Study@ANU 2010

Child Language Acquisition LING3021  - Details

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Later Year Course


Offered By: School of Language Studies
Academic Career: Undergraduate
Course Subject: Linguistics
Offered in: Second Semester, 2010
Unit Value: 6 units
Course Description:

By the time children are 3 years old, they know about 3,000 words; they can formulate complex sentences; and they can produce all the sounds of their own language. How do they do this? This course will seek to answer these questions and more. It will survey the central themes in language acquisition. It will focus on all the stages in acquisition from the babbling infant up to the pre-school child. This course is relevant not only for linguists, psychologists, educators and anyone interested in child development.
Learning Outcomes:

On satisfying the expectations of the course, you should be able to

  1. Assess the level of language ability for a young child by listening to naturally occurring examples of young children talking.
  2. Explain, and argue for, how children learn their first language in terms of phonology, morphosyntax, semantics, interaction and caretaker's input.
  3. Critically evaluate various language acquisition theories.
  4. Think about, write and present an argument using evidence and results from previous child language research.
Indicative Assessment:

Assessment consists of a critical essay (30%), phonological analysis of a child's language (15%), morpho-syntactic analysis of a child's language (15%), data analysis assignment (40%) due in the exam period. Passing of the course is conditional on students passing all assessment items.
Workload:

This course has 2 lectures per week and 6 additional tutorials held from Weeks 2 - 7 inclusive.

In addition to the required contact hours (lectures and tutorials) it is expected that students will spend an additional 5-6 hours per week on this course.
Areas of Interest: Linguistics and Applied Linguistics
Assumed Knowledge and
Required Skills:		 This course introduces students to child language acquisition. Students will need to have some understanding of linguistics (particularly an understanding of phonetics and syntax) before enrolling in this course.
Requisite Statement:

Students must have completed Introduction to the Study of Language (LING1001/2001) (or its equivalent) before taking this course. There are no courses that must be taken concurrently with this course.

Prescribed Texts:

Gleason, J. B. (ed) (2009) The Development of Language. 7th Edition. Boston: Allyn and Bacon
Preliminary Reading:

Wardhaugh, Ronald (1993) How do we learn a language? Investigating Language: Central Problems in Linguistics, Basil Blackwell: Oxford

O'Grady (2005) How Children Learn Language. Cambridge University Press: Cambridge
Indicative Reading List: Students will be given a full reading list at the beginning of the semester. Journals that publish child language acquisition research include, First Language, Journal of Child Language, Language Acquisition, Journal of Verbal Learning and Verbal Behaviour.
Technology Requirements: Other than normal internet access to Wattle, no special equipment is required to access materials to complete the course.
Majors/Specialisations: Applied Linguistics and Linguistics
Other Information: This class is co-taught with postgraduate students LING6521.
Academic Contact: Dr Johanna Rendle-Short
Please direct all enquiries to: Student Business Solutions
Page authorised by: The Registrar
Note: The information published on the Study@ 2010 website applies to the 2010 academic year only. All information provided on this website replaces the information contained in the Study@ 2009 website.
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