Description of the course:

The aim of the MA seminar is the linguistic analysis of authentic examples of the use of the English language (e.g. specialized translations, blogs, songs, students’ statements) in the cognitive paradigm. The proposed research areas concern the common understanding of reality (e.g. beliefs about what is friendship, love, marriage, or stereotypes of a teacher, Englishman, doctor), taking into account the subjectivism of interpretation and evaluation. The seminar also deepens interpersonal and intercultural communication skills.

 Selected cognitive linguistics tools - discussed during the seminar and serving as a topic for a MA thesis – are as follows:

1) Conceptual Metaphor Theory and multimodality of metaphors - why, for example, TIME IS MONEY, A TEACHER IS A GUIDE, AND LIFE IS A JOURNEY, and how to recognize metaphors in words, graphics or music

2) Theory of mental spaces and conceptual integration - which features of individual elements of speech (e.g. anger comes out through his ears) do we combine in the mind in order to understand it?

3) Force Dynamics as a semantic category and how individuals interact in relation to force - e.g. why, during arguments or strong emotions, expressions involving psychological forces reflect the extension of the category of force dynamics from the physical domain to the psychological domain - i.e. why is fear paralyzing, anger suppressed and sadness overwhelming?

4) Critical Discourse Analysis - analysis of statements in terms of structure, mechanism, message, e.g. an analysis of politicians’ discourse on refugees, education, etc.