| Kommentar |
This seminar explores key linguistic phenomena in (primarily first) language acquisition. We will introduce the scientific questions on language acquisition that linguists have been trying to address, the different kinds of data that they typically turn to and the conclusions they have drawn from them regarding the nature of language learning. Our perspective will be broad enough to take both monolingual and bilingual children into account, so that we can also tackle issues such as language differentiation in bilingual newborns and infants, patterns of cross-linguistic influence (‘transfer’), the role of the age of onset of bilingualism and the influence of environmental and affective variables on bilingual development. Throughout the course, our focus will be on the acquisition of phonological and grammatical structures. Methodologically, we will look into an array of different techniques for studying child language, from observational methods such as corpus-based analyses to experimental and behavioural data and their statistical evaluation. The course will thus enable students to read the research literature on first language acquisition and to present and discuss such research in their own written work. |
| Bemerkung |
Before you enrol in this class, you should be sure that you do not only show a “general interest” in language acquisition or bilingualism (for whatever reason), but that you are willing and eager to explore the topic from a scientific point of view, including an engagement with theories, data and statistics. Language acquisition is a fascinating field of inquiry but also a rather challenging one, so the course won’t be a walk in the park! |
| Leistungsnachweis |
Students taking this class will be asked to present a research article in one of the classes (= a poster presentation in a small group), and they will have to submit a structured term paper (= a set of research assignments, deadline: September 15, 2020). |
