Dr Historical Emotionology

dr Historical emotionology

dr Anna Hebda

Emotion is an experience which typically involves physiological arousal (the feeling of a change in the body state) and social display (the behavioural act of expressing affect). The figurative language used for describing emotional experiences is known as emotion talk and it abounds in metaphorical expressions. The prevalence of linguistic metaphors in emotion language is due to their “potential to evoke vivid accounts that tap into actual physical experience, such as the experience of emotion” (Schnall 2005). Given that (according to social constructionists) human emotions “depend upon social concepts” (Ratner 1989), many of them being culture-specific, the analysis of emotion vocabulary used by a given community at a given point in time may reveal how the underlying emotion system was structured.

The conceptualization of emotions by speakers of Old, Middle and Early Modern English is the domain of (English) diachronic emotionology (the study of descriptions of emotions from a historical perspective), to which the present seminar is devoted. Since metaphors are best researched within the Conceptual Metaphor (CMT) framework (see, e.g., Kövecses 1998; Lakoff – Kövecses 1987; Lakoff – Johnson 1980), the Conceptual Metaphor Theory will be introduced and discussed, followed by an overview of (a) historical English corpora and (b) basic methods of statistical analysis applicable to linguistic data.

Suggested reading:

Kövecses, Zoltan. 1986. Metaphors of anger, pride and love. A lexical approach to the structure ofconcepts. Amsterdam – Philadelphia: John Benjamins.

Kövecses, Zoltan. 2000. Metaphor and emotion: Language, culture and body in human feeling.Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Lakoff, George – Mark Johnson. 1980. Metaphors we live by. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

Skills development in the process of learning and teaching English as a foreign language

dr Aleksandra Wach

The four communicative skills, namely listening, speaking, reading and writing, need to be developed in foreign language learners to ensure their balanced and effective competence building. There are a number of possible ways of dealing with the four skills, depending on a number of contextual factors. The seminar aims, primarily, at making the students aware of different perspectives to skills development in EFL. Thus, the participants of the seminar will take a closer look at the processes underlying language learning and their didactic implications, different approaches toward teaching the four skills, the position of these components in the contemporary curriculum as well as in other methods of teaching, and a number of practical considerations involved in skills development in the classroom. As the participants will be required to conduct a small-scale study as part of their MA project, applied linguistics research methodology will also be discussed in the course of the seminar.

Credit requirements include: regular attendance, active participation in classes, fulfilling background reading and written assignments, preparing one oral presentation in each term.

Suggested reading:

Nation, I.S.P. – Jonathan Newton. 2009. Teaching ESL/EFL Listening and Speaking. New York: Routledge.

Nation, I.S.P. 2009. Teaching ESL/EFL Reading and Writing. New York: Routledge.

The psycholinguistic and neurolinguistic aspects of language perception

dr Karolina Rataj

This seminar is designed for students who are interested in the ways the human brain processes language.

In the course of the seminar we will investigate issues present in cognitive psychology and neuropsychology which contribute to our understanding of language processing. The cognitive and neuropsychological perspectives will be applied to a number of issues in linguistics, such as stages of language development, processes of language perception (including unusual perception of language, an example of which is synaesthesia), bilingualism, the role of affect in language perception, as well as language organization in the brain. Moreover, we will discuss the contribution research into disordered language (aphasia, dysphasia, schizophasia (language disorders in schizophrenia) and language in autism) has made to understanding how language is processed in a healthy brain. For a more comprehensive approach to language processing, this seminar will also introduce students to the methodology used in research on language comprehension. Students will be asked to actively participate in the classes and conduct their own small-scale study on a selected aspect of language comprehension.

Suggested reading:

Altmann, Gerry T. M. (ed.). 2002. Psycholinguistics: critical concepts in psychology.London – New York: Routledge

Gleason, Jean B. (ed.). 2005. Psycholingwistyka. Gdańsk: Gdańskie Wydawnictwo Psychologiczne.

Translation as a human skill

dr Bogusława Whyatt

Translation as a human skill is socially misunderstood. On the one hand, it is frequently assumed to be available only to trained professional translators. On the other hand, it is believed to be co-extensive with bilingualism in the sense that anybody who knows two languages is expected to be able to translate. Indeed, for many bilingual children translating is a part of their everyday life in multilingual communities. Language learners find translating interesting, enjoyable and rewarding in terms of enhancing their bilingual knowledge. Clearly, translation is a broad phenomenon including different kinds (interlingual, intralingual, intersemiotic) and different modalities (written versus oral). The human skill to translate has been indispensable throughout history and in today’s world there is a growing demand for translation services.

In this seminar we shall ask many questions about the nature of translation as a human skill.Can everybody who knows two languages translate? What exactly has to happen for a language learner to become a confident translator? Perhaps we will find some answers if we look at translation as a human skill in its developmental continuum from a natural ability to skilled performance and expertise.

Prerequisites: keen interest and open mind.

Suggested reading:

Gile, D. 1995/2009. Basic concepts and models for interpreter and translator training. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.

Witte, A. – T. Harden (eds.). 2009. Translation in Second Language Learning and Teaching. Oxford: Peter Lang.

Whyatt, B. 2007. “Two languages, two cultures, one mind. A study into developmental changes in the students’ view of language as a tool in cross-cultural communication”. Poznań Studies in Contemporary Linguistics 43/2, 133-147.

