New Media in teaching semantics

Analyzing and improving a semantics’ book chapter

Term Paper (Advanced seminar) , 2013 , 20 Pages , Grade: 1,0

Didactics for the subject English - Pedagogy, Literature Studies

We are living in a new media age. Computers, DVDs, CDs and the internet including YouTube, wikis and other websites are a part of many people´s everyday life. According to the Internet World Stats, about two billion people used the internet in 2012 with North America (78.6% of the population), Australia (67.6%) and Europe (63.2%) leading the way (Internet World Stats).
Using New media is natural for the children of our society as they grow up with it. They live in a world where CDs, DVDs, computers and mobile phones are just given. When they first use the internet, they are on average about nine years old (Livingstone, Haddon et al., p.23).
As it is so frequently used, it is no wonder that new media has also found its way into today’s classrooms offering great possibilities of learning and communication to teachers and students.
At the Johann Wolfgang Goethe University in Frankfurt in the winter session 2012/2013, a course was offered, called “New media in teaching semantics” by Professor Manfred Sailer. In this course, his students got to know different types of new media and how those could be used in teaching semantics. Furthermore, they designed online material for a semantics’ introductory course and created an own wiki including podcasts, material for an interactive whiteboard and topic related explanations and tasks.
At the moment, Professor Manfred Sailer is working on a book on semantics which is also used in the mentioned introductory course. In this paper, the chapter on “Predicate logic” will be analyzed. Therefore, it will be compared to other books on the same topic and evaluated from the viewpoint of a student having completed both mentioned courses. Furthermore, additional e-learning material will be created for the mentioned book chapter. The advantages of that will be explained.

Inhaltsverzeichnis

• Introduction
• Comparison to other books on semantics
  • "Formale Semantik und natürliche Sprache" by Horst Lohnstein
  • "Logic, Language and Meaning. Introduction to Logic" by L.T.F. Gamut
  • "Mathematical Methods in Linguistics" by Barbara H. Partee, Alice ter Meulen and Robert E. Wall
• Evaluation from the viewpoint of a student
• E-learning material
  • Why not only use a book?
  • Additional e-learning material
• Conclusion
• Bibliography

Zielsetzung und Themenschwerpunkte

This paper analyzes a chapter on "Predicate logic" from a book on semantics, comparing it to other books on the same topic and evaluating it from the perspective of a student. The paper also explores the potential of e-learning material to enhance the learning experience.

• Comparison of the "Predicate logic" chapter with similar chapters in other books on semantics
• Evaluation of the chapter from a student's perspective
• Development of additional e-learning material for the chapter
• Discussion of the advantages of using e-learning material in teaching semantics

Zusammenfassung der Kapitel

The paper begins by introducing the context of the analysis, highlighting the increasing use of new media in education and the specific course on "New media in teaching semantics" that inspired this project. The chapter on "Predicate logic" from Professor Manfred Sailer's book "Formal Semantics: An Empirically Grounded Approach" is then introduced, outlining its target audience and scope.

The paper then compares the "Predicate logic" chapter with similar chapters in three other books on semantics: "Formale Semantik und natürliche Sprache" by Horst Lohnstein, "Logic, Language and Meaning. Introduction to Logic" by L.T.F. Gamut, and "Mathematical Methods in Linguistics" by Barbara H. Partee, Alice ter Meulen and Robert E. Wall. The comparison focuses on the introduction to the topic, the level of detail provided, and the assumed prior knowledge of the reader.

The paper concludes by discussing the potential of e-learning material to enhance the learning experience for students studying semantics. It explores the advantages of using e-learning material, such as its flexibility, interactivity, and accessibility.

Schlüsselwörter

The keywords and focus themes of the text include predicate logic, formal semantics, e-learning, teaching semantics, and new media in education. The paper explores the use of predicate logic in teaching semantics, comparing different approaches and evaluating the effectiveness of e-learning materials in this context.

• College: University of Frankfurt (Main)
• Grade: 1,0
• Author: Lisa Günthner (Author)
• Publication Year: 2013
• Pages: 20
• Catalog Number: V276508
• ISBN (eBook): 9783656699101
• ISBN (Book): 9783656701088
• Language: English
• Tags: media, analyzing