HONG BANG INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY SOCIALIST REPUBLIC OF VIETNAM

FACULTY OF GLOBAL LANGUAGES AND CULTURES Independence - Freedom - Happiness

COURSE SYLLABUS

1. General information
Course Name in Vietnamese
Course Name in English
Code
Section
Faculty/Department in charge
: Cú pháp học
: Syntax
: 04294
: General knowledge ; Basic course X; ,Core course
Specialization ; Graduation requirement 
: Global Languages and Cultures

Cretdit hours: 3 (Theory: 3 Practice: 3 Self-learning:6)

Prerequisite courses : English Grammar 1, English Grammar 2
Precondition courses :
2. Course description
Syntax is one of the pillars of linguistics and concerns sentence internal structures
and word combinations. Experience in syntactic analysis affords an area of expertise that
is central to any consideration of language complexity, readability and even pathology.
Applying syntactic theory to text samples permits comparisons to be made, which can be
extremely useful in a variety of professional contexts. Accordingly, this unit focuses on
the rules of English morphosyntax and builds upon the grammatical concepts introduced
in the second year.

3. Course objectives
After completing the course, the student is able to:

(Ox) Objectives

O1 Evaluate criteria for assigning words to word classes

O2 Examine some of the major areas of English syntax and morphology
Develop your descriptive and analytical skills which can be readily
O3
transferred to other units as well as professional contexts
O4 Provide experience of syntactic analysis and representation
O5 Develop your familiarity with syntactic concepts and terminology

4. Course learning outcomes - CLOs)

(Specify the course objectives above)
 Ox Course Learning Outcomes PLOx
O1 CLO1: Explain basic terminologies in Syntax. PLO2
CLO2: Analyze sentences in English or other
O2 languages using syntactic theories that have PLO2
been discussed.
CLO3: Improve descriptive and analytical
O3 PLO6
skills in English
CLO4: Master syntactic analysis and
O4 PLO6
representation
CLO5: Be familiar with syntactic concepts and
O5 PLO11
terminology and then get interested in syntax.

5. Course content, Lesson plan

Assessme
Teaching and
Class Contents CLO nt form
learning activities
(Ax)
Words, concepts and Presentation,teacher A1.1
1 classes- lexical words CLO 1 talk, discussion and A1.2
practical activities
Presentation ,teacher A1.1
2 Words- Functional words ‡ CLO 1 talk, discussion and A1.2
practical activities
Presentation ,teacher A1.1
3 Phrases CLO1 talk, discussion and A1.2
practical activities
Presentation ,teacher A1.1
4 Clauses ‡ CLO 1 talk, discussion and A1.2
practical activities
Presentation ,teacher A1.1
5 Sentences CLO 1 talk, discussion and A1.2
practical activities
Presentation ,teacher A1.1
6 Subject CLO 1 talk, discussion and A1.2
practical activities
Presentation ,teacher A1.1
CLO
7 Object talk, discussion and A1.2
2,3,4,5
practical activities
Presentation ,teacher A1.1
CLO2,3,4
8 Modifier talk, discussion and A1.2
,5
practical activities
 Presentation ,teacher A1.1
CLO2,3,4
9 Appositive talk, discussion and A1.2
,5
practical activities
Presentation ,teacher A1.1
CLO
10 Nominals talk, discussion and A1.2
2,3,4,5
practical activities
Presentation ,teacher A1.1
CLO2,3,4
11 Adjectivals talk, discussion and A1.2
,5
practical activities,
Presentation ,teacher A1.1
CLO2,3,4
12 Adverbials talk, discussion and A1.2
,5
practical activities,
Presentation ,teacher A1.1
CLO
13 Verbals talk, discussion and A1.2
2,3,4,5
practical activities
Presentation ,teacher A1.1
CLO,2,3,
14 Basic sentence patterns talk, discussion and A1.2
4,5
practical activities
Presentation ,teacher A1.1
CLO
15 Review talk, discussion and A1.2
1,2,3,4,5
practical activities

6. Course assessment
Assessment Types Assessment methods CLO Rate (%)
A1 A1.1 Oral test + attendance + Mini- CLO1,2,3, 20%
(Oral test+ tests 4 20%
attendance + A1.2 Presentation
mini-tests+ This assignment is a presentaion on
Presentation) a content in the course which presents a
more extensive and demanding
challenge and requires the application
of syntactic theory to naturally
occurring texts. The analytical and
descriptive skills involved will highlight
the extent of your understanding of the
theory, its representation and your IT
skills to produce documents on slides
showing syntactic structures to a
 professional standard.
A2 Written work
This assignment a case study submitted
on the contents of the course that is
agreed with the lecturer and which
involves the analytical and descriptive
skills developed over the course so far.
The tasks requires the application of
A2 CLO1,2,3,
your knowledge of the English 60%
(Final Exam) 4
morphosyntactic system and involve
practical analysis and descriptive
techniques explored throughout the
units. You will be able to apply
feedback received from the first
assignment in preparation for this study.
(2500- 3000 words)
Total 100%

