FACULTY OF LANGUAGE STUDIES E303A: English Grammar in Context 2015/2016 TMA (Second Semester) [Prepared by Course Chair: Dr. Ismail Safieh] Copyright ©2015-2016 Arab Open University TMA Please return your complete

FACULTY OF LANGUAGE STUDIES



E303A: English Grammar in Context


2015/2016 TMA (Second Semester)


[Prepared by Course Chair: Dr. Ismail Safieh]





Copyright ©2015-2016 Arab Open University

TMA
Please return your completed assignment to your tutor to arrive by the end of week 10-11.
This assignment, which is made up of three tasks, relates to your study of E303 Book 1 (Getting Started: Describing the grammar of speech and writing) and the associated readings and activities. It represents 20% of the overall continuous assessment score (or OCAS).
This TMA assesses your skills of grammatical analysis in greater depth and at a fine level of sophistication, and in addition assesses your skills of description and interpretation of texts in the Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL).
You are not required to write more than 1,000 words, but you will also need to present some of your findings in the form of tables or diagrams. Please indicate at the end of your essay the number of words you have used.
Before you start this assignment, refer to the general guidance on completing and submitting your assignments section on page 41in the course guide booklet that you have with the E303 package.
In this TMA you will demonstrate that you can analyze clauses in written and spoken texts and explain and describe the differences between them using appropriate linguistic terminology (Functional Grammar). You should complete the three tasks.

• Task 1 (choice of texts)
Choose two texts by native speakers/writers of English: one text should be spoken (a natural or fictional conversation/dialogue between two or more speakers or an interview about any subject taken from a novel, TV, radio, magazine, newspaper or any other source) and the other text should be written (non-fiction prose) text in English taken from an English newspaper or magazine. The written text can be about any specialized subject (eg. medicine, law, education, arts, politics, sports, etc.). Each text should be about 150-200 words in length. The texts you choose should be RECENT; i.e. published over the LAST 2-4 WEEKS. You can access most daily newspapers or magazines on the internet.
Note: You can use tables, graphs and any other formats to do the task properly and make it convenient and easy to follow. You could also use appendices to tabulate the results of the 2 articles.


Important Notes:
1. Your chosen texts MUST be approved by your tutor to make sure they are the proper texts for the TMA, otherwise your TMA will not be accepted.
2. You should write an introduction to the TMA at the very beginning of the page on which you are beginning the TMA. Also, you should write a conclusion to the whole TMA at the end in which you sum up what you have done in the TMA and state your own evaluation and opinion of the TMA.
3. In an appendix attach a photocopy or a printout of the two texts you have used for analysis.
4. Indicate in a very clear manner the source and date of publication of each text.

• Task 2 (no essay writing required here)
You should type the two texts (150-200 words) in your TMA.
In this task you will analyze the structure of all clauses (simple, complex and embedded) in the 150-200 words in each text. You should identify the clause boundaries using || and the embedded clauses using [[ ]]. Then analyze the structure of each clause complex in terms of main (independent) clause, dependent clause (i.e. whether its type is circumstantial/adverbial, relative or nominal, and if it is finite or non-finite). Write if the clause complex is by coordination or subordination.
Note:
Refer to Unit 6 in Book 1, especially Activity 11, p. 182, to do this task properly.


• Task 3 (write about 750-1000 words for the discussion and comparison)
In this task you should write an essay (750-1000 words) in which you discuss and compare the structures of the clauses in the spoken and written texts based on the findings in Task 2: their types, numbers, complexity, etc. Explain and discuss clearly the differences in clause relationships within written and spoken texts using correct and proper linguistic/grammatical terminology. You should illustrate your discussion and comparison with examples taken from the texts you analyzed in Task 2.
Note:
Refer to Unit 6 in Book 1 to detailed information and practice to do this task properly.




















Using the e-library on campus:
Students are requested to visit the e-library on campus and use it to do their TMAs properly. They are also requested to show their tutor that they used the e-library in doing the TMA.

The following are guidelines on plagiarism:
If you submit an assignment that contains work other than yours without acknowledging your sources, you are committing plagiarism. This might occur when:
• Using a sentence or phrase that you have come across
• Copying word-for-word directly from a text
• Paraphrasing the words from the text very closely
• Using text downloaded from the internet
• Borrowing statistics or assembled fact from another person or source
• Copying or downloading figures, photographs, pictures or diagrams without acknowledging your sources
• Copying from the notes or essays of a fellow student
(Slightly adapted from OU document on quoting versus plagiarism)

It is important to remember that plagiarism is strictly barred and would be subject to punitive action by the Arab Open University.

Learning Outcomes of the TMA:
To be successful in doing your TMA, you are expected to demonstrate knowledge and understanding of :
1. The differences between speech and writing through a knowledge of the clause;
2. The composition of the clause and of clause complexes;
3. The ways that clauses can combine to form clause complexes and the nature of the relationships between clauses;
4. Embedded clauses and their role as a clause constituent;
5. Differences in clause relationships within written and spoken texts.
6. the major characteristics of English grammar, and how the language may be described and analyzed, using appropriate linguistic terminology (based broadly on a functional grammatical model);
7. the relevance of grammar to a range of real-life contexts;

and to have descriptive, analytical, cognitive, interpretation and communication skills to:
1. analyze and describe major grammatical structures in English, using appropriate terminology;
2. interpret written and spoken linguistic data, showing an understanding of how grammatical forms relate to meaning;
3. construct a coherent argument, clearly focussed on the topic under discussion;
4. develop good academic practice in the acknowledgement of source material and presentation of bibliographies;
5. present written work to a high standard;
6. respond to tutor feedback about improving the effectiveness of written communication.
7. work independently, scheduling tasks and managing time effectively;
8. make independent judgements;
12. assess the value of evidence critically (including simple statistical data).
9. construct coherent written arguments, supported by relevant evidence, appropriately referenced.