Fall 2024 - LING 324 B100

Semantics (3)

Class Number: 4746

Delivery Method: Blended

Overview

  • Course Times + Location:

    Sep 4 – Oct 11, 2024: Tue, 4:30–5:20 p.m.
    Burnaby

    Oct 16 – Dec 3, 2024: Tue, 4:30–5:20 p.m.
    Burnaby

  • Prerequisites:

    LING 282W.

Description

CALENDAR DESCRIPTION:

Basic formal aspects of meaning (e.g. compositional semantics, truth conditional semantics and quantification in natural language) and how they are distinguished from pragmatic aspects of meaning. Quantitative.

COURSE DETAILS:

People use sentences to mean things: to convey information about themselves and about states of affairs in the world. This class introduces the study of how meaning is encoded and expressed in natural language. We will examine basic concepts in the study of sentence meaning, including reference and predication, truth-conditions and entailment, logical connectives and quantifiers, formal meaning composition, events and states, tense and aspect, modality, and evidentiality. As time permits, we will also discuss contextual aspects of meaning, such as presupposition and implicature, deixis and anaphora, definiteness and specificity, speech acts and intonational meaning, and honorifics and expressive meaning. The theoretical concepts introduced will be applied to the analysis of English as well as other languages.

MODE OF INSTRUCTION/DELIVERY:  

This course will be blended asynchronous and synchronous on-line. Readings, lecture slide-show recordings, and podcasts/blogs/videos will be available online asynchronously in Canvas for a minimum of two hours per week to support mastering course content. There will be a required one-hour synchronous online class each week dedicated to review, in-depth discussion, and problem-set answer presentations. Evaluation will include practice quizzes/exercises, in-depth problem sets, online-discussion participation, and synchronous class presentations.

PLATFORM

Canvas

Grading

  • Weekly Pre-quizzes (individual) 24%
  • Podcast and Readings Discussions (individual) 16%
  • Biweekly Group Assignments (group) 48%
  • Problem Solution Presentations (group) 10%
  • Engagement Activities (individual) 2%

Materials

MATERIALS + SUPPLIES:

TECHNOLOGY REQUIRED:

Computer, Microphone, Internet

REQUIRED READING:


  • Lucas Champollion, Josh Tauberer, Maribel Romero, Dylan Bumford, Alex Warstadt, Anna Alsop, Raef Khan, and Nigel Flower, The Lambda Calculator, Student’s edition: http://lambdacalculator.com.


REQUIRED READING NOTES:

Your personalized Course Material list, including digital and physical textbooks, are available through the SFU Bookstore website by simply entering your Computing ID at: shop.sfu.ca/course-materials/my-personalized-course-materials.

Department Undergraduate Notes:

Students should familiarize themselves with the Department's Standards on Class Management and Student Responsibilities.

Please note that a grade of “FD” (Failed-Dishonesty) may be assigned as a penalty for academic dishonesty.

All student requests for accommodations for their religious practices must be made in writing by the end of the first week of classes or no later than one week after a student adds a course.

Registrar Notes:

ACADEMIC INTEGRITY: YOUR WORK, YOUR SUCCESS

SFU’s Academic Integrity website http://www.sfu.ca/students/academicintegrity.html is filled with information on what is meant by academic dishonesty, where you can find resources to help with your studies and the consequences of cheating. Check out the site for more information and videos that help explain the issues in plain English.

Each student is responsible for his or her conduct as it affects the university community. Academic dishonesty, in whatever form, is ultimately destructive of the values of the university. Furthermore, it is unfair and discouraging to the majority of students who pursue their studies honestly. Scholarly integrity is required of all members of the university. http://www.sfu.ca/policies/gazette/student/s10-01.html

RELIGIOUS ACCOMMODATION

Students with a faith background who may need accommodations during the term are encouraged to assess their needs as soon as possible and review the Multifaith religious accommodations website. The page outlines ways they begin working toward an accommodation and ensure solutions can be reached in a timely fashion.