175-200/300 First Language Acquisition

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Subject Description:

This subject aims to develop students' understanding of the development of the linguistic system in the child, including the sound system, grammar, meaning and awareness of language. This is seen in the broader contexts of the origins and evolution of language and the relation to animal communication, non-verbal communication and gesture, preschool literacy and bilingual acquisition. Children's language development will be discussed beginning with learning in the pre-speech period and the acquisition of the sound system. Grammatical, semantic and pragmatic development will be addressed, as will the continued development of language through the school years. We will also consider the role of variability and individual differences in first language acquisition. These aspects of child language acquisition will be discussed in relation to current theoretical models of language acquisition and to cognitive and social development. While the focus of the course will be on the acquisition of English, cross-cultural material will be included for the purposes of comparison. Throughout the course, methodological issues related to the techniques available for the collection of child language data will be raised and discussed and students will be encouraged to collect and analyse their own data.

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