This is an introductory course in morphology and syntax that builds on linguistic concepts introduced in HG1002. Key topics covered include inflection and derivation, case marking, agreement and concord, morphological processes, phrase structure, constituent order, case marking alignments, grammatical functions, and types of dependent relationships between clauses.
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Year Taken: AY 20/21, Sem 1
Assignment 1 – 25% Individual
Quiz 1 – 20% Individual
Assignment 2 – 25% Individual
Quiz 2 – 20% Individual
Class participation – 10% IndividualThough I didn’t really understand the theory, the tutorials were actually pretty fun. I never knew analysing language patterns could be fun until this mod. This also means that the tutorial worksheets will take more than half an hour to finish. During the break before Y2S1, try to skim through HG2034 and HG2003; the revision will help you in some parts of this mod. There are weekly readings for this module and I found most of them really helpful in understanding the terms and concepts.
For both assignments, we were given some language data to analyse. The average for assignment 1 was 14/25; some got 0 because they cheated; the highest was 20/25. I can’t say much other than this because the prof wants to reuse the data for future assignments. The quizzes were relatively easy though, since it was done online and open-book style. A lot of people did very well, so it kind of balanced out the abysmal scores from the assignments. I failed assignment 2 very badly though lol. It came out during the busiest time of the semester so I did not have much time to properly understand the questions and churn out a decent piece of work.
This review was reposted with the kind permission of Pressing Realities. Originally published at https://pressingrealities.wordpress.com/2020/11/19/ntu-modules-review-for-ay20-21-y2s1/
June 29, 2021 -
Year Taken: AY 18/19, Sem 1
Also known as MorphoSyntax for short. Think of this as an advanced version of HG2034 Structure of Modern English. We did stuff like analyzing the syntax of unknown languages as well as investigating the possible morphemes and their meanings. A pretty fun course if you diligently study every week and follow the class, or else you will be struggling towards the end of the semester, not understanding anything.
25% Assignment 1
25% Assignment 2
40% Final Exam
10% Class ParticipationThe first assignment was handed out around week 4. It was supposed to be an individual assignment but nevertheless, everybody went around discussing answers. This assignment tests your understanding of analyzing morphemes. If you have been diligent in doing your tutorials, you should be scoring above average IMO.
The second assignment tested our understanding of syntax and relative clauses. Again, if you have been diligent in following the materials and doing your tutorials, scoring well should not be an issue.
The final exam was different from the tutorial, in the sense that it was more of memorizing all you could about a specific concept and regurgitating out whatever you have memorized. We had 5 short answer questions that contained 10 lines and 8 marks each. There was a 50-mark question which was similar to what we had done for tutorials. The short answers should not be an issue if you truly understand the concept and could expand on those few points. The 50-mark question took up a lot of time (since it was similar in format as the 2 assignments) so please manage your time wisely.
On a final note, though each tutorial is time-consuming, Prof. Alec is a very passionate and coherent lecturer. He is always willing to answer additional questions should students have any. However, this is the type of module that is similar to Phonetics in Year 1 Sem 2, which no matter how good a lecturer is, the content of the module is either loved or hated by the students. I belong to the group that loves this module due to how it challenges me to think of creative ways to solve grammatical puzzles presented but I have a lot of friends who really hate this module due to not understanding the content in later weeks. I feel that the best advice I can give is to keep up with the weekly readings and content. Clarify doubts if you have any. Ironically, my friends who hate this module seem to love Semantics and Pragmatics, which I have no idea why. I personally dislike the content of Semantics more.
This review was reposted with the kind permission of aLMSstudent. Originally published at https://ntulmsmods.wordpress.com/2018/12/10/ntu-lms-2018-2019-semester-1/
June 28, 2021
