Psych 156A/ Ling 150: Assignments

Homework

There will be several homeworks throughout the quarter, based on the material covered in class and in the reading selections. Usually, these will be due just after we have finished covering the topics involved. They must be turned in during class the day they are due for full credit, unless prior arrangements are made with the instructor through email.

Late assignments will be accepted, but will lose 10% of the total score possible on the assignment for every class session late (not every day late). This is to encourage you to do the assignments, as it is far preferable to work through the material late than never. Moreover, homework comprises a hefty portion of your grade, so please do it - even if it's late. Late assignments may be emailed to the instructor (in .doc or .pdf format).

You should feel free to work together on homework (and in fact this is encouraged), but you must write up your answers separately and note on the assignment you hand in who you worked with. If you do not do both of these, it will be considered academic dishonesty and you will receive a 0 for that assignment.

Midterm

There will be a midterm in class on 2/5/09. This will cover the material up until that point. The midterm questions will come from the review questions posted on the website for the topics covered. (Some of these questions may have even appeared in the homework.)

The midterm is open-note (including the lecture notes and any notes of your own you wish to bring), but it is non-collaborative (no group efforts, please). If you are caught collaborating during the midterm, you will all receive a 0 for the midterm.

In addition, there will no makeup for the midterm unless you have an emergency (family, medical, etc.) that day, at which point you should contact the instructor as soon as possible afterwards and make arrangements. A doctor's note or some other form of "proof of emergency" will be expected in that situation. If you know ahead of time that you cannot take the midterm that day, you should contact the instructor beforehand to make arrangements to take it at some other time.

Final Assignment

If you have an A (88% or above) in the class prior to the final assignment, you may choose to either take an in-class exam as your final assignment or submit a final paper. You only need to do one.

If you do not have an A in the class prior to the final assignment, you must take the in-class exam as your final assignment.

Final exam

The final exam will take place on 3/12/09, the last day of class. This will cover the material presented throughout the quarter, with a focus on the material presented after the midterm. The final questions will come from the review questions posted on the website for all the topics covered. (Some of these questions may have even appeared in the homework.)

The final is open-note (including the lecture notes and any notes of your own you wish to bring), but it is non-collaborative (no group efforts, please). If you are caught collaborating during the final, you will all receive a 0 for the final.

In addition, there will no makeup for the final unless you have an emergency (family, medical, etc.) that day, at which point you should contact the instructor as soon as possible afterwards and make arrangements. A doctor's note or some other form of "proof of emergency" will be expected in that situation. If you know ahead of time that you cannot take the final that day, you should contact the instructor beforehand to make arrangements to take it at some other time. Note that having more than 2 finals on that day is a valid reason to schedule the final for another time.

Final paper

The final paper of the class will be a review of a longer article (or article sequence), as noted in the readings section. A review includes both a brief summary of the study as well as your own reactions/comments/critiques. Included in your review should be the following:

  • the goal of the research article or article series (what problem does the article claim it addresses - this should usually be found in the abstract and the introductory paragraphs of the article). This section should aim to be the introductory paragraph.
  • a summary of the methods and findings (the level of detail should be equivalent to the "brief literature reviews" that appear in the introductory sections of some of the articles themselves, e.g. Gambell & Yang 2006, Yang 2005, Gomez & Lakusta 2004, Mintz 2003...) You should provide enough detail so that someone who has not read the paper knows the main experimental/computational method used, the data/stimuli tested, and the results from these data/stimuli. These will usually be in the results and discussion section of the paper. Don't just state the results, though - describe what their relevance is to the problem the paper claims to address. This section should aim to be around a page to two pages.
  • a critical evaluation of the data and interpretation (this includes whether you think the article addressed the problem it said it did, if the article draws conclusions you agree with, any problems you foresee with the data or results when applied to other scenarios like different languages or bilingualism, etc.) Note that simply saying you disagree with something is not sufficient - you must provide justification for your comments. Why do you disagree precisely? Is there evidence you're thinking of, or an alternative explanation for the results you see in the paper? This section should aim to be about a page to a page and a half.
  • what impact these results would have on the "big picture" of language acquisition - does the study really show something that tells us about how language acquisition in the real world works? Why or why not? How does it compare to previous studies - does it support or refute previous findings? This section should aim to be about a half a page to a page.

In addition, you should cite sources for any claims or evidence you present, and include those sources in a reference section at the end of your paper. Look to the citation usage and format within the papers themselves to get a sense of how to do it within your own review. Any time you make a claim or refer to evidence from a paper, for instance, cite that paper after you describe the claim or evidence in your review.

Length: Aim for 4 pages, double-spaced, for the content section of your paper. Content does not include the reference section at the end. However, keep in mind that the paper should really be as long (or as short) as it needs to be to convey all the information above.

Grading for final papers:

  • Overall writing style (comprehensible, well-structured, proper spelling &
    punctuation, etc.): 10%
  • Goal: 10%
  • Methods & results summary: 20%
  • Critical evaluation of results: 30%
  • Implications of results: 20%
  • Reference section at the end: 5%
  • Proper citations throughout paper: 5%

By 3/10/09, you will indicate to the instructor whether you are taking the final in-class exam, or submitting a final paper. If you do not indicate a choice by this time, the instructor will assume you are taking the final exam.

If you are submitting a final paper, by 3/10/09, you will identify a language article to write your final paper on. The suggested articles are listed in the readings section, but you may write your paper on a different article if it is approved by the instructor.
On 3/12/09, you will submit your paper to the instructor by 3:20pm. This should be submitted electronically, in both .doc and .pdf format.

Note: The paper is an assignment that must be completed individually. No group-effort papers will be accepted. If you plagiarize someone else's work, you will receive a 0 on the final paper. No late papers will be accepted. If you cannot turn in a final paper by the appointed time, please contact the instructor beforehand to discuss an extension.