This preliminary unit for the demo course informs you about various general aspects of any VLC course and makes some suggestions about how to study online. Using videos we explain how to study online on the VLC and how the VLC assessment principles work. In addition to this, you will find some fundamental linguistic definitions necessary to understand the basic concepts used.
This demo-unit introduces the central aspects of language and communication. This includes the discussion of human vs. animal communication. In the second part, the main branches of linguistics, the scientific study of language, will be exemplified.
"Language and Linguistics" is among the most elementary units of the entire VLC and it is used (in its full version, i.e. with a mastery test) in introductory courses such as VLC101 or VLC111.
This demo-unit is part of all courses dealing with Present.Day English phonlgy. It discusses the segmental phonological inventory of English on the basis of its two major varieties, British and American English. Each phoneme of English is presented with its individual allophonic structure.
"The Sound System of PDE" is used in VLC courses on phonology, such as VLC105 or VLC109 where audio-based mastery tests are included, i.e. tests where students have to identify and/or transcribe spoken audio input.
This demo-unit presents the X-bar scheme, gives arguments for bar-level categories, and looks at the internal structure of the main phrasal and clausal categories. It also discusses the different patterns of head-modifier arrangement across languages. It is part of VLC106 - Syntax - Part I - the pverview course of syntax.
Every linguistic unit has at least one meaning. However, the interpretation given to a particular word, phrase, or sentence can vary greatly from context to context. The problem of pinning down the meaning of an expression has two aspects:
Ambiguity: A linguistic unit can be associated with several distinct meanings
Vagueness: The meaning of a linguistic unit is unspecified, i.e. not clear in a context.
This demo-unit, which is part of the VLC Semantics courses, e.g. VLC103, discusses the phenomenon of ambiguity.
This demo-unit is normally part of our cognitive linguistics or psycholinguistics courses, e.g. VLC301. It discusses the question how humans convert the conceptual representation into a linguistic structure?
The unit requires a profound background in syntax and phonology.