Author |
MA, lecturer Rafael Martín Calvo |
LAIS code |
ValoB087 |
Examination form |
Exam |
Credit points |
3 ECTS |
Total number of contact classes |
32 |
Total number of lectures |
16 |
Total number of practical classes |
16 |
Enrolment requirements |
Successfully passed course “English Normative Grammar I” |
Part of the study program |
Professional orientation study courses. Written translation courses |
Study program |
Translation and language technology |
Course objectives
To explore the multiple facets of issues (ideological, social, cultural, political, economic, historical) and use written texts to develop informed and critical positions about given topics.
To gain an understanding of rhetorical strategies as applied to the analysis of texts in different media.
To recognize writing as a tool for critical thinking, as well as for problem framing and solving.
To understand and use writing strategies and processes to analyse issues that are important to specific audiences and for specific purposes.
To explore written communication as a tool to articulate (and respond to) opposing viewpoints.
To provide a foundation for the analysis of texts, in order to support students in achieving a detailed focus on language
Study results
By the end of the course students should be able to:
- Understand the development of arguments through textual strategies and to carry out a general analysis of the text, regarding the author's main idea, keywords, structure of the text, etc.
- Recognize different types of texts, according to content and intent, linguostylistic realisation of this intent, as well as to formal features.
- Identify and articulate the social and contextual features of a text and critically evaluate them, identify the target audience of the text and its influence on the linguistic responses to the text.
- Discern relevant content (narrative, argumentative, lexical…) and extract it for subsequent discussion.
- Engage with a text at the level of reviewing and editing, supporting their analysis with evidence from the text. Evaluate the quality of a text: organization of thoughts, connectors, clarity of expression, quality of the writing, use of sources, etc.
- Select and mine theoretical sources for information relevant for pre-translation analysis and academic research (in the form of source material for analysis).
- Analyse a text at a micro and macro level, in a structured and logical way, understanding various fundamental linguistic, literary and stylistic concepts.
- has acquired knowledge, skills and competences as specified in Study program result to be achieved (SPSR) 2 (Latvian and English), as well as 4.2.1.
Independent work of students
Students are required to attend lessons and engage actively with in-class activities.
Students must sign up for the course in the Moodle platform, log in regularly to keep up with course materials and assignments, and hand their assignments in due time.
Students will be required to complete a number of written assignments on the basis of the material and information discussed during the lessons.
Evaluation of learning outcomes:
Attendance and active participation: 40% (Attendance is mandatory: more than 3 unexcused absences will affect the final grade).
In-class/homework assignments*: 40%
Final exam/assignment*: 20 %
* Students found to be in breach of VUAS’ guidelines concerning plagiarism will face the corresponding sanctions.
Course content
No. of the class |
Title of the topic |
Type of class (lectures, seminars, practical classes, laboratory work), amount of academic hours |
1. |
Introductory lesson. Course description and requirements. Fundamental concepts in textual analysis: Communication as interaction between writer and reader. |
practical classes, 2 |
2. |
Analysis of sample texts. Source text, text sender and receiver. Text sender’s intention. Modality. |
practical classes, 2 |
3. |
Fundamental concepts in textual analysis: Aim, intended audience, organization, ideas and arguments. |
practical classes, 2 |
4. |
Analysis of sample texts. Pragmatic goal of the text and its linguostylistic realisation: structure & syntax. |
practical classes, 2 |
5.
|
Text types / Modes of writing: informative, expressive, operative/vocative and audiomedial |
practical classes, 2 |
6.
|
Analysis of sample texts. Pragmatic goal of the text and its linguostylistic realisation: vocabulary, pragmatic and lexical. Polysemy & synonymy. |
practical classes, 2 |
7. |
Rhetorical strategies: tropes and figures; Textual macro and micro levels and structures. |
practical classes, 2 |
8.
|
Pragmatic goal of the text and its linguostylistic realisation: figures of speech and their function in the text. |
practical classes, 2 |
9. |
Beaugrande and Dressler’s standards of textuality: cohesion, coherence, intentionality, acceptability, informativity, situationality and intertextuality. Critical review of a text. |
practical classes, 2 |
10. |
Analysis of sample texts. Grammatical structures and the meaning they convey. Structural and referential ambiguity. (and all types of ambiguities and modality – an integrated approach) |
practical classes, 2 |
11. |
Textual conventions. Culture-specific patterns of textual organization. |
practical classes, 2 |
12.
|
Analysis of sample texts. Text sender’s lexical choices and how they reflect/ convey culture-specific contexts. |
practical classes, 2 |
13. |
Textual transgression: identification of procedures and discussion of purposes. Intertextuality and allusions. |
practical classes, 2 |
14.
|
Analysis of sample texts. Connotative and denotative meanings. Tone in writing and register. |
practical classes, 2 |
15. |
Text mining. Extracting information for subsequent use. Units of analysis. |
practical classes, 2 |
16. |
A sum-up: Pre-translation text analysis: from the large picture to the detail and vice versa. |
practical classes, 2 |
Basic literature
1. Carter, Ronald, Angela Goddard, Maggie Bowring, Danuta Reah, and Keith Sanger. Working with texts: a core introduction to language analysis. Psychology Press, 2001.
2. Forey, G., Thompson, G. Text Type and Texture (Functional
Linguistics). Equinox Publishing Ltd., 2010.
3. Pagano, Adriana, Sara Laviosa, Hannu Kemppanen, and Meng Ji. Textual and Contextual Analysis in Empirical Translation Studies. Singapore: Springer, 2017.
4. Paquot, Magali. Academic vocabulary in learner writing: From extraction to analysis. Bloomsbury Publishing, 2010.
Supplementary literature
1. Glendinning E.H., (1997) Study Reading. Cambr. Univ. Press.
2. Gones L. (1995/1997) Cambridge Advanced English. Cambr. Univ. Press
3. Greenall S/ Swan, M (1997) Effective Reading. Cambr. Univ. Press.
4. Hoey, Michael. Textual interaction: An introduction to written discourse analysis. Psychology Press, 2001.
5. McKee, Alan. Textual analysis: A beginner’s guide. Sage, 2003.
6. Nord. C. (2006) Text Analysis in Translation: Theory Methodology, and Didactic Application of a Model for Translation-Oriented Text Analysis (Amsterdamer Publikationen Zur Sprache Und Literatur) Rodopi Bv Editions; 2 edition.
7. Portner, P. (2009) Modality. Oxford University Press.
8. Salkie, Raphael. Text and discourse analysis. Routledge, 2006.
- Docētājs: Bernsteine Sanita
- Docētājs: Martin Calvo Rafael