Psychology 3140G 001 FW25
Bilingualism
WESTERN UNIVERSITY
LONDON CANADA
Department of Psychology
Winter 2026
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.
Prerequisites
One of: Psychology 2134A/B or 2135A/B
and
Psychology 2801F/G
(or one of Health Sciences 2801A/B, Psychology 2840F/G, Psychology 2855F/G, or the former Psychology 2800E)
and
Psychology 2811A/B
(or one of Biology 2244A/B, Economics 2122A/B, Economics 2222A/B, Geography 2210A/B, Health Sciences 3801A/B, MOS 2242A/B, Psychology 2830A/B, Psychology 2850A/B, Sociology 2205A/B, Statistical Sciences 2035, Statistical Sciences 2141A/B, Statistical Sciences 2143A/B, Statistical Sciences 2244A/B, Statistical Sciences 2858A/B, the former Social Work 2207A/B, or the former Psychology 2810)
or
Instead of Psychology 2801A/B and Psychology 2811A/B: the former Psychology 2820E
Antirequisites
N/A
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. COURSE INFORMATION
Instructor: Dr. Debra Jared
Office and Phone Number: see Brightspace (519) 661-2111 x84631
Office Hours: By appointment
Email: djjared@uwo.ca
Teaching Assistant: TBA
Email:
Office Hours: By appointment
Time and Location of Classes: see Student Centre for Timetable
3. COURSE MATERIALS
Course readings will be posted on OWL. Look under the Lesson tab for each week for the reading for that class.
- 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 |
|
Knowledge of Methodologies.
|
Lectures Readings (journal articles)
|
Three essay exams Assignment
|
|
Application of Knowledge.
|
Lectures |
Three essay exams |
|
Communication Skills.
|
Readings (journal articles)
|
Assignment Three essay exams
|
|
Autonomy and Professional Capacity.
|
Class instruction on “looking after yourself to be healthy for an important day” (exams) and “working to meet a deadline” |
Assignment (advance drafts) |
- EVALUATION
The evaluation and testing formats for this course were created to assess the learning objectives as listed in section 4 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 one assignment (50% total; 10% Part 1 draft, 10% Part 2 draft, 30% final draft). 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 assignment requires written work of about 10 pages (~2500 words).
For the Assignment, 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 5 (worth 10 marks), and a draft of the second half will be due on March 24 (worth 10 marks). You must submit whatever you have on those sections by those dates. No exceptions. Time is needed to prepare the feedback that you will receive. The due date for a polished final draft is April 7 (worth 30 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 final mark.
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.
Policy on Missing Coursework
Students must seek academic consideration for all missed exams and late assignments from the university portal set up for this purpose. For Mid-term 1 and for the Final exam, supporting documentation is always required (i.e., self-attestation may not be used). For Mid-term 2, the request for consideration does not need to have supporting documentation. The final draft of the assignment has a flexible deadline. It will be accepted until April 9 without penalty. All requests for academic consideration beyond April 9 require supporting documentation.
Just one makeup exam will be given for each exam. Make up exams are Wednesday, February 11 (4:30-6:30), Wednesday, March 18 (4:30-6:30), and Thursday, May 7 (time TBD) for Mid-term 1, Mid-term 2, and the Final exam, respectively. 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 will have the option of writing the missing exam the next time the course is offered (likely Winter 2027).
Drafts 1 and 2 of the Assignment must be in by 9 pm on March 5 and 24, respectively, otherwise a mark of 0 on the draft will be given. The Final Draft of the Assignment is due by 9 pm on April 7. Unless academic consideration has been granted, assignments that are submitted after 9 pm on April 9 will incur a penalty of 10% 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.
Grading Expectations
The Psychology Department follows Western’s grading guidelines: https://www.uwo.ca/univsec/pdf/academic_policies/general/grades_undergrad.pdf
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
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 to change a grade because it is needed for a future program be considered.
