AJ3DC_LSTY Stylistics

Faculty of Education
Autumn 2008
Extent and Intensity
0/0/6. 4 credit(s). Type of Completion: z (credit).
Teacher(s)
Mgr. Radek Vogel, Ph.D. (seminar tutor)
Guaranteed by
doc. PhDr. Renata Povolná, Ph.D.
Department of English Language and Literature – Faculty of Education
Contact Person: Jana Popelková
Course Enrolment Limitations
The course is only offered to the students of the study fields the course is directly associated with.
fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with
Course objectives
The course in stylistics presents a review of the distinctive features of the functional styles in English. It focuses on the stylistic means available in English at the phonetic, phonological, graphetic, morphological, syntactic, lexical and semantic levels and introduces the students to the study of the stylistics of a text. The practical part of the course focuses on the identification of the distinctive features of English functional styles on the basis of text analysis of specimens of the administrative style (forms, announcements, legal English), publicism (public speaking, advertising, newspaper writing, headlines), scientific prose style, the language of conversation and stylised dialogue.
The main objectives of the course is to familiarise students with the characteristic properties of English styles, the linguistic and paralinguistic means applied by writers and speakers, and the basics of stylistic theory. Students will also practice writing and analysing a chosen style.
Syllabus
  • T.1. Functional styles (varieties, registers) in English. Stylistic markers, stylistic analysis.
  • T.2. Cohesion and coherence. Explicitness and redundancy in language. Vagueness.
  • T.3. Dimensions of situational constraint. Language variation – register, dialect.
  • T.4. Spoken vs. written medium.
  • T.5. Formality vs. informality, politeness vs. familiarity, personality vs. impersonality.
  • T.6. The Cooperative and Politeness principles. Speech acts. The role of context.
  • T.7. Analysis of spoken language. Features of non-segmental phonology. Paralinguistic features.
  • P.1. The language of conversation vs. public speaking. Broadcasting.
  • P.2. Stylised dialogue. Speech and thought presentation in fiction.
  • P.3. The language of administrative texts, written instructions, forms, law. Business letters.
  • T.8. English punctuation and abbreviation.
  • P.4. Scientific prose style. Humanities vs. exact sciences, academic vs. popular science texts.
  • P.5. The style of journalism and publicity. Newspaper headlines, advertisements.
  • T.9. Stylistic appropriateness.
  • Final test.
Literature
  • URBANOVÁ, Ludmila and Andrew OAKLAND. Úvod do anglické stylistiky. 1. vyd. Brno: Barrister & Principal, 2002, 145 s. ISBN 80-86598-33-0. info
  • CRYSTAL, David and Derek DAVY. Investigating English style. 1st pub. London: Longman, 1969, xii, 264. ISBN 0582522129. info
  • CRYSTAL, David and Derek DAVY. Investigating English style. 1st pub. London: Longmans, 1969, xii, 264. ISBN 0582550114. info
  • SHORT, Mick. Exploring the language of poems, plays and prose. London: Longman, 1996, xiii, 399. ISBN 0582291305. info
  • CRYSTAL, David. The Cambridge encyclopedia of the English language. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1995, vii, 489. ISBN 0521401798. info
Assessment methods
Completion prerequisites:
1. To write a text representative of the language of a chosen functional style (variety):(1 page) + stylistic analysis of the text (1/2 to 1 page). Due on January 9, 2009.
The required structure of the analysis will be presented in the seminars.
2. To pass the final test consisting of two parts:
- theoretical part (based on the topics listed in the syllabus and covered in seminars and in the recommended literature);
- practical part (stylistic analysis of a given text).
Minimum score to pass: 65 %.

Teaching methods:
- lectures and subsequent class discussion;
- home study of recommended sources and materials in Moodlinka;
- linguistic analysis of authentic texts.
Language of instruction
English
Further Comments
The course can also be completed outside the examination period.
The course is taught annually.
The course is taught: every week.
Teacher's information
http://moodlinka.ped.muni.cz/course/view.php?id=887
The course is also listed under the following terms Autumn 2002, Autumn 2003, Autumn 2004, Autumn 2005, Autumn 2006, Autumn 2007, Autumn 2009, Autumn 2010, Autumn 2011, Autumn 2012, Autumn 2013, Autumn 2014, Autumn 2015, Autumn 2016, Autumn 2017, Autumn 2018.
  • Enrolment Statistics (Autumn 2008, recent)
  • Permalink: https://is.muni.cz/course/ped/autumn2008/AJ3DC_LSTY