GEN1000 for students admitted to Year 1 before AY2025/26, Year 2 before AY2026/27, or Year 3 before AY2027/28, except with the permission of the Module Coordinator
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This module explores the fascinating world of human language. Students will study topics such as the origins of language; language evolution; how languages differ from each other; verbal and non-verbal communication; writing systems; language and technology; endangered languages; constructed languages; languages and digitisation; languages in the language industries; and the language scene in Hong Kong. Designed for all students regardless of their background, the module will highlight the complex relationship between language and thought, identity and culture, and will offer an eye-opening journey into language as one of humanity’s most defining traits – something that we all use but all too often take for granted.
Upon completion of this module, students should be able to:
1. What Is language? Foundations and definitions
1.1. Defining human language and what makes it unique
1.2. Language as a system: structure, meaning and use
1.3. What makes language both universal and culturally specific?
2. The origins and evolution of language
2.1. Different theories about the origins of human language
2.2. How language has evolved over time
2.3. Language change and innovation across cultures
3. How languages differ: Typology and universals
3.1. Word order, case systems and morphology
3.2. Agglutinative, analytic and inflectional languages
3.3. Writing systems: alphabetic, syllabic and logographic scripts and their cultural significance
4. Language and society
4.1. Dialects, sociolects and linguistic variation
4.2. Language and power: prestige, taboo and ideological loading
4.3. Metaphor and other figurative language and its cultural context
4.4. Language in the Hong Kong context: multilingualism and linguistic and cultural code-switching
5. Non-verbal and visual communication
5.1. Gesture, facial expression and body language across cultures
5.2. Implied and hidden meaning
5.3. Sign languages as full and natural languages
5.4. Emojis, memes and the rise of hybrid digital communication as cultural practice
6. Language distribution and constructed languages
6.1. Global languages, languages of limited diffusion and endangered languages
6.2. Case studies of revitalisation efforts
6.3. Invented languages (e.g. Esperanto, Klingon, Elvish and Dothraki) and what they tell us about real ones
7. Language in the Digital Age
7.1. How technology shapes language use (texting, translation apps and AI)
7.2. Language, culture and identity in online spaces
7.3. The use of language for professional purposes in global and glocal contexts
7.4. The future of global communication and linguistic diversity