- ASSESSMENT/EVALUATION SCHEDULE
There will be three in person exams: on Thursday, Feb. 5 (9:30-11:30), Thursday, March 12 (9:30-11:30), and during the April exam period (to be scheduled by the Registrar). Makeup exams are Wednesday, February 11 (4:30-6:30), Wednesday, March 18 (4:30-6:30), and Thursday, May 7 (time TBD) for the three exams, respectively.
Students are required to submit drafts of the Assignment on March 5 (first half), March 24 (second half), and the final draft on April 7. All assignments must be uploaded by 9 pm (NOT midnight).
- CLASS SCHEDULE
Jan. 6 Introduction; Languages in the World and in Canada
Jan. 8 Introduction: Characteristics of Bilinguals
Jan. 13 Acquiring Sounds
Jan. 15 Acquiring Sounds
Jan. 20 Acquiring Words
Jan. 22 Acquiring Words
Jan. 27 Acquiring Grammar
Jan. 29 Acquiring Grammar
Feb. 3 Bilingual Education
Feb. 5 Mid-term 1
Feb. 10 Memory
Feb. 12 Memory
Feb. 17 & 19 Reading Week: no class
Feb. 24 Conceptual Representations
Feb. 26 Perceiving Speech
March 3 Reading
March 5 Reading
March 10 Producing Speech
March 12 Mid-term 2
March 17 Language Selection
March 19 Inhibitory Control & Executive Functioning
March 24 Cognitive Consequences of Bilingualism
March 26 Bilingual Brain
March 31 Aphasia in Bilinguals
April 2 Simultaneous Interpreting
April 7 Code Switching
April 9 Language & Thought
- ACADEMIC INTEGRITY
Scholastic offences are taken seriously, and students are directed to read the appropriate policy, specifically, the definition of what constitutes a Scholastic Offence, at the following Web site: https://www.uwo.ca/univsec/pdf/academic_policies/appeals/scholastic_discipline_undergrad.pdf.
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.
Statement on Use of Electronic Devices
Students will not be permitted to use electronic devices of any kind during mid-term and final exams.
Plagiarism Detection Software
All required papers may be subject to submission for textual similarity review to the commercial plagiarism detection software under license to the University for the detection of plagiarism. 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.
Use of AI
The use of generative AI tools such as ChatGPT to produce written work is not permitted unless permission is granted by the instructor for specific circumstances. Any work submitted must be the work of the student in its entirety unless otherwise disclosed. When used, AI tools should be used ethically and responsibly, and students must cite or credit the tools used in line with the expectation to use AI as a tool to learn, not to produce content.
AI Policy for Psychology:
Responsible use of AI is allowed in Psychology. This includes using AI for brainstorming, improving grammar, or doing preliminary/background research on a topic.
AI is not to be used in place of critical thinking.
The misuse of AI undermines the academic values of this course. Relying on AI to create full drafts or fabricate sources is prohibited. You are ultimately responsible for any work submitted, so it is highly advised that you critically review your Generative AI output before incorporating this information into your assignments.
If you use AI, you must clearly explain its role in your work. All written assignments will require an AI Usage Statement, in which you will indicate what tools you have used, what you have used them for, and (broadly) how you have modified this information. Assignments without an AI Usage Statement will not be accepted.
Violations of this policy will be handled according to Western’s scholastic offense policies.
- 9. ACADEMIC ACCOMMODATIONS AND ACCESSIBLE EDUCATION
View Western’s policy on academic accommodations for student with disabilities at this link.
Accessible Education provides supports and services to students with disabilities at Western.
If you think you may qualify for ongoing accommodation that will be recognized in all your courses, visit Accessible Education for more information. Email: aew@uwo.ca Phone: 519 661-2147
- 10. ABSENCE & ACADEMIC CONSIDERATION
Academic Considerations: https://registrar.uwo.ca/academics/academic_considerations/index.html
- 11. 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
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.
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 in writing 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.
