Online course in Relevance Theory
and Pragmatics
The
Department of Phonetics and Linguistics at University College London is pleased
to announce a graduate online distance learning course in relevance theory and
pragmatics, and to invite applications from prospective students for a pilot
course, to run from January to May 2004. Numbers on this pilot course will be
limited to around 20. Applications, on the application form
available online, including a brief description of your educational background
and reasons for undertaking the course, should be sent to Stefanie Anyadi,
Department of Phonetics and Linguistics, UCL, Gower Street, London WC1E 6BT,
UK, by December 1, 2003. Preliminary questions, indications of interest or
requests for information should be sent to Nicholas Allott (n.allott@ucl.ac.uk).
The
course draws on the expertise in pragmatics at UCL, with input from Professor Deirdre
Wilson, co-author of 'Relevance: Communication and Cognition' and Dr. Robyn
Carston, author of 'Thoughts and Utterances: The Pragmatics of Explicit
Communication' (both books will be recommended reading). It will be provided
via an interactive website, with course content and class discussions
accessible online using an ordinary web-browser (e.g. Internet Explorer or
Netscape Navigator – see below for details of computer
requirements). The course is modular, with ten units, each covering an area
of pragmatic theory. The syllabus
includes Grice's contribution to modern pragmatics, the foundations of
relevance theory, explicit and implicit communication, metaphor and irony.
Assessment will be by coursework, and an essay towards the end of the course.
Applicants should have at least an undergraduate degree and preferably some background in linguistics, philosophy or psychology, and a level of proficiency in English suitable for graduate study. They will need internet access for the duration of the course, but need not have access to a university library since most required reading will be made available online.
The
cost of the pilot course is £385. (It is anticipated that the cost will be
rather higher in subsequent years.) A payment form
and the regulations
for cancellation and refunds are available online.
Upon
successful completion of the course, we will provide a certificate of
completion, an assessment of your work and a short report. If you are attending
an academic institution which allows credit for external courses, you should be
able to get official credit for the pilot course by resubmitting your work.
Computer
requirements
Advised minimum specifications for a
Windows system
Processor:
Pentium 166MHz
Memory
(RAM): 16MB
Operating
system: Windows 98 or later
Hard
disk capacity: 2GB
Video
card: VGA graphics with 2MB video RAM
Screen
resolution: 640x480, 256 colors
Common
items: 56kbps (V90) modem and access to
the Internet
Application
software: Word-processor capable of producing rich text files (.rtf) or another
format readable by Word 97
Recent
Web-browser, e.g. Internet Explorer 4.0 or later, Mozilla 1.0 or later.
Comparable
Apple Macintosh or Linux systems will be fine as long as they have a recent
web-browser and word-processing software capable of producing rich text files
(.rtf)
|
Author: Stefanie Anyadi, 5 December 2003 |