AJ4202 Stylistics

Faculty of Education
Spring 2023
Extent and Intensity
0/2/0. 4 credit(s). Type of Completion: zk (examination).
Teacher(s)
doc. Mgr. Olga Dontcheva-Navrátilová, Ph.D. (lecturer)
Guaranteed by
doc. Mgr. Olga Dontcheva-Navrátilová, Ph.D.
Department of English Language and Literature – Faculty of Education
Contact Person: Jana Popelková
Supplier department: Department of English Language and Literature – Faculty of Education
Timetable of Seminar Groups
AJ4202/01: Wed 14:00–15:50 učebna 51, O. Dontcheva-Navrátilová
Prerequisites
Advanced level of English
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
there are 8 fields of study the course is directly associated with, display
Course objectives
This course focuses on enhancing the linguistic competence of the students as language users and future teachers of English in the field of stylistics. The course introduces basic stylistic terminology and drawing on the functional approach to the study of style focuses on stylistic markers of English functional styles, including multimodal genres. The main objective of the course is to help students identify and understand rhetorical strategies and linguistic features used in the administrative style (form and formal letters), legal English, public speaking, advertising, newspaper writing, scientific prose style, the language of conversation and stylized dialogue. The students analyse and create texts representing different styles and genres and discuss their distinctive features. They are encouraged to link what they have learned during the course to practice at schools via practical tasks.
The course enhances the acquisition of linguistic knowledge and teaching competences indispensable for the professional development of future teachers of English, such as communication and interpersonal skills, collaboration and teamwork, flexibility and adaptability.
Learning outcomes
The students should will be able to
- identify individual functional styles and their distinctive features,
- understand and analyse the differences between different situational varieties of English,
- understand the differences between the context-dependent norms of communication in English and Czech,
- understand similarities and differences between English and their native language and to identify potentially problematic areas for their future learners,
- explain how the linguistic means used express the communicative intention of the speaker/writer,
- understand multimodality, i.e. how various modes are interlaced in the creation of meaning,
- create a text representing a specific functional style or genre,
- apply the knowledge of stylistics for didactic purposes, e.g. for the development of teaching materials and designing lessons.
Syllabus
  • 1. Functional styles in English. Linguistic description of a text. Cohesion and coherence. Multimodality.
  • 2. The language of conversation. Face-to-face conversation vs dialogues in textbooks.
  • 3. Stylized dialogue. Speech and thought presentation in fiction.
  • 4. Scientific prose style. Humanities vs. exact sciences.
  • 5. Academic vs. popular science texts. Written instructions.
  • 6. The language of administrative texts. Forms. Formal letters.
  • 7. Legal English.
  • 8. Public speaking. The teacher as a public speaker.
  • 9. Language of the media. Newspaper headlines. Broadsheets and tabloids.
  • 10.Advertisements and announcements.
  • 11. Teaching practice observation - stylistic variation in coursebooks and classroom practice.
Literature
    required literature
  • VERDONK, Peter. Stylistics. first published. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2002, xiii, 124. ISBN 9780194372404. info
    recommended literature
  • JEFFRIES, Lesley and Dan MCINTYRE. Stylistics. 1st pub. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2010, xiv, 226. ISBN 9780521405645. info
  • STOCKWELL, Peter. The Cambridge handbook of stylistics. Edited by Sara Whiteley. First published. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2014, xv, 673. ISBN 9781107028876. info
  • SHORT, Mick. Exploring the language of poems, plays and prose. London: Longman, 1996, xiii, 399. ISBN 0582291305. info
  • LEECH, Geoffrey N. and Mick SHORT. Style in fiction : a linguistic introduction to English fictional prose. London: Longman, 1981, xiii, 402. ISBN 0582291038. info
  • CRYSTAL, David and Derek DAVY. Investigating English style. 1st pub. London: Longman, 1969, xii, 264. ISBN 0582522129. info
Teaching methods
Seminars including class discussions, group-work and presentations.
The self-study modules consist of reading and written assignments.
Teaching practice: Observation
Assessment methods
Presentation (pass mark 70%)
Homework assignments
Written assignments (pass mark 70%)
Compulsory attendance (80%)
Compulsory reading
Teaching practice tasks: 1)Identification and description of textbook and classroom activities reflecting stylistic variation 2)Design of 1 activity illustrating variation in formality and 1 activity illustrating different national varieties of English
Oral exam
Language of instruction
English
Further comments (probably available only in Czech)
Study Materials
The course is taught annually.
Teacher's information
http://moodlinka.ped.muni.cz/course/view.php?id=146
For the handouts for the seminar course see mood-link-a: http://moodlinka.ped.muni.cz/course/view.php?id=146

Students are supposed to bring with them the handouts included in the respective topic of the Moodle course. For online semester: Please note that students are requested to secure good internet connection in order to participate in online lessons and they must attend these meetings with both the sound and camera on.

The course is also listed under the following terms Spring 2018, Spring 2019, Spring 2020, Spring 2021, Spring 2022, Spring 2024, Spring 2025.
  • Enrolment Statistics (Spring 2023, recent)
  • Permalink: https://is.muni.cz/course/ped/spring2023/AJ4202