Psychology 3141F-001 (Online for 2020-21)
Language Development
If there is a discrepancy between the outline posted below and the outline posted on the OWL course website, the latter shall prevail.
1.0 CALENDAR DESCRIPTION
This course covers how children learn and use their first language. Major topics include the stages of language development, how these phenomena can inform theories of language representation and use in humans, the biological bases of language learning, and the relationship between first and second language learning.
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.
3 lecture hours, 0.5 course
2.0 COURSE INFORMATION
Instructor: Marc Joanisse
Office Hours: Available for on-line office hours during the Monday class period (1:30-3:30 pm)
Email: marcj@uwo.ca
Teaching Assistant: Leah Brainin
Office Hours: virtual meetings, by appointment only
Email: lbrainin@uwo.ca
Time and Location of Classes: Mondays 1:30-3:30 (mainly asynchronous)
Wednesdays 1:30-2:30 (synchronously via Zoom)
Students who are in emotional/mental distress should refer to Mental Health@Western
http://www.uwo.ca/uwocom/mentalhealth/ 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 Student Accessibility Services (formerly known as Services for Students with Disabilities) at 519-661-2147.
3.0 TEXTBOOK
Required textbook: Hoff, E. Language Development, 5th Edition Thomson Publishers
There will be a copy of the textbook on reserve at Taylor Library.
Additional required readings will be assigned to supplement the book chapters, and will be made available on Owl. These are journal articles and are intended to better familiarize students with the techniques and phenomena we will be discussing.
Lectures will help explain ideas in the readings, but will not fully recapitulate everything you have read. All required readings should be completed prior to class time so that you are prepared to view the lecture material. Quiz and assignments will cover the readings more fully and may not overlap completely with what I discuss in the lectures.
4.0 COURSE OBJECTIVES
You will learn to critically evaluate current research and theory on first language learning in children. A full range of phenomena related to language learning in children will be covered, including early perception, communication, speech errors, morphosyntax, vocabulary and semantics. Throughout, there is an emphasis of situating these phenomena within theories of language, cognition and cognitive neuroscience. You will also become familiar with language disorders in children, as well as the special case of bilingualism where children are learning two or more languages. In addition to the topics covered in class, students will participate in independent data collection and data analysis projects.
4.1 STUDENT LEARNING OUTCOMES
|
Learning Outcome |
Learning Activities |
How Assessed |
|
Depth and Breadth of Knowledge. Articulate the concepts and current states of knowledge in child language development |
Lectures and discussion Readings (textbook chapters and journal articles) |
Quizzes, Assignments |
|
Knowledge of Methodologies. Access, interpret and critically evaluate research in language development.
Applying research methodologies and hypotheses to real-world data. |
Lectures and discussion Readings (textbook chapters and journal articles)
Project |
Quizzes, Assignments
Project |
|
Application of Knowledge. Use evidence to support claims.
Examine how phenomena discussed in lectures/readings applies to actual children |
Lectures and discussion Evaluate a child’s language development in an observational study |
Quizzes, Assignments Project |
|
Communication Skills. Communicate in writing accurately, clearly and logically, using the discourse of the discipline of psychology
Communicate psychological knowledge in writing in a way that would be understandable to a non-specialist audience |
Readings (textbook chapters and assigned papers) Project
Readings related to Assignments, Project
|
Assignments Project
Assignments, Project |
|
Autonomy and Professional Capacity. Demonstrate initiative, personal responsibility and accountability |
Choosing which portions of the child sample to transcribe and analyze
Optional: collecting your own observational language sample from children |
Project |
5.0 EVALUATION
Quizzes. 10% of final mark
These are weekly short quizzes that you complete online after reading and watching the lessons. Each is worth 1 point or less. The purpose of these is to help you assess how well you’ve learned the material/
Writing Assignments. 60% of final mark
These are take-home written assignments in which you will be asked to respond to the assigned readings & lectures. The purpose is to assess your understanding of the course material.
Lab project. 30% of final mark
You will be asked to analyze some child language samples that you either collect yourself, or from videos assigned to you. You will work on the project over the course of the semester, and it will be due at the start of the Finals period.
NOTE: Because this is an essay course, as per Senate Regulations, you must pass the essay component 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.
Although the Psychology Department does not require instructors to adjust their course grades to conform to specific targets, the expectation is that course marks will be distributed around the following averages:
70% 1000-level and 2000-level courses
72% 2190-2990 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
Grades will be rounded only to the nearest whole number, that is, marks ending in a 4 or a 9 (e.g., 74 and 79) will not be rounded up a mark. No additional assignments will be offered to enhance a final grade, nor will any requests be considered for additional marks because they are needed for a grad/law/med school application, etc. To maximize your grade, do your best on each and every component during the course.
6.0 ASSESSMENT/EVALUATION SCHEDULE
Quizzes Weekly. No make-ups will be provided. You will have 7 days to complete it from the date it is posted. You are responsible for completing it by the deadline, so please do not wait till the last minute.
Written assignments: Due throughout the term; see deadlines in class schedule below. Assignments will be posted at least 7 days prior to the due date
Lab Assignment: Due in early December. Details will be provided in late October.
