BSc Speech and Language Therapy / Course details

This course unit runs over 12 weeks in the second semester of the first year of study and follows a unit introducing a foundation in linguistics, phonetics and typical language development. Students will discover structural and functional properties of English by learning to identify and describe the sound system and early lexical, morphological, and syntactic features. Building on semester 1, the focus will be on a sentence level analysis and description and language development beyond single word utterances.

Lecture topics will provide a broad consideration of numerous important aspects of communication: connected speech, acoustic phonetics, phrase structure, functions within sentences, semantics and pragmatics. All of these aspects of language in communicative use will be traced through their acquisition and also clinical application; the topics will include bilingual language development, child-directed speech, sociolinguistics, mental lexicon, theories of language development.

Practical activities and tutorials will provide training in the use of linguistic terminology and the analysis of typical non-clinical spoken language. These will include the pronunciation and recognition of the English sound system; transcription of both single words and connected speech using the International Phonetic Alphabet and extIPA; formal and functional analysis of aspects of syntax and morphology. The potential clinical application of an understanding of typical communication will be illustrated throughout the course unit. This will effectively prepare for the Clinical Phonetics and Linguistics unit in the second year of study.

Build on knowledge introduced in Linguistics, Phonetics and Language Development A and to further develop students’ understanding of linguistics and language development.
Provide students with opportunities to develop their knowledge and understanding of speech and language on a sentence level, of typical language development and interaction, and of the different areas of linguistics. 
Provide students with further opportunities to gain practical skills in phonetic transcription and linguistic (particularly grammatical) analysis, with the aim of being able to apply such knowledge to the communication of child and adult clients with communication difficulties.

Learning and teaching processes will utilise tutor-led lectures, tutorials, practical data analysis workshops, online quizzes and online discussion via the Blackboard online learning environment.

To support independent study, learning materials including teaching slides, recommended reading and preparatory tasks will be provided in advance of teaching sessions on the unit’s online Blackboard learning environment. 

• Describe milestones of typical language development using relevant linguistic terminology.
• Describe different theoretical approaches to the study of language development.
• Identify the unique characteristics which define language and set it apart from other communication systems placing language in its social and cultural context, including: understanding of bilingual language development, understanding the differences for individuals whose home language is not English, and understanding the centrality of home language to personhood, family and community.

Describe and illustrate:

• The production and perception of sounds found in human languages (including acoustic phonetics).
• Syntactic categories and constituents in complex English sentences.
• Sentence level prosody.
• Appreciate the professional importance of accuracy in transcribing, analysing and describing speech and language. 

• Synthesize selected evidence from the appropriate directed reading.
• Develop an appreciation of the scientific approach to the study of language.
• Develop their understanding of information provided in lectures through relevant, independent reading.
• Start making connections between their knowledge of typical development and their expectation of features of atypical development of communication.  
• Apply linguistic knowledge acquired to real developmental data. 

• Transcribe more complex linguistic and phonetic data.  
• Analyse and describe phonemic, morphological and syntactic features of linguistic systems.
• Use databases to find peer-reviewed journal articles.
• Understand the structure and layout of an academic journal article and referencing conventions. 

• Develop ability to write clearly and concisely and using appropriate terminology.
• Utilise library and electronic resources to support and extend learning. 

Written assignment: a series of short questions - 50%

Multiple choice examination (1 hour) - 50%

An individual mark and feedback will be provided following the first assessment. An individual mark and feedback as well as whole-group feedback will be provided following the multiple-choice examination.

Throughout the unit, students will have the opportunity to self-evaluate their work, skills and understanding against online model answers to quizzes, and class and peer group discussions. In addition, tutorials will provide feedback on practical opportunities to practice accuracy of sound identification and production, and the analysis of linguistic data. 

• Cruz-Ferreira, M., & Abraham, S. A. (2011). The language of language: A linguistics course for starters. North Charleston, SC: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform.
• Hoff, E. (2014). Language Development (5th ed.). Wadsworth: Cengage Learning.
• Knight, R. A. (2012). Phonetics: A coursebook. Cambridge; New York: Cambridge University Press.  
• McAllister, J. (2013). Introductory linguistics for speech and language therapy practice. Chichester, West Sussex, UK; Malden, MA: Wiley-Blackwell.