Dictionaries and dictionary use

dr Anna Dziemianko

In this seminar, an attempt will be made to answer questions about the usefulness of various dictionary types (e.g., monolingual, bilingual, semi-bilingual, thesauri) and forms (paper or electronic) in language production and reception. The potential of dictionaries for enhancing teaching and learning English will also be recognized. The analysis of the actual benefits which users of English can derive from dictionary consultation will be preceded by an overview of dictionary structures, dictionary typology and methods of dictionary research. Questions concerning the skills necessary to take advantage of the wealth of information offered by dictionaries as well as issues related to dictionary users’ needs will also be addressed. Possible MA projects could include (comparative and contrastive) analyses of the ways in which specific aspects of language are treated in dictionaries, investigation into the reference needs and skills of selected groups of dictionary users as well as research into the significance of developing reference skills. Empirical analyses of dictionary usefulness for selected purposes (language reception or production, learning and teaching English) will be most welcome. The contribution of lexicography (the professional activity and academic field concerned with works of reference, mainly dictionaries) to language pedagogy as well as the interaction between them are further areas of research which the participants of the seminar might wish to explore.

Suggested reading:

Hartmann, Reinhard.R.K. 2001. Teaching and researching lexicography. Harlow: Longman.

Hartmann, R.R.K. (ed.). 2003. Lexicography: Critical concepts. London – New York: Routledge.

Sterkenburg, Piet van (ed.). 2003. A practical guide to lexicography. Amsterdam – Philadelphia: John Benjamins.

Developing communicative competence in theEFL classroom.

dr Dorota Nowacka

Recent years have witnessed “the push toward communication” (e.g. Higgs – Clifford 1982). Researchers began to look at language as a means of communication which was understood as a constant process of interpreting messages and negotiating meaning. What is more, acquiring communicative competence in the target language became the main goal of language education. Such terms as learner needs and abilities, social interaction, interpersonalnegotiation, interpretation of context and discourse, appropriateness established a theoretical framework for the concept of communicative competence. Thus, foreign language teaching/learning is assumed to be deeply-rooted in context, in social interaction, and in negotiation of meaning.

This seminar will focus on the concept of communicative competence and on some problems foreign language learners encounter in reaching an intended communicative goal. It will analyze the social interaction of language learners and their attempts to nominate, maintain and terminate conversations.

The aim of the seminar is to acquaint students with some aspects of interpersonal communication and to guide students while writing their master theses.

Suggested reading:

Savignon, S.J. 1983. Communicative competence: Theory and classroom practice. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley.

Kasper, G. and Kellerman, E. (eds.). 1997. Communication strategies. Psycholinguistic and sociolinguistic perspectives. London – New York: Longman.

British literature

dr Agnieszka Setecka

This seminar will offer a survey of British literature of different periods with special attention to the Victorian Age. The texts which will be discussed include novels (for example Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen, Bleak House by Charles Dickens, Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë) and poetry (for example by John Keats or Christina Rossetti). They offer contemporary readers a glimpse into the past and show the ways in which people in the past made sense of the world that surrounded them. The texts will provide foundations for a discussion on the ways writers represented the real world in their fiction, the nature of the realistic novel and the role of literature. The texts will also be studied with regard to recurrent themes (for example gentility, moral responsibility and social conventions) and to generic conventions (sensation novels, detective fiction or dramatic monologue). The seminar is addressed to students who enjoy reading and discussing literature.

Suggested reading:

Brantlinger, Patrick – William B. Thesing (eds.) 2002. A companion to the Victorian novel. Oxford: Blackwell Publishers.

Cronin, Richard – Alison Chapman – Antony H. Harrison (eds.) 2002. A Companion to Victorian poetry. Oxford: Blackwell Publishers.

Davis, Philip 2002. The Oxford English literary history. Vol. 8. 1830-1880. The Victorians. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Seminar in American literature

Prof. Joseph Kuhn

This seminar will try to cover as much as possible of the chronological range of American literature – from its beginnings in Puritan writings to its latest manifestations in postmodernism. In addition the seminar will pay particular attention to a few specialized subjects: for example, the writings of the Lost Generation in the 1920s; the female regional writers of the late nineteenth century such as Kate Chopin; Faulkner and the literature of the American South; the Confessional poets; and aspects of postmodernist poetics. Please note that this seminar requires close and intensive study of original literary texts. It is therefore suitable for those students who have the aptitude and application for this kind of academic work.

Suggested reading:

Andrzej Kopcewicz – Marta Sienicka. 1982, 1983. Historia literatury Stanów Zjednoczonych w zarysie.(Tom I i II). Wydawnictwo: PWN.

Leslie A. Fiedler. 1966. Love and death in the American novel. New York: Stein and Day.

Janusz Semrau (ed.). 2009. American literature in “Studia Anglica Posnaniensia” 1968-2008: A Selection of Articles. Wydawnictwo Naukowe UAM.

Selected issues in foreign language phonological acquisition

dr Magdalena Wrembel

The seminar will cover current approaches to research on foreign language phonological acquisition and multilingualism. A distinction between second and third language acquisition of speech (SLA vs. TLA) will be made and the complex nature of the latter shall be elaborated on as TLA has recently started to manifest itself as a discipline in its own right. Key research areas to be explored will include among others:

-theories of acquisition of foreign language phonology,

-socio- and psycholinguistic factors affecting the process of phonological acquisition,

-the nature of cross-linguistic influence (including L1/L2 influence on L3 phonetic performance),

-speech perception and speech production in foreign language learners,

-the role of consciousness and metalinguistic awareness,

-multilingualism and the acquisition of third language phonology.

Special attention will be drawn to the research instruments and methodology applied in second and third language acquisition studies. Finally, the implications of empirical studies for foreign language pedagogy will be discussed.

Credit requirements:

-students' regular attendance,

-reading of assigned literature,

-active participation in classroom discussions,

-oral presentations,

-written or oral tests,

-meeting the deadlines prescribed by the tutor,

-systematic progress on M.A. thesis.