Psych 56L/Ling 51: Acquisition of Language

Tuesdays & Thursdays, 2-3:20pm in SSL 270
Instructor: Lisa Pearl, Department of Cognitive Sciences, SBSG 2314
Office Hours: Tuesday 11:30am - 1:00pm
Email is the best way to reach her to schedule an appointment not during these times.
Teaching Assistant: Kalin Agrawal, Institute for Mathematical Behavioral Sciences, SST 685
Office Hours: Wednesday 9:30am - 12:00pm
Email is the best way to reach him to schedule an appointment not during these times.

Announcements:

  • 1/05/10: Welcome to the class webpage!
    Note: all assignments and lecture notes can be found by clicking on the relevant link in the schedule section.
  • 1/06/10: Homework 1 and review questions for introduction are available. Kalin's office hours have been posted.
  • 1/07/10: Review questions for biological bases of languages are available.
  • 1/12/10: We will finish material from lecture 3 briefly on Thursday, before starting material for lecture 4.
  • 1/19/10: Class was cancelled on 1/19/10 due to a tornado warning. The class schedule has been rearranged accordingly. Important notes:
    • HW 1 is now due 1/26/10 (instead of 1/21/10)
    • The midterm review is now 2/04/10 (instead of 2/02/10)
    • The midterm is now 2/09/10 (instead of 2/04/10)
    Check the schedule section for more details.
  • 1/21/10: HW2 and review questions for phonological development are available. HW2 isn't due till after the midterm, but the part on phonological development will be useful for helping you study for it.
  • 1/26/10: Be studying for the midterm and working on HW2.
  • 1/28/10: HW1 returned. Be preparing for midterm (2/9/10) and in-class midterm review (2/4/10).
  • 2/11/10: Midterm returned. Review questions available for lexical development. HW2 due 2/18/10.
  • 2/18/10: HW 2 due. Begin working on HW3 (due: 3/4/10). Review questions available for syntax and morphology. No office hours for Lisa 2/23/10.
  • 2/25/10: HW 2 returned. Be working on HW 3.
  • 3/2/10: Review questions available for language & cognition.
  • 3/4/10: Review questions available for language development in special populations. HW 3 due, to be returned by 3/9/10. Be preparing for final review on 3/9/10 and final exam on 3/11/10.

Language is an incredibly complex system of knowledge. Not only are there multiple levels of representation - sounds and words and phrases and meanings - but within a given level, even simple output forms can be derived from multiple interacting pieces of knowledge. Yet as speakers of any given language, we are often blissfully unaware of how much we need to know in order to be able to communicate with language.

One of the most striking things about language is that all normally-developing children learn their native language flawlessly, especially when compared to adults trying to accomplish the same task. This is true despite adults' superior cognitive skills. Children of the world seem somehow suited for language acquisition in a way that adult humans - and other animals - are not.

In this class, we survey the broad topic of language acquisition, focusing not only on children's developmental trajectory, but also on what knowledge of language is, how language acquisition relates to cognition in general, and acquisition of multiple languages. Topics include the biological basis of language, levels of linguistic knowledge, language and cognition, bilingualism, and language in special populations.

We will be reading mainly from the textbook, but may occasionally read short articles. These can all be found on the readings section and on the schedule.