BA Linguistics / Course details

How do young children acquire language so easily? What role do social structures play in the development of language? How are writing and reading different from speaking and listening? This unit addresses these questions and explores the cognitive underpinnings of human language.

The unit introduces students to the foundational concepts in the study of language from a cognitive perspective. We will explore questions that are still a matter of debate in the field, critically examining both evidence and arguments. Students will come away with a deeper understanding of how language works, some of the principles governing the complex interactions between language and other cognitive dimensions (such as attention, perception, and thought), and a basic understanding of how language functions in the brain.

Along the way we’ll examine evidence from babies, chimpanzees and other animals, the birth of new languages, perceptual illusions, stroke patients, experiments on the influence of alcohol on speech and of swearing on pain, together with modern brain imaging techniques.

2-hour lecture weekly

1 hour tutorial weekly

Blackboard:

• Lecture slides.
• Discussion board.
• Study questions for lectures.
• Downloadable readings.
• Study questions for readings.
• Online administration of reading quizzes
• Submission of essays via Turnitin

On completion of the unit students will be able to:

• Distinguish the differences and similarities between language and other communication systems
• Evaluate the role of the brain in developing and employing language, including key arguments surrounding issues such as modularity of mind
• Critically assess scholarly and scientific claims from the literature, and the arguments supporting them
• Engage in interdisciplinary group discussions to compare competing approaches and hypotheses, using evidence-based reasoning
• Research and prepare coherent written communications
• Understand the fundamental role of the brain in developing and using language
• Identify the differences and similarities between language and other communication systems
• Recognise and understand the key arguments surrounding issues such as modularity of mind

On completion of the unit students will be able to:

• Support an argument using evidence and reasoning.
• Critically assess scholarly and scientific claims and the arguments supporting them
• Compare competing hypotheses and bring evidence to bear in selecting between them.

On completion of the unit students will be able to:

• Read and interpret scientific articles
• Write brief essays providing evidence and reasoning in favour of a scientific claim.

• Writing skills
• Independent study skills
• Time management skills
• Critical thinking skills

Osborne, Lawrence (1999). A Linguistic Big Bang. New York Times Magazine, pp. 83-89.

Petitto, L. A. (1999). The acquisition of natural signed languages. In C. Chamberlain, J. Morford, & R.Mayberry (Eds.), Language acquisition by eye, pp. 41-50.

Terrace, H. S. (1979). How Nim Chimpsky changed my mind. Psychology today, November 1979. p. 65-76.

Martin, Laura. (1986). "Eskimo Words for Snow": A Case Study in the Genesis and Decay of an Anthropological Example. American Anthrolpologist, New Series, 88(2), pp. 418-423.

Tisljár-Szabó, Eszter & Rossu, Renáta & Varga, Veronika & Pléh, Csaba. (2014). The Effect of Alcohol onSpeech Production. Journal of Psycholinguistic Research. 43(6), 737-748.

Sutton-Spence, Rachel and Napoli, Donna Jo (2012). Deaf jokes and sign language humor. Humor 25(3), p.311-337.

Elsabbagh, Mayada and Karmiloff-Smith, Annette (2006). Modularity of Mind and Language. In Brown, K.(ed.) The Encyclopedia of Language and Linguistics, SecondEdition. p.218-224.

Palacek, Martin. (2017). Modularity of Mind: Is It Time to Abandon This Ship? Philosophy of the SocialSciences 47(2), p.132-144.

Bellugi, Ursula (1992). Language, Spatial Cognition, and Brain Organization. In Neuropsychology: The Neuronal Basis of Cognitive Function, Vol. 2. Thieme Medical Publishers, Inc., p. 207-222.