Spoken Language and Gesture

Course

URL study guide

https://studiegids.vu.nl/en/courses/2024-2025/L_ETBACIW204

Course Objective

Goals of the course: In this course, you will learn how to discuss current research on language and communication in a critical and constructive fashion; you will learn how to analyze the linguistic properties of spoken discourse and the ways in which speakers’ gestures relate to them; and in the process, you will improve your skills in written and oral presentation in English.

Course Content

Course contents: The course concerns several themes, which are interrelated with each other. One has to do with how we structure our talk and our co-verbal behavior as units on different levels of complexity. Another is about how we use both speech and gesture to express ideas about the physical world as well as abstract concepts, and how this entails different kinds of framing (focusing and highlighting). This bring us to the point that face-to-face interaction with speech and gesture also involves showing our stances and attitudes towards the ideas we express. Finally, we turn to research on gesture use in relation to learning a second language.

Teaching Methods

Course structure: Lectures combined with presentations by students and discussions (3 sessions x 2 academic hours each per week).

Method of Assessment

Forms of assessment: Presentations in class (25%), essays on readings (36%), essays on guest lectures (24%), and attendance and participation in class (15%). The final grade will be a total of all the parts. Anyone failing the course may resit only the forms of assessment that they failed.

Literature

Readings: Journal articles and book chapters, which will be made available to students.

Target Audience

Target audience: The course is required for second-year students majoring in CIS and following either the track in English Language and Communication Studies or the one on Language Learning and Language Teaching. It may also be taken as part of a premaster’s program for the MA track in Multimodal Communication. Exchange students/students studying abroad at the VU are most welcome, but they should have some background in the study of language and communication and sufficient proficiency in English to engage in active discussion and writing in academic English.

Entry Requirements

Students majoring in Communication and Information Studies (CIS) at the VU must have passed English: International Communication (L_ETBACIW102), Academic English CIS-L&S Grammar (L_EABAALG103), and Academic English CIS-L&S Writing (L_EABAALG103). Other students should have some background in the study of language and communication and sufficient proficiency in English to engage in active discussion and writing in academic English.
Academic year1/09/2431/08/25
Course level6.00 EC

Language of Tuition

  • English

Study type

  • Bachelor