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2021/2022

Spanish Semantics and Pragmatics

Code: 100585 ECTS Credits: 6
Degree Type Year Semester
2500248 Spanish Language and Literature OB 2 2
2501801 Catalan and Spanish OT 3 0
2501801 Catalan and Spanish OT 4 0
2501910 English and Spanish OT 3 0
2501910 English and Spanish OT 4 0
The proposed teaching and assessment methodology that appear in the guide may be subject to changes as a result of the restrictions to face-to-face class attendance imposed by the health authorities.

Contact

Name:
Yolanda Rodríguez Sellés
Email:
Yolanda.Rodriguez@uab.cat

Use of Languages

Principal working language:
spanish (spa)
Some groups entirely in English:
No
Some groups entirely in Catalan:
Yes
Some groups entirely in Spanish:
No

Prerequisites

By obtaining the minimum of credits in basic training subjects, students have demonstrated to have acquired the basic competences and they will be able to express themselves orally and in writing. For this reason, any spelling and expression errors that may be committed by the student in the performance of the evaluation activities planned during the subject will lead to a score decrease in the final grade. Activities, practical sessions and papers submitted in the course must be original and under no circumstances will the total or partial plagiarism of third-party materials published on any medium be admitted. Any submission of non-original material without properly indicating its origin will automatically result in a failure
rating (0).


Objectives and Contextualisation

Spanish Semantics and Pragmatics course is part of the 30 compulsory credits of the subject Spanish language: synchrony. This course has two primary goals. The first one is to introduce the main topics of the study of denotative meaning to the student. The second one is to make the student become familiar with those aspects of the meaning related to the usage of language. At the end of the course, the student must be able to:

  • Know the basic reference works on Semantics and Pragmatics
  • Identify which aspects of the study of meaning belong to Semantics and which ones to Pragmatics
  • Know the existing links between Semantics, Pragmatics and other subjects, including linguistic ones (Syntax, Lexicology and Morphology), and non-linguistic (Philosophy, Logics, Psychology and Sociology).
  • Master the basic concepts and tools that enable analysis and argumentationin Semantics and Pragmatics.

 

 

Competences

    Spanish Language and Literature
  • Analyze the main phenomena of Spanish linguistic variation (historical, geographical, social and pragmatic variation).
  • Describe the structure of the Spanish language, and distinguish the systematic and normative aspects.
  • Identify grammar component belonging to linguistic phenomena basic analysis of Spanish language (phonetics, phonology, morphology, syntax, vocabulary, semantics and discourse).
  • Students must be capable of applying their knowledge to their work or vocation in a professional way and they should have building arguments and problem resolution skills within their area of study.
  • Students must be capable of collecting and interpreting relevant data (usually within their area of study) in order to make statements that reflect social, scientific or ethical relevant issues.
  • Students must be capable of communicating information, ideas, problems and solutions to both specialised and non-specialised audiences.
  • Typological framing the main phenomena of the Spanish language and relate them to similar phenomena in other Romance languages.
    Catalan and Spanish
  • Analyze the main phenomena of Spanish linguistic variation (historical, geographical, social and pragmatic variation).
  • Describe the structure of the Spanish language, and distinguish the systematic and normative aspects.
  • Identify grammar component belonging to linguistic phenomena basic analysis of Spanish language (phonetics, phonology, morphology, syntax, vocabulary, semantics and discourse).
  • Students can apply the knowledge to their own work or vocation in a professional manner and have the powers generally demonstrated by preparing and defending arguments and solving problems within their area of study.
  • Students have the ability to gather and interpret relevant data (normally within their study area) to issue judgments that include reflection on important issues of social, scientific or ethical.
  • Students must be capable of communicating information, ideas, problems and solutions to both specialised and non-specialised audiences.
  • Typological framing the main phenomena of the Spanish language and relate them to similar phenomena in other Romance languages.
    English and Spanish
  • Analyze the main phenomena of Spanish linguistic variation (historical, geographical, social and pragmatic variation).
  • Describe the structure of the Spanish language, and distinguish the systematic and normative aspects.
  • Identify grammar component belonging to linguistic phenomena basic analysis of Spanish language (phonetics, phonology, morphology, syntax, vocabulary, semantics and discourse).
  • Students can apply the knowledge to their own work or vocation in a professional manner and have the powers generally demonstrated by preparing and defending arguments and solving problems within their area of study.
  • Students have the ability to gather and interpret relevant data (normally within their study area) to issue judgments that include reflection on important issues of social, scientific or ethical.
  • Students must be capable of communicating information, ideas, problems and solutions to both specialised and non-specialised audiences.
  • Typological framing the main phenomena of the Spanish language and relate them to similar phenomena in other Romance languages.

