LIGN 171: Child Language Acquisition, Spring 2008

Nota Bene: This webpage subject to frequent updates, so check (reload/refresh) it often!

Students can e-mail prof. Walenski for their grades ANYTIME AFTER MONDAY (THE 16th)

Instructor information:

Course Information:

Prerequisites:

You should have taken Linguistics 101 (Introduction to the Study of Language) or have equivalent background knowledge of linguistics to take this course. Talk to the instructor or TA if you have not taken Linguistics 101.

Textbooks:

(PL) Pathways to Language. (2001) Kyra Karmiloff and Annette Karmiloff-Smith.
(LDER) Language Development:  The Essential Readings.  (2001)  Michael Tomasello and Elizabeth Bates (eds.)

Class Podcasts:

The class lectures will be available for review as podcasts here.

Exams:

There will be one midterm and one final exam, each worth 30% of the grade. Exams are not cumulative.

Additional Assignments

A short take home assignment, worth 10% of the final grade, will be due on April 17th (answer key)
A final paper, worth 30%, will be due Thursday, June 12th at 5pm.  This paper should be on any topic, chosen by the student, dealing with some aspect of Language Development that interests you.  (See the syllabus for more detail)

Extra Credit:

There is an option to earn extra credit for participation in a linguistics experiment.
One credit is equal to approximately one hour of experiment participation and you may earn up to 3 credits for this requirement.  Each credit will add one point to your course grade.
As an alternative to participating in experiments, you may complete a short written assignment for up to three points extra credit.

To participate:
1) go to the experiments web page
2) choose an appropriate experiment to participate in
3) contact the experimenter and set an appointment,
4) go participate

Course Syllabus [pdf]: