Psychology 3140G 001
Bilingualism
If there is a discrepancy between the outline posted below and the outline posted on the OWL course website, the latter shall prevail.
WESTERN UNIVERSITY
LONDON CANADA
Department of Psychology
2023-2024
Psychology 3140G Section 001
Bilingualism
- CALENDAR DESCRIPTION
This course will examine how people acquire, process, and use a second language. Topics will include simultaneous and sequential bilingualism, the critical period hypothesis, theories of bilingual language representation, cross-language transfer, language selection and switching, simultaneous interpreting, cognitive consequences of bilingualism, the bilingual brain, and bilingual education.
Antirequisites: Not Applicable
Prerequisites:
Both Psychology 2801F/G and Psychology 2811A/B (or the former Psychology 2820E, or both the former Psychology 2800E and 2810)
and
One of: Psychology 2134A/B or 2135A/B
3 lecture hours; Course weight: 0.5
Unless you have either the prerequisites for this course or written special permission from your Dean to enrol in it, you may be removed from this course and it will be deleted from your record. This decision may not be appealed. You will receive no adjustment to your fees in the event that you are dropped from a course for failing to have the necessary prerequisites.
2.0 COURSE INFORMATION
Instructor: Dr. Debra Jared
Office and Phone Number: WIRB 5150 (519) 661-2111 x84631
Office Hours: By appointment
Email: djjared@uwo.ca
Teaching Assistant: Mackenzie Bain
Email: mbain29@uwo.ca
Office Hours: By appointment
Time and Location of Classes: see Timetable in Student Centre
Students who are in emotional/mental distress should refer to Health and Wellness @Western https://www.uwo.ca/health/ for a complete list of options about how to obtain help.
Please contact the course instructor if you require material in an alternate format or if you require any other arrangements to make this course more accessible to you. You may also wish to contact Accessible Education at aew@uwo.ca at 519-661-2147.
2.1 Online Learning Notice:
Please note: For courses delivered in an online format, include an online component, or are required to pivot online, students must have a reliable internet connection and computer that are compatible with online learning system requirements. Some courses may also require the use of a remote proctoring platform to ensure assessments are taken fairly in accordance with Western’s policy on Scholastic Discipline for Undergraduate Students and Scholastic Discipline for Graduate Students.
3.0 TEXTBOOK
Course readings will be posted on OWL. Look under the Lesson tab for each week for the reading for that class.
4.0 COURSE OBJECTIVES & LEARNING OUTCOMES
The goal of the course is for students to develop an understanding of issues and theories of bilingual language processing, and how these can be addressed through research. Students can expect to develop their ability to read journal articles in psychology and to express their understanding orally and in writing. A specific skill that we will focus on is on how to support claims with evidence.
|
Learning Outcome |
Learning Activity |
Assessment |
|
Depth and Breadth of Knowledge.
of knowledge in the cognitive study of bilinguals |
Lectures Readings (journal articles) Videos
|
Three essay exams Assignment 2 |
|
Knowledge of Methodologies.
|
Lectures Readings (journal articles)
|
Three essay exams Assignment 2A
|
|
Application of Knowledge.
|
Lectures
|
Three essay exams
Assignment 1
Assignment 2B |
|
Communication Skills.
|
Readings (journal articles)
Example articles |
Assignment 2 Three essay exams
Assignment 1 |
|
Autonomy and Professional Capacity.
|
Class instruction on “looking after yourself to be healthy for an important day” (exams) and “working to meet a deadline”
Western English Language Centre online volunteer (an option) |
Assignment 2 (advance drafts) |
Note: students will do either Assignment 2A or Assignment 2B. Assignment 2B is for students who choose the WELC option.
5.0 EVALUATION
The evaluation and testing formats for this course were created to assess the learning objectives as listed in section 4.0 and are considered necessary for meeting these learning objectives.
Grades in the course will be based on three exams (10%, 15%, and 25% for the two mid-terms and final exam, respectively), and two assignments (15%, and 35% for Assignments 1 and 2, respectively). Exams will be essay format and will require that information be drawn from both lecture material and course readings. The final exam is cumulative, in that it will include questions on material from across the course.
The assignments require written work of about 4 pages (~1200 words) for Assignment 1 and about 8 pages for Assignment 2 (~2400 words).
For Assignment 2, the skill of “working to meet an important deadline” will be developed. To that end, a draft of the first half of the assignment will be due on March 20 (worth 5 marks), and a draft of the second half will be due on March 27 (worth 5 marks). You must submit whatever you have on those sections by those dates. No exceptions. The due date for a polished final draft is April 8 (worth 25 marks). To encourage planning ahead so that the assignment is ready in case of an unexpected situation at the end of the term, students who have the final polished draft submitted by April 5 will have 2 bonus marks added to their mark out of 35.
Students will be offered the opportunity to interact with students enrolled in Western’s English Language Centre. This centre is housed in our faculty of education. Instructors in the centre assist international students to develop their English language skills so that they can handle a university program in English. Students in this course will be expected to attend their class sessions once a week and to assist their class activities. Students who decide to complete this option will be offered an alternative to Assignment 2.
PLEASE NOTE: Because this is an essay course, as per Senate regulations, you must pass the essay component of the course to pass the course. That is, the average mark for your written assignments must be at least 50%.
This course is exempt from the Senate requirement that students receive assessment of their work accounting for at least 15% of their final grade at least three full days before the date of the deadline for withdrawal from a course without academic penalty.
5.1 POLICY ON MISSING COURSEWORK
Make up exams are Friday, February 9 (3:30-5:30), Friday March 15 (3:30-5:30), and Thursday, May 9 (time TBD) for mid-term 1, mid-term 2, and the final exam, respectively. Only students who have been granted academic consideration by Academic Counselling will be permitted to write a makeup exam. Just one makeup exam will be given for each exam. Students must inform the instructor within 24 hours of the start of the exam that they will be seeking academic considerations and plan to write the makeup exam. If neither the scheduled exam nor the makeup exam is written, then students with academic consideration will have the option of writing the missing exam the next time the course is offered (likely Winter 2025).
Assignments are due by 9 pm on Feb. 28 (Assignment 1) and 9 pm on April 8 (Assignment 2, Final Draft). Unless academic consideration has been granted by Academic Counselling, assignments that are submitted after 9 pm will incur a penalty of 20% per day (i.e., for each 24-hour period or part thereof), including weekends. You are responsible for ensuring that the correct version of your assignments is correctly uploaded on time. “I uploaded the wrong version” is not an acceptable excuse for submitting an assignment late. Drafts 1 and 2 of Assignment 2 must be in by 9 pm on March 20 and 27, respectively, otherwise a mark of 0 on the draft will be given.
The expectation for course grades within the Psychology Department is that they will be distributed around the following averages:
70% 1000-level to 2099-level courses
72% 2100-2999-level courses
75% 3000-level courses
80% 4000-level courses
The Psychology Department follows Western’s grading guidelines, which are as follows (see: http://www.uwo.ca/univsec/pdf/academic_policies/general/grades_undergrad.pdf)
A+ 90-100 One could scarcely expect better from a student at this level
A 80-89 Superior work that is clearly above average
B 70-79 Good work, meeting all requirements, and eminently satisfactory
C 60-69 Competent work, meeting requirements
D 50-59 Fair work, minimally acceptable
F below 50 Fail
Note that in the event that course grades are significantly higher or lower than these averages, instructors may be required to make adjustments to course grades. Such adjustment might include the normalization of one or more course components and/or the re-weighting of various course components.
Policy on Grade Rounding: Please note that although course grades within the Psychology Department are rounded to the nearest whole number, no further grade rounding will be done. No additional assignments will be offered to enhance a final grade; nor will requests be considered to change a grade because it is needed for a future program. To maximize your grade, do your best on each and every assessment within the course.
6.0 ASSESSMENT/EVALUATION SCHEDULE
There will be three in person exams: on Monday Feb. 5 (11:30-1:30), Monday March 11 (11:30-1:30), and during the April exam period (April 11-30, to be scheduled by the Registrar). Makeup exams are Friday, February 9 (3:30-5:30), Friday March 15 (3:30-5:30), and Thursday, May 9 (time TBD) for the three exams, respectively. Only students who have been granted academic consideration by Academic Counselling will be permitted to write a makeup exam.
Assignment 1 will be due Wednesday February 28. For Assignment 2, students are required to submit drafts on March 20 (first half), March 27 (second half), and the final draft on April 8. All assignments must be uploaded by 9 pm (NOT midnight).
