gained by students throughout the DELL program. Students’ performance should reflect their professional writing and presentation skills, as well as their ability to conduct a methodical, goal-oriented research project. Key components of this include a research question and goal, clearly stated methodology, and critical analysis of results.

Structure of the English Language

This course is an introduction to the structure of English language, aiming to develop in students the ability to analyze and describe morphological, syntactic, and semantic structures in English. In morphology, it examines the structure of English words and the processes that generate them. In syntax, it explores the structure and parts of sentences. For semantics, topics include meaning relations between lexical items, semantic concepts including sense relations, prototypes, semantic fields, idiomatic expressions, and the relationship between word meaning and sentence meaning.