397LH L1 and L2 topics

397LH

Special Topics: First and Second Language Acquisition

Fall 2015

Jeremy Hartman                                                     Magda Oiry

Email: hartman@linguist.umass.edu                           Email: moiry@linguist.umass.edu

Office: N428 Integrated Learning Center                  Office: N434 Integrated Learning Center

Office hours:                                                                   Office hours: TuTh 11:30-12:30

Time and place: TuTh., 10:00-11:15 AM, Dickinson 206

Course requirements:

•      Attendance, readings, participation in class discussion
•      One in-class presentation (20-30 min). Dates TBD.
•      Final project (individual paper or group experimental project)

Textbook: None. Readings will be posted on UDrive. Many of the readings will be taken from the following volumes:

•      Bowerman, Melissa, and Stephen C. Levinson, eds. Language acquisition and conceptual development. Cambridge University Press, 2001.
•      O’Grady, William. How children learn language. Cambridge University Press, 2005.
•      Clark, Eve V. First language acquisition. Cambridge University Press, 2009.
•      Lust, Barbara. Child language. Cambridge University Press, 2006.

Schedule of Classes

Week 1                                            

Sept. 8             Introduction, expectations, course overview

Sept. 10           The problem of language acquisition, historical perspectives

Read: Cattell, “Do we teach children to speak?”

Week 2                                                  

Sept. 15           Differences between L1 and L2 acquisition                         

Week 2a notes

Sept. 17           Critical period discussion

Handout: Critical period

Read:  Ortega p. 13-30

Week 3                      

Sept. 22           Early discrimination of speech sounds

Read: O’Grady pp. 143-163

Do: Homework 2

Week 3 Slides

Sept. 24    Early speech production

Week 4

Sept. 29           Accents and loanword phonology

Oct. 1        Shared generalizations in acquisition, typology, and language change

Weeks 3-4 slides all together: .pdf; .pptx

Do: Homework 3

Week 5

Oct. 6        Guest lecture: Joe Pater (slides)

Oct. 8        Transfer and access L2

Optionally Read: White (1991), White (2000)

Week 6

Do: Homework 4

Website for Homework 4: http://accent.gmu.edu/browse_language.php

Oct. 15 Midterm

Week 7: Transfer in L2

Oct 20: Read White (1991), this week’s slides

Oct 22: Limits of Transfer, Flege (1987)

 Slides: week7b

Week 8: Oct 27-29  Null Subjects, Agreement

Week 8 slides

Homework 5: due on Thursday

Workshop on Theoretical and Experimental Approaches to Agreement at UMass

Week 9: Nov 3-5  Agreement (cont.)

Week 9 slides

Reading for Thursday: The Acquisition of French pg 77-100

Homework: Following the workshop on Agreement Oct 29-30, choose one talk you attended. Summarize and discuss for Nov 5 (one page).

[UUSLAW on Saturday, Nov 7th: schedule]

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Week 10: Nov 10-12

Wh movement

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Week 10 bis

Student presentations

Nov 17: Lisa, Emma

Nov 19: James, Samantha

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Week 11    Student presentations

Nov 24: Meg, Zack G.

Week 12    Student presentations:

Dec 1: Gabby, Hiroki

Dec 3: Rafi, Sean

Week 13    Student presentations

Dec 8: Haley, Zach

Dec 10: Becca, Clara