ENG508 - Semantics and Pragmatics

Total Marks 5 Starting Date Thursday, August 01, 2019 Closing Date Friday, August 02, 2019 Status Open Question Title Graded Discussion Board Question Description Dear Students, Graded Discussion Board for Eng508 will be opened from August 01-02, 2019. The topics for the GDB are: Suppose there is a job advertisement in a newspaper in both Urdu and English. What sort of translation gaps would you find in both the advertisements keeping in mind that words and phrases of two different languages (e.g., Urdu and English) do not convey same concepts? (OR) What are the benefits and barriers of e-learning with reference to linguistic courses? Do you find an effective guidance from the instructors for your course activities? Write your own views about any one of the given topics. Your comments should NOT exceed 150-200 words. Read the following instructions carefully before posting your comments: GDB carries 3% weightage in your final assessment. Your comments should be clear, concise, and relevant to the topic. Creative and original ideas written in correct English will be highly appreciated. Any queries related to Graded Discussion Board (GDB) will not be entertained on the regular MDB. For questions or queries related to the topic, you may send email to eng508@vu.edu.pk. Do not send your comments via e-mail or regular MDB. The comments posted on the regular MDB will not be graded. Do not post your comments twice. No marks will be awarded for plagiarism. All the best ENG508

MA ELT Semantics and Pragmatics (ENG 508) Fall 2019 Assignment No. 1 Total Marks: 20 Lectures: 1-12 Instructions: • Upload your assignments in a proper format, i.e. MS word file. Corrupt files will be awarded zero marks. • The assignments should be zoomed in at 100%. • Please avoid plagiarism; plagiarized work will be marked zero. • After the due date, the assignments submitted via email would not be entertained. • Please avoid submitting copied assignments; otherwise, such a case would be referred to the discipline committee. • The font color should be preferably black and font size 12 Times New Roman. Q1. Semantics is the study of meaning, but what we mean by ‘meaning’ is disputed among the linguists. Read about the different theories of ‘meaning’ (given in the handouts) and then answer the following questions: a) Which of the given theories of meaning is best suited to the linguistic facts? b) How can the words fail to mean what they mean? (5+5= 10 Marks) Q2. “Idea Theory” explains the pattern show languages express meaning in terms of concepts, thoughts or ideas. Read about the Idea Theory and then discuss the major challenges faced by the “Idea Theory”. (10 Marks)