LINGUISTICS 425/709: Child Language Acquisition

Spring 2009

TR 2:30-03:45 PM, 212 Blake

Instructor: Clifton Pye, Blake 424, 864-3450, pyersqr (at) ku (dot) edu

Office Hours: Mondays 1-3 pm or by appointment.

Textbook: First Language Acquisition by David Ingram

The question of how children acquire their first language(s) defines the core of generative grammar. This course introduces the methods used to study child language, the major milestones of phonological, morphological, syntactic and semantic development, and the major theories of language development. The main goal of the course is to introduce students to the empirical testing of acquisition theory. By analyzing classic studies in the field, students will become familiar with different research techniques and how to use their results to evaluate acquisition theory. The course project will require students to design a study of some feature of child language. This project requires detailed control of the assigned reading and the material presented in the lectures.

GRADES:

A. The course grade will be based on two in-class exams and the final project. The exams will cover the assigned readings and the material presented in the lectures. The exams will have a short answer format and focus on the rationale behind the acquisition studies discussed in class. Students should use questions in class to check their understanding of the lectures and readings.

B. Students are required to write a term paper which proposes an original study of some aspect of language acquisition. The term paper will be worth 40 percent of the course grade. The paper should describe an experiment to assess some aspect of language development. It is not necessary to actually perform the experiment, but your report should contain a discussion of the relevant literature, the significance of your proposed study and a detailed description of the method you will use to test the experimental hypothesis as well as your interpretation of the possible outcomes. The class will discuss experimental approaches to language acquisition throughout the semester. I will ask students to identify a topic for their project near the middle of the semester.

On Thursday, March 12th you should turn in a one-page description of your final project and how you plan to approach it. Briefly explain the importance of your topic: how does it fit into the study of language acquisition? You can expect to redefine both your experiment and your approach while you are working on the project. This prospectus serves as a rough map of the area you hope to explore. The prospectus constitutes part of your final project; I will comment upon it but will not grade it separately.

Your final project is due in my office by 8 am, Wednesday, May 13th. I have posted some guidelines for the project at project guidelines.

C. Classroom participation is expected and will count towards 10 percent of the final mark for all students. The class will have a discussion format, and I will call on each student from time to time to participate in the discussion. Students cannot earn full credit for participation without coming to class.

Plagiarism is the presentation of someone else’s work as your own. Plagiarism of all or a portion of any assignment will not be accepted. Plagiarism will result in a failing grade for any assignment or report.

Any student who has a disability which may prevent his/her ability to participate fully in the course should contact the instructor as soon as possible so we can discuss the class assignments.

READING ASSIGNMENTS

The reading assignments are designed to complement the class lectures for the week. It is to your advantage to complete the reading before the class discussion of the topic.