NCHU Course Outline
Course Name (中) 句法學(5174)
(Eng.) Syntax
Offering Dept Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures
Course Type Elective Credits 3 Teacher Ching-Yu Yang
Department Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures/Undergraduate Language 中/英文 Semester 2026-SPRING
Course Description This course introduces core concepts in formal generative syntax and explores how syntactic theory can be empirically evaluated using experimental methods. Students will engage with central theoretical constructs such as phrase structure, movement, and locality constraints within X-bar theory. In parallel, the course introduces experimental methodologies used to test syntactic hypotheses, including acceptability judgment tasks. By the end of this semester, students will complete a final project that integrates formal analysis with empirical investigation.
Prerequisites
self-directed learning in the course Y
Relevance of Course Objectives and Core Learning Outcomes(%) Teaching and Assessment Methods for Course Objectives
Course Objectives Competency Indicators Ratio(%) Teaching Methods Assessment Methods
By the end of the course, students will be able to:
1. Explain foundational assumptions of generative syntax (competence, Universal Grammar, I-language).
2. Analyze syntactic phenomena using X-bar theory.
3. Design basic experimental tasks to test syntactic predictions.
4. Interpret acceptability judgment data data.
topic Discussion/Production
Exercises
Discussion
Lecturing
Written Presentation
Attendance
Oral Presentation
Assignment
Quiz
Course Content and Homework/Schedule/Tests Schedule
Week Course Content
Week 1 2/24 Orientation & Generative Syntax
Week 2 3/3 Constituency and X-bar Theory
Week 3 3/10 The Clausal Spine and Functional Categories
Week 4 3/17 Binding Theory
Week 5 3/24 A-Movement
Week 6 3/31 A’-Movement
Week 7 4/7 Make-up holiday for University Anniversary and Annual Sports Meet
Week 8 4/14 Midterm Exam (open book)
Week 9 4/21 Introduction to Experimental Syntax
Week 10 4/28 Designing Acceptability Studies
Week 11 5/5 Individual Conference (I): Outline Discussion
Week 12 5/12 Questionnaire & Data Analysis (I)
Week 13 5/19 Data Analysis (II)
Week 14 Poster Presentation
Week 15 Individual Conference (II)
Week 16 Final project submission
self-directed
learning		    03.Preparing presentations or reports related to industry and academia.
Evaluation
Attendance and in-class assignments 35%
Midterm exam 20%
Proposal (Individual Conference 10%)
Poster presentation 10%
Final project 25%
Textbook & other References
Carnie, A. (2013). Syntax: A Generative Introduction (3rd ed.). Wiley-Blackwell.
Gibson, E., & Fedorenko, E. (2013). The need for quantitative methods in syntax and semantics research. Language and cognitive processes, 28(1-2), 88-124.
Myers, J. (2017). Acceptability judgments. In Oxford research encyclopedia of linguistics.
Phillips, C., Gaston, P., Huang, N., & Muller, H. (2021). Theories all the way down: Remarks on “theoretical” and “experimental” linguistics. The Cambridge handbook of experimental syntax, 587-616.
Teaching Aids & Teacher's Website
iLearning
Office Hours
by appointment
Sustainable Development Goals, SDGs(Link URL)
04.Quality Educationinclude experience courses：N
Please respect the intellectual property rights and use the materials legally.Please respect gender equality.
Update Date, year/month/day：2026/02/23 19:13:09 Printed Date, year/month/day：2026 / 3 / 10
The second-hand book website：http://www.myub.com.tw/