Bachelor
2024/2025
Linguistic Foundations of Current Communicative Practices (Phonetics, Lexicology)
Type:
Compulsory course (Foreign Languages and Intercultural Communication)
Area of studies:
Linguistics
Delivered by:
School of Foreign Languages
Where:
School of Foreign Languages
When:
2 year, 3, 4 module
Mode of studies:
offline
Open to:
students of all HSE University campuses
Language:
English
ECTS credits:
3
Contact hours:
64
Course Syllabus
Abstract
The course contains two sections: Phonetics, which deals with the study of sounds, sound groups, and intonation, and Lexicology, which spans the study of the word. Both sections aim at familiarising students with general facts and intricacies of the phonetic and lexical systems of Modern English, and show how they impact communication practices. The principal objectives of the course of "Theoretical Phonetics" are to provide students with basic theoretical knowledge in the field of English phonetics and phonology; to develop students' foreign language communicative competencies, including linguistic, sociolinguistic and phonetic competencies; to teach students to comment on research related to the issues of theoretical phonetics and to put their knowledge into practice. Lexicology, in its turn, deals with the key features of English vocabulary as a system, treating the word as its central component. Reviewing such fundamental aspects as syntagmatic and paradigmatic relations, the course focuses on the word and its properties; word grouping; theories of meaning; polysemy; homonymy; synonymy; antonymy. Although the course covers special synchronic lexicology, i.e., the study of the vocabulary of Modern English, the etymological survey of the English word stock earns quite a bit of attention. Not overlooked are word structure, or word morphemic composition, and word formation, or word building. Idioms, proverbs, and sayings are also looked at within the course. Last but not least, the course familiarises students with methods of lexical analysis and lexicography.