Analysing English Grammar

Course Coordinator: Dennis Chau, BA, MPhil (CUHK)

Course Developer: Dr Chris Green, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University

This course is suitable for students who wish to improve their understanding of English grammar. Students must have an adequate command of English before enrolling on this course.

Advisory prerequisite(s)
Students who wish to become better writers of English are advised to take ENGL E070 first; students who wish to write better academic essays in English should take ENGL A101 first.

Aims
This course aims to provide a basic introduction to the analysis of English grammar. By the end of the course students should be able to understand the interrelatedness of the English language system in terms of grammar, lexis and discourse. Students should also be able to understand the following levels of description in analysing English grammar: word, phrase, clause and sentence.

Contents
The course covers the following topics:

• Approaches to analysing English grammar
• Variation in grammar
• Problems in English usage
• The notion of 'Standard English' and variations
• Grammatical features of Hong Kong English

Learning support
There will be regular two-hour tutorials.

Assessment
There will be five assignments and a final examination. Students are required to submit assignments via the Online Learning Environment (OLE).

Set book(s)
Yule, G (1999, 2004) Explaining English Grammar, Oxford: Oxford University Press.