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SEMESTER 2, 2019
Course Information

  • Lecturer

Ksenia Bogomolets

Office hours:

Monday, 13.00-14.00

Arts 2, 313C

ksenia.bogomolets@auckland.ac.nz

  • Course Coordinator 

Dr Keith Montgomery - k.montgomery@auckland.ac.nz

       

      • Course delivery format

      2 hours of lectures and 1 hour of tutorial

      (Timetable and room details can be viewed on Student Services Online)

      Summary of Course Description              

      LINGUIST 305
      15 Points

      Child Language Acquisition

      This course aims to introduce students to the major topics in the study of native language acquisition and language development. The course covers major theories attempting to answer the following question: How is it that something as complex as a human language is acquired by children with remarkably little effort? The first part of the course will set the stage by surveying the most widely used research methods and theoretical models in the field. Methodological approaches used to study language acquisition, from early diary studies to recent technical innovations will be explored. Among the topics covered in the second part of the course are phonological development, lexical development, morpho-syntactic development, and key concepts of learnability theory.

      Course outcomes

      Students who successfully complete this course will:
      • have an understanding of modern problems and theories in the field of language acquisition;
      • know what traits of language and language development appear to be innate and universal;
      • know the general course and stages of acquisition of phonetics and phonology, lexicon,
      morphology, and syntax;
      • be familiar with the current methods of studying language development;
      • have a scope of possible research questions in the field;
      • be comfortable with conducting research based on a children language database
      (CHILDES).

      Assessments:
      1. Midterm -- 40%
      • Cumulative

      2. Weekly reading reactions -- 20%

      • Total of 10 online responses to a weekly questions (2 points each)

      • 70-100 words long


      3. Individual final project -- 40%

      • Word limit: 3000 words
      • Option 1: Choose an original topic in acquisition of phonology, lexicon, morphology, or syntax, and test your hypotheses on CHILDES data.
      • Option 2: Analyze a child language sample of CHILDES data (to be provided by the lecturer) at multiple levels of linguistic ability: e.g. phonology, lexicon, morphology.

      Prescribed Texts:

      Hoff, E. (2013). Language development, 5th edition. Wadsworth

      Recommended Texts:

      Suggested bibliography and selected readings will be distributed.

      CHILDES:

      https://childes.talkbank.org/access/

       

      Workload:

      The University of Auckland's expectation on 15-point courses, is that students spend 10 hours per week on the course. Students manage their academic workload and other commitments accordingly. Students attend two hours of lectures each week and participate in a one-hour tutorial from week 2 of semester. This leaves seven hours per week outside the classroom to prepare for tutorials, assignments and the exam.

      Deadlines and submission of coursework:

      Deadlines for coursework are non-negotiable. In extreme circumstances, such as illness, you may seek an extension but you will be required to provide a doctor's certificate before the assignment is due or before the date of the test. All late assignments without a pre-approved extension will be penalised one mark per day late.

       

       

      Course summary:

      Date Details Due