Credit Hours - 3

This course explores theoretical issues that underlie phonological patterns and processes.
Attention is given to various phonological approaches and representations within linear
segmental phonology, Autosegmental Phonology and Optimality Theory. Data from a variety
of languages are used to evaluate these approaches and their relative strengths in the analyses
of various aspects of phonology. Areas covered include feature theory, segmental processes,
and theoretical issues in prosody such as syllabification, tone, stress, and intonation.

Credit Hours - 3

This course will introduce students to some of the basic concepts in the study of meaning in
language and the ways in which meaning is conveyed. Issues in connection with word and
sentence meaning as well as the relationship between sentence structure and
meaning/interpretation will be explored. Some of the topics to be discussed are: semantic
relations (such as synonymy, antonymy, polysemy and homophony); semantic relations
involving sentences (such as paraphrase, entailment, and contradiction); structural ambiguity
and thematic roles.

Credit Hours - 3

This course is aimed at helping students to acquire advanced knowledge in syntactic analysis
using data from a wide variety of languages and to prepare them for further work in any
syntactic theory. Students may be introduced to any of the competing theories of syntax such
as functional grammar, relational grammar, the principles and parameters, framework and/or
the minimalist programme.

Credit Hours - 3

This course delves into the various theoretical approaches to the analysis of word structure.
The implications of the approaches for our understanding of the architecture of the grammar
will be assessed. As part of the course, students will be expected to apply the various
theoretical frameworks to the analysis of a morphological pattern in a language other than
English. Topics to be discussed include Construction Morphology, Distributed Morphology,
Word and Paradigm Morphology and Word Grammar.

Credit Hours - 3

In the fast changing world of the workplace, effective communication has become an essential
tool for successful career practice. The idea of this course is to guide students to appreciate the
relevant connection between language analysis and the world of work. Topics covered in the
course include business-writing skills, word building strategies, effective use of words,
presentation skills, cross-cultural business and communications.

Credit Hours - 3

The course deals with the relationship between language and politics. It exposes students to
language and negotiation and the maintenance of political power relations in traditional and
contemporary societies. Topics include the grammar/linguistics and stylistics of power
negotiation, language and colonial dominations, linguistic determinism, free speech, language
and political persuasion, campaign and propaganda language, language and governance, as
well as language and the resistance of dominant ideology.

Credit Hours - 3

The course will cover various pidgins and creoles of the world, including those of Haiti,
Jamaica, Cameroon, Sierra Leone, Ghana and Nigeria. It exposes students to theories of their
origin, their socio-cultural significance and their use in the modern world. Their linguistic
features will be compared with those of other languages. Other topics include: structural
characteristics, pidginization, and creolization.

Credit Hours - 3

The course looks at the orientations and processes of language planning and their relation to
the socio-economic development of a nation. Ghana‘s language situation and the type of
language policy options available and their consequences will be discussed. The topics
include: the language planning process, orientations, underlying ideologies, language planning
and socio-economic development, and Ghana‘s language situation.

Credit Hours - 3

This course exposes students to advanced techniques and principles of translation. It also
examines the assumed co-operation between source author and translator and target receiver, in
relation to coherence and readability. Topics to be covered include embedded, parallel, and
sequential propositions, textual presentation, cohesion and prominence within information
structure.

Credit Hours - 3

This course aims at providing advanced knowledge of the syntactic structures of a particular
Ghanaian language (e.g. Akan, Dagaare, Dagbani, Dangme Ewe, Ga, and Guren). It assumes
some level of proficiency on the part of students in the language concerned. Topics include
serialization and other multiverb constructions, complementation, interrogative constructions,
relative clauses, reflexivisation, grammaticalisation, and focus constructions.

Credit Hours - 3

This course addresses the issue of how meaning is expressed in a Ghanaian language (e.g.
Akan, Dagaare, Dagbani, Dangme Ewe, Ga, and Guren). It provides students with the
knowledge of sense relations. Each of this set of courses concentrates on the semantics of
aspect and aspectual constructions, including the relations between the semantics of the root
and the semantics of the affix. Verb valency and semantic argument roles, the semantics of
derived verbs, topicalization, focus and related phenomena may be considered.

Credit Hours - 3

This course provides students the opportunity to appreciate some of the advanced issues in the
syntax of English. Informed by advances in various theoretical approaches to the structure of
English beyond the word level, the course examines topics such as grammatical relations,
complementation, transitivity, relative clause formation, reflexivisation, interrogatives, and
identificational and existential constructions.

Credit Hours - 3

In this course, the basic semantic unit, the proposition, is analysed into a central predicate plus
various participant‘s roles and circumstances, which may be negated. Propositions may be
linked in parallel, in sequence, or with embedding. Other topics include information units,
topic, focus, presupposed information, expression of a sender‘s attitude, second-language
varieties of Standard English.

Credit Hours - 3

The course will expose students to the relevance of insights from linguistic research to the
development of methods of language teaching. Various methods of language teaching and
their effectiveness will be explored. Topics to be covered include the Audio-lingual method,
Communicative Language Teaching, Total Physical Response and the teaching of reading,
comprehension and spelling.

Credit Hours - 3

The course deals with theoretical issues involved in the definition of the concept of style.
Current advances in the theory of style will be treated. Topics to be dealt with include the
definition and functions of literature, stylistics and literature, foregrounding, euphony,
imagery, flashback, and style in advertising and political speeches.

Credit Hours - 3

The course examines notions of meaning and usage that are exploited in the legal field. Its
main focus is on language as a tool for understanding legal matters. As part of the course, a
number of actual legal cases that illustrate the various linguistic notions of ambiguity,
vagueness, metaphor, etc. will be examined. Topics include: features and structures of legal
language, notions of status, states and acts, relevance of speech act theory in hearsay, contract
formation and language crimes.

Credit Hours - 3

In this course, students will gain an insight into the relationship between language behaviour
and the psychological processes that underlie it. It examines crucial issues in the interaction
between the brain and language as well as theoretical issues on how language is acquired,
stored and processed. Topics include the information processing system, language articulation
and production, language processing, bilingualism and aphasia

Credit Hours - 3

The course will build upon what was taught in LNGS 322. It will focus on the syntax and
semantics of sign language at the theoretical level, and on interpreting at the practical level.
There will be two hours of practical work each week during which students will learn how to
interpret for the deaf. The topics to be covered include: clause types, grammatical facial
expressions, classifier constructions, aspect inflection on verbs and aspectual particles, the role
of sign language in deaf culture and deaf education, sign language and spoken language
interpreting, subordination and the sociolinguistics of the deaf community.

Credit Hours - 3

The course is designed to study the gap between word/sentence meaning and utterance
interpretation. It considers the variation, style, and interpretation of language use and strategies
of communication. Topics to be studied include truth versus non-truth conditional meaning,
role of context in utterance production and interpretation, implicit and explicit language use,
presupposition, entailment, speech acts, politeness, deixis, and relevance. Others are linguistic
routines, request, apology and compliments.

Credit Hours - 3

The course provides a historical overview of language and gender theory and research. It
examines the ways in which language is used by men and women, and the linguistic means by
which they are portrayed, in order to understand the process of gender (re)construction in
society. Topics include: essentialist and constructionist views on sex and gender, essentialist
and constructionist approaches to language and gender, construction of gender identities,
notions of femininity and masculinity, and representation of gender and language use in
specific domains. It also involves critical analyses of gendered texts from various domains.