Learning Outcomes

  1. Accurately drawing up normative texts.
  2. Analyse Spanish linguistic structures.
  3. Analyze relationships between lexicon and grammar.
  4. Analyze the structure of words from a morphological point of view.
  5. Analyzing Spanish linguistic structures.
  6. Apply the techniques of description and analysis of discursive pieces.
  7. Correctly identify linguistic units.
  8. Define the concepts of semantic and pragmatic competence
  9. Define the concepts of semantic and pragmatic competence.
  10. Describe and identify the phonetic and phonological system of the Spanish language
  11. Describe and identify the phonetic and phonological system of the Spanish language.
  12. Distinguish geographic variation from the different levels of linguistic analysis.
  13. Distinguishing geographic variation from the different levels of linguistic analysis.
  14. Identificar els errors normatius, estilístics o argumentatius d'un text.
  15. Identify normative, stylistic and argumentative text errors.
  16. Identify pragmatic factors that influence the use of various linguistic structures.
  17. Identify the paradigmatic and syntagmatic relations between the various language units.
  18. Identifying the regulatory, stylistic or argumentative errors of a text.
  19. Interpret the meaning of unknown words thanks to its context.
  20. Interpret the word from the different levels of linguistic analysis.
  21. Interpreting the meaning of unknown words thanks to its context.
  22. Make predictions and inferences about the content of a text.
  23. Making predictions and inferences about the content of a text.
  24. Pragmatic competence relate to geographical and social variation.
  25. Summarising characteristics of a written text according to its communicative purposes.
  26. Summarize characteristics of a written text according to its communicative purposes.
  27. Use suitable terminology when drawing up an academic text.
  28. Using suitable terminology when drawing up an academic text.

Content

1. Introduction to Semantics. 

2. The semantic information of simple sentences.

3. The semantic structure of simple sentences.

4. Introduction to Pragmatics.

5. Meaning and communicative intention.

6. Meaning and interpretation.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Methodology

The learning of this subject by the students is distributed as follows:
Directed activities (35%). These activities are divided into master classes and classroom practices led by the teacher, in which theoretical explanation is combined with solution of exercises and discussion of
all types of texts.
Supervised activities (10%). These tutorials are programmed by the teacher, dedicated to correcting and commenting on problems related to different levels of linguistic analysis.
Autonomous activities (50%). These activities include both time devoted to individual study and production of reviews, papers and analytical comments written, as well as oral presentations.
Assessment activities (5%). The evaluation of the subject will be describe in Assessment section.



Annotation: Within the schedule set by the centre or degree programme, 15 minutes of one class will be reserved for students to evaluate their lecturers and their courses or modules through questionnaires.

Activities

Title Hours ECTS Learning Outcomes
Type: Directed      
Master classes 26.25 1.05 2, 3, 6, 17
To solve exercices 26.25 1.05 4, 6, 1, 11, 12, 23, 22, 28, 27, 7, 18, 14, 15, 16, 20, 24
Type: Supervised      
Review readings 6 0.24 2, 3, 6
Type: Autonomous      
Exercices preparation 42.75 1.71 5, 2, 3, 6, 1, 8, 9, 13, 12, 28, 7, 16, 17, 20, 24
Readings of references 18.5 0.74 23, 28, 21, 25
Self-assessment exercices 18.5 0.74 5, 2, 3, 6, 1, 8, 13, 12, 23, 28, 7, 14, 16, 17, 20, 21, 24, 25

Assessment

1. Criteria for the grading the course

In order to pass the course, after completing the three evaluable activities mentioned above and after applying the percentages indicated above, the student must get a final grade equal or greater than 5. If the final grade is

  • Less than 3.5, the student will get a failing grade.
  • Between 3.5 and 5, the student will be able eligible for re-evaluation.
  • The student will get the grade of non-evaluable when their evaluable evidence equals a maximum of a quarter of the course.

In the event that tests or exams cannot be taken onsite, they will be adapted to an online format made available through the UAB’s virtual tools (original weighting will be maintained). Homework, activities and class participation will be carried out through forums, wikis and/or discussion on Teams, etc. Lecturers will ensure that students are able to access these virtual tools, or will offer them feasible alternatives.

 

2. Re-evaluation criteria

Students who get a final grade between 3.5 and 5 and who have carried out the three assessable activities mentioned above will be eligible for re-evaluation of the course on the date set by the Faculty. Students who have passed the course will not be allowed to re-evaluate to increase their grade.

3. Evaluation criteria

In order to pass the exam, mastery of the normative is considered essential; therefore, when evaluating the activities mentioned above, spelling errors, incorrect use of punctuation, lexical errors and morphosyntactic errors will be penalized.

4. Review procedure for evaluable evidence

After the publication of the grading of the evaluable activities mentioned above, the teacher will inform the students through Moodle of the day and time for the review of such activities. 

5. Misconduct in assessment activities

In the event of a student committing any irregularity that may lead to a significant variation in the grade awarded to an assessment activity, the student will be given a zero for this activity, regardless of any disciplinary process that may take place. In the event of several irregularities in assessment activities of the same subject, the student will be given a zero as the final grade for this subject.

 

 

Assessment Activities

Title Weighting Hours ECTS Learning Outcomes
Participation in class 10% 3.75 0.15 5, 2, 3, 6, 9, 13, 12, 7, 16, 17, 20, 24
Test about Pragmatics 45% 4 0.16 4, 5, 2, 3, 6, 1, 8, 9, 10, 11, 13, 12, 23, 22, 28, 27, 7, 18, 14, 15, 16, 17, 20, 21, 19, 24, 25, 26
Test about Semantics 45% 4 0.16 4, 5, 2, 3, 6, 1, 8, 9, 13, 12, 23, 28, 27, 7, 16, 17, 20, 24

Bibliography

Hurford, J. R. & Heasley, B. (1983): Curso de Semántica, Madrid: Visor.

Escandell, Mª. V.(1996): Introducción a la pragmática. Barcelona: Ariel.

Escandell, Mª. V. (2004): Fundamentos de semántica composicional. Barcelona: Ariel.

Portolés, J.  (2004): Pragmática para hispanistas. Madrid: Síntesis.

Software

There are no requirements.