NTU Course Review: LMS Year 3 Semester 2

Nanyang Technological University
LMS Year 3 Student (Semester 2, Y2019)
Linguistics & Multilingual Studies GER-PE Courses: Forensic Linguistics, Language Evolution, Language, Culture & Society in South East Asia
Other Courses: Introduction to Entrepreneurship

Forensic Linguistics
Course name: Forensic Linguistics
Course Code: HG4022
Assessment: 

·         Two Written Assignments (Case Study Analysis & Authorship Analysis)

·         Group Presentation

·         Case Discussion

·         Class Participation

Course Review:
Forensic Linguistics is one of the more popular Level 4000 Linguistics mods. (For the uninitiated, Level 1000 and 2000 are the low-level mods considered to be at the foundation or basic level of a subject. Level 3000 is a step up where foundation knowledge of the subject is already assumed, hence a little more is expected of the students in these modules. Level 4000 is the highest level where the modules are usually a specialised topic that requires prior foundation knowledge in the subject area).

At first glance, unlike the other Level 4000 Linguistics mods, HG4022 seems like a niche subject with no related foundation level courses. There are also no pre-requisites required for anyone intending to take up this course. However, upon reassessment of the course at the end of the semester, I can say that this module actually broaches most of the concepts from low-level Linguistic courses such as in HG2002 Sociolinguistics and it is expected of you to apply some prior Linguistic knowledge in the discussions and presentations done in class.

In Forensic Linguistics you will learn about the law, court culture and the use of forensic linguistic analysis on evidences presented in court. Some interesting things you will learn includes finding out how flawed the legal world (or the world in general) can be, how difficult it actually is to forge someone else’s writing or signature and the different techniques forensic linguists use to analyse written evidences. Ever since an unfortunate incident in my pre-university days I have a fascination for the law. Hence, this module gave me an amazing opportunity to learn more in depth about some aspects of the judicial systems in Singapore and other parts of the world.

Like most of Stephanie’s classes, there will always be a lot of group discussions. For Forensic Linguistics, most of the discussions centred upon real life case studies. There is also a component in the module where we had to attend a Court Hearing session and later on present what we had learnt and experienced in class. While there are no tests, there are two assignments that constitute the bulk of the component weightages (65%) and group presentations (25%).

Language Evolution
Course name: Language Evolution
Course Code: HG3040
Assessment:

·         One Final MCQ and Essay Test

·         Group Wiki

·         Group Presentation

·         Group Report on Progress of Wiki page

Course Review:
By Year 3 Semester 2, the typical Linguistics student would have already taken their compulsory Core modules. Hence, the subjects that I took for this semester are the subjects that I was really interested in or is fascinated to learn about. Language Evolution is one subject that I thought would be really fascinating and perhaps important for any linguist to know.

Language Evolution is not to be confused with Historical Linguistics, another subject that I find equally interesting. Historical Linguistics deals with how language changes over time or within a time period and an example would be studying how Old English eventually evolved to become the Modern English that we now speak. Language Evolution however deals with how Language came into the prowess of human beings. 

The subject deals with the evolutionary development that is required for Language to emerge as well as the cultural forces that could have sparked its emergence. The problem with the study of Language Evolution is that languages do not fossilize hence we cannot find any direct evidence of the speech of our ancestors. Hence, evolutionary linguists have to contend with indirect evidences to hypothesize the possible emergence of language in humans. As a result, this module is innately loaded with theories.

One thing I like about Luca’s class is the amount of thought he puts in to try to maximise his student’s learning. For this module, he had devised a Group Wiki assignment to put the onus of understanding a particular topic on to his students. My group had chosen a particularly tricky topic which required some careful reading and understanding. This group project kept us on the toes and really made us understand our topic well because we also had to do a group presentation about it. At the end of the day, I felt satisfied because I have actually learnt and understood something fundamentally.

The bulk of the weightage will come from the in-class final test and essay on the last day of the module while the rest will come from your Group Wiki assignment.

Language, Culture and Societies in South East Asia
Course name:    Language, Culture and Societies in South East Asia
Course Code:     HG4062
Assessment:

·         Group Presentation

·         Two Essays

Course Review:
I actually spent the most of my studying time on this module. Compared to my other courses, HG4062 had an enormous amount of reading to be done (2-3 compulsory papers plus 2-3 additional papers highly recommended to read up on). As a practice since Year 1, I read all my readings regardless if it is compulsory or not so this mod was particularly challenging for me to keep up with.

Language, Culture and Societies in South East Asia deals with a broad spectrum of research on the language and language practices in South East Asia. One thing that became apparent from the first lesson was the breadth of knowledge and experience that Prof Benjamin had about South East Asian languages from his long career in anthropology and linguistics. He had a quality of curiosity about him and fascination for why things are as it is that is strangely inspiring.

In this course you will first learn about the linguistic landscape of South East Asia and where most of the major languages in the region came from before moving to analyse more in-depth each of the major language families. South East Asia is a melting pot of language families. To take into perspective, most of Europe forms one major language family, the Indo-European language family, but in South East Asia there are more than 4 major language families - Tai-Kadai, Austronesian, Tibeto-Burmese, Sinitic and Hmong-Mien language family - in a much smaller geographical area. Historical and Anthropological Linguistics play a large role in this course as it explains why the linguistic landscape is as such.

Expect to learn more than you probably anticipated from this course. While tackling one of the essay assignments, I discovered from my mum and maternal relatives that we are descendants of the old Riau-Lingga Sultanate, a relation that is preserved by inter-marriage practices and naming culture.

The bulk of the weightage of your grades will come from your two essays so you will have to work on them. Prof Benjamin is an old school professor so do your readings and follow his instructions to write your essays and you should do well.

Intro to Entrepreneurship 
Course name: Introduction to Entrepreneurship
Course Code: ET9121
Course Type: Unrestricted Elective
Assessment:

·         Final Presentation

·         Elevator Pitch

·         Class Participation

Course Review:
ET9121 is a gem of a course for the aspiring entrepreneurs. I have been interested in the prospects of being an entrepreneur for quite a while and had been mulling a couple of ideas that I do not quite know how to take off. ET9121 came with the critical steps that I have to take as well as the confidence to successfully launch a start-up.

I initially have no clue about how I could launch a start-up, but this course gives an almost step-by-step guideline on how to do so while also providing a recipe to ensure you do not blow up almost immediately before your idea could take off (Risk Management). I initially had 3 ideas for a start-up and went on to pitch and develop one them for this course. Through the course, Marilyn, our course professor, gave tips and offered her connections if we decide to really start our own start-up. I learnt that in Singapore, there are many ways to raise funds and build a business and the process is actually fairly simple, but a solid team and proper business plan is what it takes for your business to thrive.

The course only has five lessons throughout the semester, but they are done on Saturdays and during Recess Week and usually takes up the entire day. Due to this, there is a strict and really quick deadline to follow. Within one month from the start of the course, you will have to come up with a presentation and develop a business plan. Of course, this will be done in groups as the workload is really too much for one person. The good news is that once you are done with the course, you do not have to think about it and it is 3 AUs (Academic Units) done and dusted for the semester. As I still have 9 AUs of SU credits to spare and only one useable SU subject this semester, I decided to SU this course to mitigate the risk of dropping my cGPA.
Final Grade: SU

These are subjective opinions and interpretations of the course that I undertook during my semester year in NTU. Do note that the courses may change in its entirety over the coming semesters and years. Hope that it has been useful for you!

This course review is my view and take on the modules I took up this Semester which I hope may be of use to you who may have plans to take up these modules. Thanks for reading! Спасибо Большое!