Accessibility statement

Information structure

Aims

This module explores the means that natural languages make available (and the way speakers use them) in order to signal, in a communicative setting, the information status of distinct classes of elements (individuals and events for the most part). In this module we start from a precise notion of "Information Status" relating elements to whether or not they have been mentioned in the preceding discourse and whether they constitute one of a relevant set of possible elements, and we move on to examine in detail how languages mark these distinctions. The study of information structure, as can be expected, includes aspects of all the major sub fields of linguistics (phonology, syntax and semantics). Of particular interest is how these different areas interact in order to produce an array of complex effects giving us a glimpse into the complex ways the grammar encodes conversational dynamics.

By the end of the module, students will be able to:

  • Define key notions in information structure
  • Describe the reflexes of information structure in one or more languages
  • See connections between data and theory with respect to information structure
  • Discuss competing interpretations/explanations of one or more notions of information structure
  • Analyse relevant language data with respect to information structure
  • Present data as evidence in support of a theoretical argument

Note that a Research Extension module can be taken alongside this module, for students who wish to write a dissertation.

This module will be capped at 35.

About this module

  • Module name
    Information structure
  • Course code
    L34H (LAN00034H)
  • Teachers 
    George Tsoulas
  • Term(s) taught
    Spring-summer
  • Credits
    20