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Syllabus Teleological Modality - 36849
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Last update 31-08-2017
HU Credits: 2

Degree/Cycle: 2nd degree (Master)

Responsible Department: linguistics

Semester: 2nd Semester

Teaching Languages: Hebrew

Campus: Mt. Scopus

Course/Module Coordinator: Dr. Aynat Rubinstein


Coordinator Office Hours: By appointment

Teaching Staff:
Dr. Aynat Rubinstein

Course/Module description:
Within the field of modality, a major emphasis has been placed on distinguishing between knowledge-oriented (epistemic) modality and a bag of "other", non-epistemic modalities. Further subdivisions among non-epistemic modals are mainly based on conceptual grounds. This course takes a close look at the subclass of non-epistemic modals that have goal-oriented (teleological) interpretations (like 'have to' in 'I'm late, I have to take a cab'). We will investigate the philosophical foundations of teleological modality and its grammatical properties from a semantic-syntactic point of view.

Course/Module aims:

Learning outcomes - On successful completion of this module, students should be able to:
• Identify instances of various modality types in texts
• Access and read relevant scholarly research in semantics
• Describe, compare, and evaluate semantic analyses
• Construct clear linguistic arguments
• Report on the design, findings, and conclusions of their research

Attendance requirements(%):
100

Teaching arrangement and method of instruction:

Course/Module Content:
See course description

Required Reading:
BRENNAN, V. 1993. Root and epistemic modal auxiliary verbs in English. PhD Dissertation, University of Massachusetts Amherst.
VAN DER AUWERA, J. AND V. A. PLUNGIAN. 1998. Modality's semantic map. Linguistic Typology 2: 79–124.
PORTNER, P. 2009. Modality. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

* A list of papers for in-class presentations will be distributed in the beginning of the semester.

Additional Reading Material:

Course/Module evaluation:
End of year written/oral examination 0 %
Presentation 30 %
Participation in Tutorials 0 %
Project work 50 %
Assignments 0 %
Reports 0 %
Research project 0 %
Quizzes 0 %
Other 20 %
Text analysis

Additional information:
 
Students needing academic accommodations based on a disability should contact the Center for Diagnosis and Support of Students with Learning Disabilities, or the Office for Students with Disabilities, as early as possible, to discuss and coordinate accommodations, based on relevant documentation.
For further information, please visit the site of the Dean of Students Office.
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