7.0 CLASS SCHEDULE
Jan. 8 Introduction; Languages in the World and in Canada
Jan. 10 Characteristics of Bilinguals, Bilingual Interactions
Jan. 15 Memory
Jan. 17 Memory
Jan. 22 Conceptual Representations; Language & Thought
Jan. 24 Perceiving Speech
Jan. 29 Reading
Jan. 31 Reading
Feb. 5 Mid-term 1
Feb. 7 Producing Speech
Feb. 12 Language Selection & Control
Feb. 14 Cognitive Consequences of Bilingualism
Feb. 19 & 21 Reading Week: no class
Feb. 26 Simultaneous Interpreting
Feb. 28 Code Switching
March 4 Bilingual Brain
March 6 Aphasia in Bilinguals
March 11 Mid-term 2
March 13 Individual Differences in Acquisition
March 18 Acquiring Sounds
March 20 Acquiring Sounds
March 25 Acquiring Words
March 27 Acquiring Words
April 1 Acquiring Grammar
April 3 Acquiring Grammar
April 8 Bilingual Education
8.0 LAND ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
We acknowledge that Western University is located on the traditional lands of the Anishinaabek, Haudenosaunee, Lūnaapéewak and Attawandaron peoples, on lands connected with the London Township and Sombra Treaties of 1796 and the Dish with One Spoon Covenant Wampum.
With this, we respect the longstanding relationships that Indigenous Nations have to this land, as they are the original caretakers. We acknowledge historical and ongoing injustices that Indigenous Peoples (e.g. First Nations, Métis and Inuit) endure in Canada, and we accept responsibility as a public institution to contribute toward revealing and correcting miseducation, as well as renewing respectful relationships with Indigenous communities through our teaching, research and community service.
9.0 STATEMENT ON ACADEMIC OFFENCES
Students are responsible for understanding the nature and avoiding the occurrence of plagiarism and other scholastic offences. Plagiarism and cheating are considered very serious offences because they undermine the integrity of research and education. Actions constituting a scholastic offence are described at the following link: http://www.uwo.ca/univsec/pdf/academic_policies/appeals/scholastic_discipline_undergrad.pdf
As of Sept. 1, 2009, the Department of Psychology will take the following steps to detect scholastic offences. All multiple-choice tests and exams will be checked for similarities in the pattern of responses using reliable software, and records will be made of student seating locations in all tests and exams. All written assignments will be submitted to TurnItIn, a service designed to detect and deter plagiarism by comparing written material to over 5 billion pages of content located on the Internet or in TurnItIn’s databases. All papers submitted for such checking will be included as source documents in the reference database for the purpose of detecting plagiarism of papers subsequently submitted to the system. Use of the service is subject to the licensing agreement, currently between Western and Turnitin.com (http://www.turnitin.com).
Computer-marked multiple-choice tests and/or exams will be subject to submission for similarity review by software that will check for unusual coincidences in answer patterns that may indicate cheating.
In classes that involve the use of a personal response system (PRS), data collected using the PRS will only be used in a manner consistent to that described in this outline. It is the instructor’s responsibility to make every effort to ensure that data remain confidential. However, students should be aware that as with all forms of electronic communication, privacy is not guaranteed. Your PRS login credentials are for your sole use only. Students attempting to use another student’s credentials to submit data through the PRS may be subject to academic misconduct proceedings.
Possible penalties for a scholastic offence include failure of the assignment/exam, failure of the course, suspension from the University, and expulsion from the University.
10.0 POLICY ON THE USE OF EXAM PROCTORING SOFTWARE
Tests and examinations for online courses will be conducted using a remote proctoring service. By taking this course, you are consenting to the use of this software and acknowledge that you will be required to provide personal information (including some biometric data) and the session will be recorded. Completion of this course will require you to have a reliable internet connection and a device that meets the technical requirements for this service. More information about this remote proctoring service, including technical requirements, is available on Western’s Remote Proctoring website at: https://remoteproctoring.uwo.ca.
In the event that in-person exams are unexpectedly canceled, you may only be given notice of the use of a proctoring service a short time in advance.
11.0 POLICY ON ACCOMMODATION FOR ILLNESS OR OTHER ABSENCES
Western’s policy on Accommodation for Medical Illness can be found at:
https://www.westerncalendar.uwo.ca/PolicyPages.cfm?PolicyCategoryID=1&Command=showCategory&SelectedCalendar=Live&ArchiveID=#Page_12
If you experience an extenuating circumstance (e.g., illness, injury) sufficiently significant to temporarily make you unable to meet academic requirements, you may request accommodation through the following routes:
- For medical absences, submitting a Student Medical Certificate (SMC) signed by a licensed medical or mental health practitioner in order to be eligible for Academic Consideration;
- For non-medical absences, submitting appropriate documentation (e.g., obituary, police report, accident report, court order, etc.) to Academic Counselling in their Faculty of registration in order to be eligible for academic consideration. Students are encouraged to contact their Academic Counselling unit to clarify what documentation is appropriate.
