SPCH 112 Analyzing the Structure of English across Genres
This course offers a multidisciplinary investigation of the structure of the English language across genres, in order to supply crucial knowledge for both academic literacy and pre-professional training in writing, journalism, and teaching English as a foreign language. Students are offered an extensive review of English grammar: the structure of the language and the rules by which language units combine to form phrases, clauses, and sentences. In addition, the course places grammar in an academic and pre-professional context, while it also covers the current theories and debates in the linguistic literature. The material covered includes 1) English Morphology—the inflectional system of suffixes and other markers that impart grammatical information on words; and 2) English Syntax—the rules for building larger units. We look at English grammar from several angles: spoken vs. written; standard vs. non-standard forms; academic and creative variations.