Brief remarks on the subject:
Non-at-issue meaning (such as presuppositions and conventional implicatures) and information structural phenomena (such as topic, focus and givenness) are topics in their own right that have often been investigated independently from each other in theoretical syntax and semantics. However, recent approaches to discourse and information structure have shifted the focus onto the connection between (non-)at-issueness and an implicit or explicit Question Under Discussion. In this class, we cover current research on different interactions between non-at-issue meaning and information structure, focusing on the interconnectedness of these fields of research.
What do you learn?
This course provides students with an overview and a deeper understanding of current research at the syntax-semantics interface, with a focus on the topics of information structure and non-at-issue meaning. Students learn to actively formulate and pursue research questions in these areas and investigate them in the light of current theories (such as, for instance, the Questions Under Discussion approach to discourse and information structure). At the end of this class, students are also given the opportunity to witness 'real' research presentations of cutting-edge research in the course of an international workshop on Non-At-Issue Meaning and Information Structure that takes place at the University of Oslo.