University of Tunis                                                                                      

 

Higher Institute of Applied Studies in Humanities in Tunis                      

 

3^rd Year Basic Education

 

 

 

Course Description

 

This course aims at acquainting students with further grammatical knowledge than that acquired in 1^st year, and enables them to know how to form and describe sentences and clauses, which will pave the way for more accurate writing, and facilitate their understanding of syntax in their further studies. By the end of the course students should be able to:

 

a.       Recognise the sentence constituents and analyse syntactic categories: NPs, VPs, Adj Phs, Adv Phs and PPs

b.      Identify the functions of the various constituents of the sentence: subjects, objects, and complements

c.       Have a good command of concepts such as modification, predication, verb categories, verb complementation…

d.      Identify the simple sentence with its many semantic facets such as statements, questions, exclamations, requests.

e.       Identify the various clause patterns within a compound, complex, or compound-complex sentence and know how to construct and analyse them

f.       Distinguish within the concept of subordination between the adverbial type, the adjectival type, and the nominal type of subordinate clause with all their respective semantic implications

 

Course Outline

 

 Semester I: The Simple Sentence

I- Elements of Grammar:

1.      Parts of Speech

2.      The constituent structure of the sentence

3.      Functions of the sentence elements

4.      Sentence patterns

5.      Categories of Verbs

 

II- The Verb Phrase:

1.      Definition: statements about the Verb Phrase

2.      Finite and non-finite Verb Phrases

3.      III- The Noun Phrase

Pre-modification and Post-modification

 

IV- Adjectives and Adverbs:

1.      Difference between Adj and Adv

2.      Adjective Phrases

3.      Adjective as head of an NP

4.      Verbless Adjective clauses

5.      Attributive and Predicative Adjective

6.      Adjectives and Participials

7.      Adjectives and Prepositions

8.      Adverb Functions: adjuncts, disjuncts, and conjuncts

 

V- Prepositions and Prepositional Phrases

 

Semester II: Clauses and complex sentences

1.      Coordination and the compound sentence: Independent clauses and dependent clauses.

2.      Subordination and the complex sentence: main, and subordinate clauses.

3.      Adverbial clauses.

4.      Adjective/Relative clauses.

5.      Noun clauses and reported speech.

6.      Variation

 

 

Evaluation and assessment:

 

Students will be evaluated according the mixed assessment system (regime mixte): In each semester students will have to take at least one mid-term exam (one exam in 1^st semester and one exam in 2^nd semester) and a semester final exam. Those who fail any or both of the semester exams will have to take 1 or 2 make-up exams (1for each semester) at the end of the academic year. Each exam bears on what students have seen of theory and practice in each semester. Exam dates will be given later in due time. Regular attendance active class contribution and home assignments are allocated 10% of the global mark.

 

References:

Aarts, Flor and Jan Aarts. (1982). English Syntactic Structures: Functions and Categories in Sentence Analysis. Oxford: Pergamon Press, 1982.

Bosewitz, René. (1987).Penguin Students' Grammar. London: Penguin.

Downing, Angela and Philip Locke. (2002). A University Course in English Grammar. New York: Prentice Hall .

Eastwood, John. (1994).Oxford Guide to English Grammar. London: OUP.

Ehrlich, Eugene. English Grammar. Schaum's Outline Series. New York: McGraw Hill, Inc., 1991.

Feigebaum, Irwin. (1985).The Grammar Handbook. London: OUP.

Firman, Susan and René Bosewitz. (1988).Penguin Students' Grammar of English Exercises (Teachers' Edition with Key). London: Penguin.

Freeborn, Dennis. (1995). A Course Book in English Grammar. Studies in English Language Series. 2nd ed. London: Macmillan.

Quirk, R & Greenbaum. . (1989). A Student’s Grammar of the English Language. London: Longman UK,.

Quirk, Randolph & Sidney Greenbaum. . (2002).A university Grammar of English: Workbook. London: Longman Group LTD.

Quirk, Randolph et al. A Grammar of Contemporary English. England (UK): Longman Group Ltd., 1989. 

……….. . (1973). A University Grammar of English. England (UK): Longman Group Ltd. (Based on Quirk et al. 1972).      

…………. (2002). A Comprehensive Grammar of the English Language. London (UK): Longman Group Ltd., 2004.

Swan, Michael. (1980). Practical English Usage. London: OUP, 1980.

Thomson, A.J. and A. V. (1986). Martinet. A Practical English Grammar. London: OUP, 1986.