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Dr. Nevin Leder Email: Nevin - Leder@upr - Edu Office: Chardon 408-D
Dr. Nevin Leder Email: Nevin - Leder@upr - Edu Office: Chardon 408-D
Dr. Nevin Leder Email: Nevin - Leder@upr - Edu Office: Chardon 408-D
Department of English
Spring, 2020
Section 086: T/Th 3:30 to 4:45 ONLINE especially during these hours, but class work is also
available asynchronously.
Law 51: The Comprehensive Educational Services Act for People with disabilities states that after identifying
with the instructor and the institution, the student with disabilities will receive reasonable accommodation
in their courses and evaluations. For more information contact the Department of Counseling and
Psychological services at the Office of the Dean of Students (Office DE 21) or call 787-265-3864 or 787-832-
4040 x 3772, 2040 and 3864.
Course Overview and Objectives: The term “grammar” has at least two distinct meanings. The
common meaning of the term is “a set of rules for proper speech and writing.” This definition is
heavily prescriptive and is also a-theoretical since little attempt is made in prescriptive grammar to
explain the source of grammar rules and how they interact with other aspects of language. Linguists,
on the other hand, have a completely different notion of grammar. For them, a grammar is “a rule
system that generates all and only the good strings of a language,” where “good string” is determined
exclusively by native speakers, not by language “authorities.” In this course we will first discuss these
two different senses of the term “grammar,” and will then examine the reasons that both senses exist
and how they should be understood by advanced students of grammar, particularly in an academic
context. Students will work through several chapters of a sophisticated grammar of Standard English,
written by linguists. Thereafter, students will study syntactic theory and practice analyzing sentences
of English according to well known theories of syntax. The goal of the course is for students to
understand the range of meanings the term “grammar” has, and to learn how to use published resources
related to grammar and syntax, to improve their own speech and writing, to teach others, and to better
understand how grammar relates to other aspects of language and linguistics.
Leder, English 4026: The Structure of English S20 SECOND AMENDED SYLLABUS (p.2 of 4)
Course Requirements:
1) Regular attendance, WITH CLASS TEXTS. Students will be granted two automatically excused
absences. I will deduct one point (out of the course total of 100) for the third absence and two points
for each absence thereafter. You cannot afford this, so save your two excused absences for days when
you really need them. BEGINNING 324, ATTENDANCE WILL BE TAKEN THROUGH TOP
HAT. I WILL EXCUSE ABSENCES THAT ARE DUE TO FAULTY INTERNET (INCLUDING
MY OWN!). I WILL SEND YOU A CODE FOR ATTENDANCE FOR EVERY CLASS DAY AND
LEAVE THE ATTENDANCE OPEN ALL DAY. IF YOU CANNOT LOG ON BECAUSE OF THE
INTERNET OR SOME OTHER TECHNICAL PROBLEM, PLEASE SEND ME NOTICE WHEN
YOU ARE ABLE TO AND I WILL EXCUSE THAT ABSENCE.
3) Homework: Four HWs were completed before we switched to the online class. Your credit for
those HWs is recorded in the Partial Grade Report that I sent you (Excel Sheet).
4) The HW for the online portion of the course is assigned through Top Hat
5) Engaged participation in class discussions, both whole class and small group.
6) I expect engaged participation in the Top Hat Questions and Discussions as well.
A) One partial exam was completed on March 5, in class. The score for this exam is recorded
on the Partial Grade Report. This exam was worth 20% of the course grade.
B) We have one more exam for this course. We were just informed that we may now give the
Final Exam synchronously, which makes it possible to give this Final Exam remotely.
C) Below is the revised grading scheme. Note that I have increased the points for the Top Hat
work, which should help you IF you do the work conscientiously.
Grades:
Required Texts:
Huddleston, Rodney and Geoffrey K. Pullum (2005). A Students Introduction to English Grammar.
Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, NY. (Text is available through Amazon or other online
bookstores.
The text is also available as an electronic document; however, you should buy a paper copy, since
copying the electronic document would be just as expensive, and also because it isn’t fair to the
authors to use their text without paying for it. As a language teaching professional, you will need to
have a good grammar book, so you should just buy the book and keep it.
FILE SHARING for the Class: I will be using Mi Portal to share files with you. I will post the HW
assignments in Mi Portal, in the File folder for the class. All registered students have access to the Mi Portal
File folder. We will also use Top Hat for the Online portion of the course. You must submit your responses
through Top Hat, unless otherwise directed.
* Please note, this Calendar is an approximation only! I will teach the class, not the calendar, and will
make whatever adjustments are appropriate to accommodate everyone’s pace.
**THE FINAL EXAM WILL BE GIVEN SYNCHRONOUSLY. IF YOU MISS THE EXAM FOR
ANY REASON, INCLUDING REASONS BEYOND YOUR CONTROL, SUCH AS AN INTERNET
FAILURE, I WILL HAVE TO GIVE YOU AN INCOMPLETE. I AM STILL WORKING ON THE
EXAM FORMAT. I WILL HAVE DETAILS FOR YOU AS SOON AS I HAVE DESIGNED THE
EXAM WITH TECHNICAL HELP FROM TOP HAT.