I enjoy teaching courses on topics in syntax, semantics and the syntax-semantics interface.
Here is a list of some short courses I have designed and taught:
- Language and thought: an introduction to argument structure
- Introduction to compositional semantics
- Introduction to dynamic semantics
Language and thought: an introduction to argument structure
What is the difference between “Dog bites man” and “Man bites dog”? How do we know that these two sentences describe different events in the real world? In this module, we will learn how language enables us to talk about the world around us, focusing in particular on how it helps us keep track of who does what to whom.
(This module is part of the UCL Linguistics Short Courses 2024, organised by Yiling Huo and Boyan Yin.)
Introduction to compositional semantics
How can we build up the meaning of sentences from the meaning of words? In this module, we will learn how to translate words into expressions in lambda calculus. The material we cover will be essential to anyone wishing to work in formal semantics or the syntax-semantics interface.
(I taught this module as part of the UCL Linguistics Autumn School 2023, which I co-organised with Yiling Huo.)
Introduction to dynamic semantics
How does language refer to entities in the real world? How do anaphors like pronouns refer back to their antecedents? The material we cover will be relevant to those interested in reference and anaphora in semantics, sentence processing or computational linguistics.