Students must see the Academic Counsellor and submit all required documentation in order to be approved for certain accommodation.
https://www.registrar.uwo.ca/faculty_academic_counselling.html
Students seeking academic consideration:
- are advised to consider carefully the implications of postponing tests or midterm exams or delaying handing in work;
- must communicate with their instructors no later than 24 hours after the end of the period covered SMC, or immediately upon their return following a documented absence
Students seeking accommodation for religious purposes are advised to contact Academic Counselling at least three weeks prior to the religious event and as soon as possible after the start of the term.
12.0 CONTINGENCY PLAN FOR RETURN TO LOCKDOWN: IN-PERSON & BLENDED CLASSES
In the event of a COVID-19 resurgence or any other event that necessitates the course delivery moving away from face-to-face interaction, all remaining course content will be delivered entirely online, either synchronously (i.e., at the times indicated in the timetable) or asynchronously (e.g., posted on OWL for students to view at their convenience). The grading scheme will not change. Any remaining assessments will also be conducted online, as determined by the course instructor.
13.0 STATEMENTS CONCERNING ONLINE ETIQUETTE (N/A unless we return to lockdown)
In courses involving online interactions, the Psychology Department expects students to honour the following rules of etiquette:
- please “arrive” to class on time
- please use your computer and/or laptop if possible (as opposed to a cell phone or tablet)
- please ensure that you are in a private location to protect the confidentiality of discussions in the event that a class discussion deals with sensitive or personal material
- to minimize background noise, kindly mute your microphone for the entire class until you are invited to speak, unless directed otherwise
- In classes larger than 30 participants please turn off your video camera for the entire class unless you are invited to speak
- In classes of 30 students or fewer, where video chat procedures are being used, please be prepared to turn your video camera off at the instructor’s request if the internet connection becomes unstable
- Unless invited by your instructor, do not share your screen in the meeting
The course instructor will act as moderator for the class and will deal with any questions from participants. To participate please consider the following:
- If you wish to speak, use the “raise hand” function and wait for the instructor to acknowledge you before beginning your comment or question.
- Please remember to unmute your microphone and turn on your video camera before speaking.
- Self-identify when speaking.
- Please remember to mute your mic and turn off your video camera after speaking (unless directed otherwise).
General considerations of “netiquette”:
- Keep in mind the different cultural and linguistic backgrounds of the students in the course.
- Be courteous toward the instructor, your colleagues, and authors whose work you are discussing.
- Be respectful of the diversity of viewpoints that you will encounter in the class and in your readings. The exchange of diverse ideas and opinions is part of the scholarly environment. “Flaming” is never appropriate.
- Be professional and scholarly in all online postings. Use proper grammar and spelling. Cite the ideas of others appropriately.
Note that disruptive behaviour of any type during online classes, including inappropriate use of the chat function, is unacceptable. Students found guilty of Zoom-bombing a class or of other serious online offenses may be subject to disciplinary measures under the Code of Student Conduct.
14.0 OTHER INFORMATION
Office of the Registrar: https://registrar.uwo.ca
Student Development Services: www.sdc.uwo.ca
Psychology Undergraduate Program: https://www.psychology.uwo.ca/undergraduate/index.html
If you wish to appeal a grade, please read the policy documentation at: https://www.uwo.ca/univsec/pdf/academic_policies/appeals/appealsundergrad.pdf
Please first contact the course instructor. If your issue is not resolved, you may make your appeal to the Undergraduate Chair in Psychology (psyugrd@uwo.ca).
Copyright Statement: Lectures and course materials, including power point presentations, outlines, videos and similar materials, are protected by copyright. You may take notes and make copies of course materials for your own educational use. You may not record lectures, reproduce (or allow others to reproduce), post or distribute any course materials publicly and/or for commercial purposes without the instructor’s written consent.
Policy on the Recording of Synchronous Sessions: Some or all of the remote learning sessions for this course (if scheduled) may be recorded. The data captured during these recordings may include your image, voice recordings, chat logs and personal identifiers (name displayed on the screen). The recordings will be used for educational purposes related to this course, including evaluations. The recordings may be disclosed to other individuals participating in the course for their private or group study purposes. Please contact the instructor if you have any concerns related to session recordings. Participants in this course are not permitted to privately record the sessions, except where recording is an approved accommodation, or the student has the prior written permission of the instructor.
