COURSES

Content

This course first provides a general overview of language classification in Africa. Then, it focuses on foundational concepts and analytical methodologies in linguistics and applies them to African languages. Students learn what is a phone, a phoneme, a toneme, a morpheme, a syntactic constituent, and a grammatical relation. They learn how to identify these units by applying a specific methodology to datasets of African languages. In short, this is a class where students learn the basics of linguistic analysis and then apply it to African languages.  

Learning outcomes

• To have good knowledge of the main language families of Africa, including their features, classification and geographic extent.
• To have good knowledge of the foundational units of  linguistic analysis and the methodologies that allow linguists to identify these units in a dataset.
• To develop problem-solving, analytical skills applied to datasets on African languages. 

Teaching methods

Seminar, Lecture, Independent work, Peer teaching

Assessment method(s)

Assessment moments: end-of-term and continuous assessment

Examination methods in case of end-of-term assessment during the first examination period:Written assessment

Examination methods in case of end-of-term assessment during the resit examination period: Written assessment

Examination methods in case of continuous assessment: Oral assessment, Assignment

Possibilities of resit in case of continuous assessment: examination during the second examination period is possible

Extra information on the examination methods: Students are required to hand in weekly homework exercises, which count for 20% of the final grade. Students are required to give a presentation, which counts for 10% of the final grade. The remaining 70% consists of the final exam. A minimum of 10/20 for both periodical and non-periodical evaluation is required. Nonperiodical evaluation cannot be repeated in the second exam period. Students who repeat the periodical examination keep the same grade for the non-periodical evaluation.

Calculation of the examination mark: 70% periodical (exam), 30% non-periodical (homework exercises and presentation)

Lecturers

Pacchiarotti, Sara: lecturer-in-charge

Maselli, Lorenzo: co-lecturer

Goes, Heidi: staff member

Course dates

This course takes place in the first semester of academic year 2026-2027:

• Educational activities: September 21 to December 12, 2026
• Catch-up activities: December 14 to December 19, 2026
• Christmas break: December 21, 2026 to January 2, 2027
• Examination period: January 4 to January 30, 2027
• Resit Examination period: August 16 to September 18, 2027

There will be twelve hybrid lectures between September 21 and December 12, 2026. This weekly class will take place on Thursdays from 13:00 to 16:00 (CEST/CET). (Online) attendance is mandatory, even if lectures will be recorded for people with valid absences (for example due to medical reasons).”

Entry requirements: none

How to apply

1. Check whether you meet the entry requirements listed above. You cannot apply if you don’t meet the entry requirements.
2. Check with your home faculty or study programme to confirm whether this course can be included in your curriculum, so the ECTS credits will be recognized. If you are unsure who to contact, reach out to your home university’s ENLIGHT office (contact details below).
3. Apply by completing the Ghent University form (link to follow) by August 17th.
4. Register at Ghent university. Registration instructions will follow after application.

Information per university

• University of the Basque Country: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.  
• University of Bern: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., see application instructions for students at the University of Bern 
• University of Bordeaux: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.    
• Comenius University Bratislava: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.   
• University of Galway: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.   
• University of Groningen: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., see information about BIPs and application form 
• University of Göttingen: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. (for BIP’s) or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. (other courses) 
• University of Tartu: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., see information about BIP’s and virtual courses 
• Uppsala University: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., see application instructions for students at Uppsala University

For information regarding the procedure to take part in this course: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

For information regarding the course content: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.