The University of Western Ontario
Department of Modern Languages and Literatures

Spanish 4411 Spanish Syntax

Course Instructor: Joyce L. S. Bruhn de Garavito
Office hours: Mondays 12:00-13:00, or by appointment
E-mail: joycebg@uwo.ca
Phone: 661 2111 ext. 85864

A. There is no textbook for this course. The course is based on class activities and a few assigned readings.

B. Course Description and Objectives

How do you put words together to form sentences? How does the way we build our sentences contribute towards interpretation? Why are some sentences ambiguous? Does the concept of grammaticality exist in the mind, or is it a social construct?
This course aims at understanding ways in which these questions and others may be approached, and how they contribute to our understanding of the human mind. More than solving problems, we hope to learn to 'think scientifically' about language, that is, we will try to analyze sentences in different ways, making different hypotheses about them. Then we will try to weigh the evidence that supports each of these hypotheses.
The course is taught twice a week (2x1 1/2 hours). It is taught in Spanish, although many of the readings will be in English.

C. Methodology
In almost every class the students will receive a list of sentences that we will discuss and try to understand from a linguistic point of view. In other words, the class is based on the practice of thinking more than on explanations or theory, although there is a clear theoretical background to our approach.

D. Learning Outcomes
At the end of the course, you will be able to:

Understand the relevance of all types of linguistic data to linguistic analysis.
Form hypotheses about the structure of sentences based on data.
Produce arguments in support of certain analyses.
Compare different analyses and understand their relation to the data.
Understand how sentences are put together to form meaning.
Understand the relations between different parts of the sentence.
Understand the different causes of ambiguity.
Construct visual representations of the structure of sentences and parts of sentences.
Question any analysis that does not include evidence.

E. Required Work
This course requires a minimum of one hour homework for every class hour.
Participate actively in class
Complete your homework (generally sentence analysis) on time.
Read assigned texts and be prepared to discuss them.
Prepare for tests
Think and question.

F. Evaluation

Because this is course in which most of the learning takes place during in-class activities attendance and participation is essencial. Students are expected to come to class regularly and attendance will be strictly monitored.

Absenteeism: Students seeking academic accommodation on medical grounds for any missed tests, exams, participation components and/or assignments must apply to the Academic Counseling office of their home Faculty and provide documentation. Academic accommodation cannot be granted by the instructor or department.
UWO's Policy on Accommodation for Medical Illness: (https://studentservices.uwo.ca/secure/index.cfm)

Downloadable Student Medical Certificate (SMC): https://studentservices.uwo.ca under the Medical Documentation heading

Participation: Students should propose analyses for the sentences that are under scrutiny and try to defend their interpretation. They must participate actively in the discussions.

Assignments: You will receive sentences that you will try to assign a structure to. In each case you will add a paragraph explaining what evidence supports your analysis. Assignments should be handed in at the beginning of class.

Tests: There is one mid-term and one final exam. The final exam is cumulative, and will cover everything covered in class. In the spirit of the aims of the course, in both exams you will be asked to illustrate the structure of sentences and explain why you think that is the correct analysis

Plagiarism: Plagiarism is a major academic offense (see Scholastic Offense Policy in the Western Academic Calendar). Plagiarism is the inclusion of someone else's verbatim or paraphrased text in one's own written work without immediate reference. Verbatim text must be surrounded by quotation marks or indented if it is longer than four lines. A reference must follow right after borrowed material (usually the author's name and page number). Without immediate reference to borrowed material, a list of sources at the end of a written assignment does not protect a writer against the possible charge of plagiarism. The University of Western Ontario uses a plagiarism-checking site called Turnitin.com.

G. Grading

Participation 20%?
Assignments 30%
Midterm Exam 25%?
Final exam 25%

H. Readings

Reading 1:
Borsley, Robert and Richard Ingham (2002). Grow your own linguistics? On some applied linguists' views of the subject. Lingua, 112 (1), 1-6.

Reading 2:
Akmajian, Adrian, Richard A. Demers, Ann K. Farmer and Robert M. Harnish (1990). Linguistics. An Introduction to Language and Communication. MIT Press. PP 123-155.

Reading 3:
Pérez-Leroux, Ana Teresa & William Glass (1997). OPC effects on the L2 acquisition of Spanish. In Pérez-Leroux, Ana Teresa & William Glass (eds.) Contemporary Perspectives on the Acquisition of Spanish. Marwah, NJ: Cascadilla Press, pp. 149-165.

Recommended:
Haegeman, Liliane (2006). Thinking syntactically. A guide to Argumentation and Analysis. Blackwell.

Plan de Curso

Septiembre

Octubre

Noviembre

Diciembre