Monday, Wednesday, Friday from 1:25 to 2:15, Dickinson 209

Course description

This course will explore the mysteries of the human mind by looking at a variety of natural language phenomena. We will discuss the perception of linguistic structure by adults and the emergence of complex syntax in normally developing children, but also in children with certain disorders, e.g., mental retardation, Williams Syndrome, and autism. We will see how basic meanings get attached to syntactic structures and combine with information about the utterance situation, intonation, general principles of social interaction, and gestures to produce sophisticated messages that typically convey multiple layers of meanings. Sign languages will be a special focus of attention. We will examine how signs differ from gestures, how sign languages are represented in the brain, and whether being a native signer influences other spatial abilities. In recent years, the creation of a new sign language by children in Nicaragua has been observed and documented, which makes it possible for us to look at the different stages of 'language birth'. Throughout the course we will be concerned with the question of how language influences human perception, cognition and memory. There are no prerequisites for this course.

Course format

The course consists of lectures by the instructors on Monday and Wednesday and work in small groups on Friday. Ideally each group will contain linguistic majors and non-majors. Groups will be given problems to solve jointly, and then the solution will be reported to the class and handed in as a short group paragraph. In addition, each group will choose a topic closely related to the course syllabus for a project on which they will collaborate throughout the semester and give a 20 minute group presentation. We will help you choose a topic and point you to suitable readings at the beginning of the semester. You might find out, for example,about Christopher, a linguistic savant with an unusual ability to learn foreign languages, or you might read about the acquisition of color words or other 'visual' vocabulary by blind children. Each group member will also hand in a final individual project report about his/her part in the project (about 10 pages, typed). We believe that group work allows you to deepen your understanding of the material, and make it your own by actively working with the material. Groups also allow you to draw on each other's experiences and background.

Readings

There will be regular reading assignments, which can be downloaded from this website. The schedule (= syllabus) gives you an overview of the readings for individual topics and weeks. Materials from the MIT Encyclopedia of Cognitive Sciences or other materials that are available via the CogNet database have to be accessed on campus or by logging in via the UMass library. Most of the other readings are available from the course UDrive using your UMail password. Please contact us immediately if you are experiencing difficulties with accessing the readings.

For students with no prior background in linguistics, some of the readings may be a lot to absorb in one sitting. Please plan to read the assigned readings in chunks, keeping notes on any questions you might have. For students with lots of background in linguistics, remember that the questions we are taking up are challenging and deserve to be visited periodically. If some material in the course is familiar, don't turn off your mind. Instead we invite you to think about the material more deeply. If you want to go beyond the assigned readings, we have some suggestions on the resource pages for this website. If you yourself have suggestions about additional readings that might be of interest for others, we can also make them available via this website.

Participation

We want you to participate actively in this class, and this is why we chose to base 10% of your final grade on your course participation. Course participation includes participation in class discussions, but there are also other ways of participation that we encourage you to consider. This course is interdisciplinary in nature and undoubtedly you will encounter vocabulary items that are unfamiliar to you. Keep a list and share it with us. Vocabulary items on your list might be discussed in your groups, and when appropriate, in the context of the entire class.

As the semester progresses, you may notice interesting phenomena related to the material we take up in class. Bring these observations to class and we will discuss them at the beginning of a lecture or in group sessions. We are also always grateful for suggestions about additional recommended readings that we can add to our resource pages.