This is the course hub for ELS 603 Syntactic Theories. Use the buttons below to quickly access the syllabus, course guide, readings, assessments, and course policies.
Course Information
- Code: ELS 603
- Program: MA in English Language Studies
- Mode: Graduate Seminar + Research Project
- Duration: 18 weeks
- Credit: 3 units
- Schedule: 3 hours per week
Course Description
This course examines major approaches to English syntax with a focus on how different syntactic theories conceptualize and explain clause and phrase structure in language use. It approaches syntactic theories as frameworks for describing and interpreting grammatical patterns in English, emphasizing theoretical insight in support of linguistic analysis.
The course integrates theory-informed description with empirical analysis, emphasizing the application of syntactic concepts to authentic spoken and written data, including academic texts, learner language, and varieties of English. It also explores the interface between syntax and meaning, discourse, and genre, highlighting how syntactic choices contribute to communicative function and structural variation.
By the end of the course, students will be prepared to use syntactic theories critically and selectively in graduate-level linguistic research and analysis.
Course Outcomes
By the end of this course, you should be able to:
- Explain major approaches to English syntax and how different syntactic theories conceptualize clause and phrase structure in language use.
- Analyze grammatical patterns in English using theory-informed syntactic frameworks applied to authentic spoken and written data.
- Examine the interface between syntax and meaning, discourse, and genre, accounting for how syntactic choices contribute to communicative function and structural variation.
- Produce a graduate-level analytical paper that applies one or more syntactic theories to the systematic analysis of empirical language data.
Syllabus Preview
First six weeks at a glance. View the full 18-week outline on the Syllabus page.
| Week | Date | Topic / Focus |
|---|---|---|
| Week 01 | Feb 21 | What Syntactic Theories Explain; What Counts as Syntactic Evidence |
| Week 02 | Feb 28 | Constituency and Diagnostics; Limits of Tests (Syntax Lab 1) |
| Week 03 | Mar 07 | Clause and Phrase Structure; Complements vs. Adjuncts |
| Week 04 | Mar 14 | Descriptive Generative Syntax; Structural Reasoning (Syntax Lab 2; Proposal) |
| Week 05 | Mar 21 | Valency, Argument Structure, and Alternations |
| Week 06 | Mar 28 | Constraints, Edge Cases, and Non-Canonical Patterns (Syntax Lab 3) |
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