7.0 CLASS SCHEDULE
Most lectures will be presented asynchronously (pre-recorded). However some synchronous materials will be presented during the tutorial period, so please be sure you are available during that time.
|
Week |
Date |
Topic |
Reading |
|
1 |
September 14
September 16 |
Introduction to the Study of Language Development
(No Tutorial Today)
|
Hoff Ch 1 |
|
2 |
September 21
September 23 |
Biological Bases Language as a biological phenomenon; language and the brain; critical periods, genetics
Tutorial Assignment 1 due
|
Hoff Ch 2 |
|
3 |
September 28
September 30
|
Communicative Development Intentionality; communicative function; conversational skill; sociolinguistics
Tutorial
|
Hoff Ch 3 |
|
4 |
October 5
October 7 |
Phonological Development 1 Perception in infancy; learning the sounds of language, production errors,
Tutorial Assignment 2 due
|
Hoff Ch 4 |
|
5 |
October 12
October 14 |
Thanksgiving Holiday
Tutorial
|
|
|
6 |
October 19
October 21 |
Phonological Development 2 Motor development, early lexical development
Tutorial Assignment 3 Due
|
Hoff article (2008) |
|
7 |
October 26
October 28 |
Lexical and Semantic Development Learning words, concepts and categories
Tutorial
|
Hoff Ch 5 Swingley & Aslin (2002) Gentner (1978) |
|
|
November 2-8 |
Fall Break Week
|
|
|
8 |
November 9
November 11 |
Grammar Development Learning about the structure of words and sentences
Tutorial
|
Hoff Ch 6 |
|
9 |
November 16
November 18 |
Deafness and Sign Language
Tutorial Assignment 4 due
|
Senghas (1995) Hoff Ch. 11 p 329-338 |
|
10 |
November 23
November 25
|
Language Disorders – language/cognition dissociations
Tutorial
|
Hoff Ch 11 (p 338-onward) Bishop (2006) |
|
11 |
November 30
December 2 |
Reading ability and disability Learning to read; dyslexia
Tutorial
|
Shaywitz et al. (2017) Treiman (2000) |
|
12 |
December 7
December 9
|
Bilingualism Learning two languages at once; learning a second language Tutorial |
Hoff Ch 9 Biyalistok & Craik (2010) |
8.0 STATEMENT ON ACADEMIC OFFENCES
Students are responsible for understanding the nature and avoiding the occurrence of plagiarism and other scholastic offenses. Plagiarism and cheating are considered very serious offenses because they undermine the integrity of research and education. Actions constituting a scholastic offense 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 offenses. 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 may be subject to submission for similarity review by software that will check for unusual coincidences in answer patterns that may indicate cheating.
Possible penalties for a scholastic offense include failure of the assignment, failure of the course, suspension from the University, and expulsion from the University.
9.0 POLICY ON ACCOMMODATION FOR MEDICAL ILLNESS
Western’s policy on Accommodation for Medical Illness can be found at:
http://www.westerncalendar.uwo.ca/PolicyPages.cfm?PolicyCategoryID=1&Command=showCategory&SelectedCalendar=Live&ArchiveID=#Page_12
The full policy for consideration for absences can be accessed at: https://www.uwo.ca/univsec/pdf/academic_policies/appeals/Academic_Consideration_for_absences.pdf
Students must see the Academic Counsellor and submit all required documentation in order to be approved for certain accommodation:
http://counselling.ssc.uwo.ca/procedures/medical_accommodation.html
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:
- Submitting a Self-Reported Absence form (for circumstances that are expected to resolve within 48 hours);
- 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. The self-reported absence form may NOT be used for absences longer than 48 hours; coursework/tests/exams/etc., worth more than 30% of the final grade; or exams scheduled in the December or April final-exam periods: http://counselling.ssc.uwo.ca/procedures/medical_accommodation.html
Students seeking academic consideration:
- are advised to consider carefully the implications of postponing tests or midterm exams or delaying handing in work;
- are encouraged to make appropriate decisions based on their specific circumstances, recognizing that minor ailments (upset stomach) or upsets (argument with a friend) are not normally an appropriate basis for a self-reported absence;
must communicate with their instructors no later than 24 hours after the end of the period covered by either the self-reported absence or SMC, or immediately upon their return following a documented absence
10.0 OTHER INFORMATION
Office of the Registrar web site: http://registrar.uwo.ca
Student Development Services web site: http://www.sdc.uwo.ca
Please see the Psychology Undergraduate web site for information on the following:
http://psychology.uwo.ca/undergraduate/student_responsibilities/index.html
- Policy on Cheating and Academic Misconduct
- Procedures for Appealing Academic Evaluations
- Policy on Attendance
- Policy Regarding Makeup Exams and Extensions of Deadlines
- Policy for Assignments
- Short Absences
- Extended Absences
- Documentation
- Academic Concerns
- 2020-2021 Calendar References
No electronic devices, including cell phones and smart watches, will be allowed during exams.
Copyright Statement: Lectures and course materials, including power point presentations, outlines, 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 lecture notes, wiki material, and other course materials publicly and/or for commercial purposes without the instructor’s written consent.