Asssessment rubric for A1

Total
Category Scoring Criteria Points Score
The type of presentation is appropriate for the topic and 5
Organization audience.
Information is presented in a logical sequence. 5
(15 points)
Presentation appropriately cites requisite number of references. 5
Introduction is attention-getting, lays out the problem well, and 5
establishes a framework for the rest of the presentation.
Technical terms are well-defined in language appropriate for 5
the target audience.
Content
Presentation contains accurate information. 10
(45 points) Material included is relevant to the overall message/purpose. 10
Appropriate amount of material is prepared, and points made 10
reflect well their relative importance.
There is an obvious conclusion summarizing the presentation. 5
Speaker maintains good eye contact with the audience and is 5
appropriately animated (e.g., gestures, moving around, etc.).
Speaker uses a clear, audible voice. 5
Delivery is poised, controlled, and smooth. 5
 Presentation Good language skills and pronunciation are used. 5
Visual aids are well prepared, informative, effective, and not 5
(40 points)
distracting.
Length of presentation is within the assigned time limits. 5
Information was well communicated. 10
Score Total Points/10 100/10

Assessment rubric for A2

Standards Poor (1-3) Acceptable (4-6) Excelling (7-10)
Content Faulty logic; weak Analyzes and Synthesizes, analyzes,
analysis and/or evaluates logically; and evaluates
critical thought effective use of logically; ample
evident; one-sided or evidence; treats evidence; extends and
biased; evidence different points of explores context
missing or linked view fairly; generally and/or implications;
minimally to the convincing; considers persuasive;
argument; on topic; audience demonstrates clear
no or minimal consideration of
consideration of audience
audience
Organiation Unclear or weak Interesting thesis; Intelligent thesis;
thesis and clear, logical smooth effective
organization; some organization; good organization and
transitions; weak transitions; transitions;
introduction and/or introduction introduction indicates
conclusion foreshadows understanding of topic;
arguments and conclusion suggests
conclusion reviews questions or
implications
Language Awkward Clear sentence Clear and varied
sentences/wording; structure/wording; sentence
grammatical or minor errors in structure/wording;
spelling/pronunciation grammar and almost no errors in
errors; inappropriate spelling/pronunciation; grammar and
word choice (e.g. appropriate word spelling/pronunciation;
slang, abbreviations, choice effective, appropriate
contractions); lack of word choice
clarity
Format No page numbers, No page numbers, Page numbering,
spacing inconsistent spacing inconsistent in spacing, font size,
in more than one one place, short ½ margins as specified
place, short 1 or more page, font size too by the lecturer
 pages, font size too large, one or more
large, one or more margins too big,
margins too big, moderate overuse of
excessive use of charts or clip art
charts or clip art

7. Course requirements and expectations:

In order to pass this course you will need to
- attend at least 80 % of the total classes ( 2 classes)
-‡ pass assignments 1 &2
( In order to pass Assignment 1, you will need to use terminology and analytical
techniques reasonably accurately to demonstrate your understanding of concepts
introduced and practised on the unit. ‡ Apply a finite set of syntactic rules to solve a
problem. ‡ Present your work in a clear and academically appropriate manner. In order to
pass Assessment 2 you will need to: ‡ Apply your understanding of morpho-syntactic
concepts introduced and practised in the unit. ‡ Make an accurate morphological and
syntactic analysis of an English text. ‡ Present your work in a clear and academically
appropriate manner.)

8.Materials and References

8.1. Textbooks
Burton-Roberts, Noel.(2016) Analysing sentences: An introduction to English
syntax (4th ed.). Routledge, London and New York
8.2. Reading materials
Carter, R and McCarthy, M. (2006) Cambridge grammar of English. Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press.
Crystal, D (2003) Cambridge encyclopaedia of the English language. Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press.
8.3. Websites
Hudson, R (ongoing) Encyclopedia of English Grammar and Word Grammar. Free
download from the following website. http://www.phon.ucl.ac.uk/home/dick/enc-gen.htm

GrammarScope: Stanford Parser Grammatical Relation Parser provides a GUI front end for the
Stanford Parser (along with the parser). Runs on Java (all platforms) and has unique display of
grammatical relations using colored highlighting.

dependencyviewer. Similar to grammarscope but draws nice dependency trees. Also runs on
Java, also by Bernard Bou.

Resources for the Study of Grammar  http://faculty.washington.edu/dillon/GramResources/

The Internet Grammar of English—http://www.ucl.ac.uk/internet-grammar/—is a nice little
primer with automatically graded exercises. Relevant sections are noted in the Calendar.

Wikipedia has a lot of useful material and is reliable on the whole

wordandphrase.info: New, alternative interface for COCA.

You may find the Notes on the Exercises useful.

9. Apps and other instruments

ConnexorMachinese Syntax   

Place and date July 2nd, 2021

Approved by (Head of Written by (Lecturer)
Department)

Slowik Ondrej, Ph.D Nguyen Nhu Tung