ENG 542: ISSUES IN BIOLINGUISTICS

Last Update: April 23, 2010

ENG 542: ISSUES IN BIOLINGUISTICS
Linguistics Section, Department of English Studies, University of Cyprus
Spring Semester 2010: Tuesdays & Fridays, 10.30 - 12.00 *** Room M 105

http://www.punksinscience.org/kleanthes/courses/UCY10S/IBL/index.htm
Kleanthes Grohmann *** Email: kleanthi AT ucy DOT ac DOT cy
Room M 104, Phone: x2106 *** Office Hours: TUE & FRI 13.00–14.00 + by appointment

DESCRIPTION

From theoretical linguistics to biolinguistics might be an appropriate sub-title for this course, which will take us straight into the more biologically oriented area of cognitive science with a fair bit of philosophy of language, Cartesian philosophy and the mind/brain, and the like all the way up to the 21st century reappraisal of Darwin’s evolutionary theory, evo–devo, and genetics — and in the midst of it all: language/grammar and generative approaches to it. The true focus of the course is thus an introduction to the challenge posed by interdisciplinarity: How can findings of theoretical linguistics be integrated with the rest of cognitive science — and indeed with biology, or the natural sciences at large? Although generative grammarians have always advocated a cognitive science/biolinguistics perspective, in practice few concrete attempts have been made at genuine collaboration.

ASSESSMENT

Regular attendance is strongly advised! Besides class lectures, there will be:

1. 20% of the final grade: abstract -- due: March 26 or May 6 (by email)
2A. 30% of the final grade: presentation -- due: May 9 (at GACL 4 workshop)
2B. 30% of the final grade: review -- due: May 9 (instead of presentation)
3. 50% of the final grade: paper -- due: May (by email)
4. ±x grade points: presence and preferably participation in class throughout

Don’t forget: This is a small class and if you miss one, it will be noticed. If you miss more than one, notice will taken more than once too, and if you’re not around, you can’t participate actively! As in previous semesters, I take a tough stance on plagiarism, so familiarize yourselves with the dangers and don’t even try it. As for other aspects of evaluation: The paper and an accompanying abstract are a must for everyone, but you’ll have the choice of either giving a presentation (details to be announced) or write a critical review of published work (details to be sorted with me). The paper can be substituted with a detailed experiment, carried out on the basis of a substantial design plan (instead of an abstract); this will be less text but more testing and number crunching (and again, the details will be discussed with me individually or in groups). You will all meet with me regularly throughout the semester to discuss your work and progress!

READING

There’s the textbook that every student should have a copy of because we’ll be using it extensively. Plus, all the exercises are in it as well. If you don’t have a copy, Moufflon Bookshop should still do.

Cedric Boeckx. 2010. Language in Cognition: Uncovering Mental Structures and the Rules behind Them. Malden, Mass. & Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

Here's a list with all books on short-term loan from the library for this course. As time goes by, I'll make available some additional readings and list them here. After the readings, I put in brackets which class(es) each entry might be useful for (all odd classes refer toTuesdays, all even ones to Fridays). But first off, a website full with relevant resources (incl. downloads):

International Network in Biolinguistics (downloads)

For starters, these might be interesting (from recent issues of Biolinguistics, the open access journal; relevant reading):

Boeckx & Grohmann (2007), The Biolinguistics Manifesto [classes 1-4]
Chomsky (2007), Of Minds and Language [throughout]
Balari & Lorenzo (2009), Computational Phenotypes [class 25]
Fitch (2009), Prolegomena to a Future Science of Biolinguistics [throughout]

Here's the famous exchange on the language faculty, its nature and evolution (core reading):

Hauser, Chomsky & Fitch (2002) The Faculty of Language [throughout]
Pinker & Jackendoff (2005), The Faculty of Language [throughout]
Fitch, Hauser & Chomsky (2005), The Evolution of the Language Faculty [throughout]
Chomsky, Hauser & Fitch (2005), Appendix: The Minimalist Program [throughout]
Jackendoff & Pinker (2005), The Nature of the Language Faculty and Its Implications for Evolution of Language [throughout]

And here are some more papers (in completely random un-order; good reading):

Boeckx (2009), Cartesian Biolinguistics [class 4]
Chomsky (2005), The Biolinguistic Perspective after 50 Years [throughout]
Piattelli-Palmarini & Uriagereka (2005), The Evolution of the Narrow Faculty of Language [class 25]
Berwick (forthcoming), Syntax Facit Saltum Redux [classes 11-14]
Shapiro & Caramazza (2003), The Representation of Grammatical Categories in the Brain [class 23]
Fitch (2005), The Evolution of Language [class 24]
Freidin & Vergnaud (2001), Exquisite Connections [classes 11-14]
Chomsky (2006), Biolinguistic Explorations [throughout]
Chomsky (2007), Approaching UG from Below [throughout]
Wilson (1951), review of Meader & Muyskens: Handbook of Biolinguistics [class 3]
Chomsky (2004), Biolinguistics and the Human Capacity [throughout]
Ceglowski (2006), Viewed from a Different Perspective [throughout]
Neske (200), The Minimalist Program [classes 11-14]
Di Sciullo et al. (in press), The Biological Nature of Human Language [throughout]
Piattelli-Palmarini & Uriagereka (2008), Still a Bridge too Far? [throughout]
Berwick & Chomsky (forthcoming), The Biolinguistic Program [throughout]
Nadel & Piattelli-Palmarini (2003), What Is Cognitive Science? [classes 3-12]
Lorenzo & Longa (2003), Minimizing the Genes for Grammar [throughout]
Richards (to appear), Minimalism [classes 11-14]
França (2004), Introduction to Neurolinguistics [classes 21-22]
Ferrer i Cancho, Longa & Lorenzo (2008), Long-Distance Dependencies Are Not Uniquely Human [classes 11-14]
Narita (2009), review of Uriagereka: Syntactic Anchors [classes 11-14]
Jackendoff & Lerdahl (2004), The Capacity for Music [class 11]

I added even more material (January 29; supplement to Part I):

Chomsky (1986 & 1959), Knowledge of Language as a Focus of Inquiry & A Review of B.F. Skinner's Verbal Behavior [class 4]
Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy entry on rationalism and empiricism [classes 4-5]
Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy entry on innateness and language [classes 3-6]
Wikipedia entries on poverty of the stimulus and related issues (one file) [class 7]
The Linguistic Review special issue on poverty of the stimulus (one file) [class 7]
Pullum (1996), Learnability, Hyperlearning, and the Poverty of the Stimulus [class 7]
Laurence & Margolis (2001), The Poverty of the Stimulus Argument [class 7]
Gordon (1990), Learnability and Feedback [classes 5-7]
Gallistel (2007), Learning Organs [class 5]

I just added these (April 20; for the last week of classes):

Camps & Uriagereka (2006), The Gordian Knot of Linguistic Fossils [class 22]
Piattelli-Palmarini & Uriagereka (2004), The Immune Syntax: The Evolution of the Language Virus [class 22-23]
Piattelli-Palmarini & Uriagereka (2008), Still a Bridge Too Far? Biolinguistic Questions for Grounding Language on Brains [class 22-23]
Piattelli-Palmarini & Uriagereka (2005), The Evolution of the Narrow Faculty of Language: The Skeptical View and a Reasonable Conjecture [class 22-23]
Piattelli-Palmarini (2009), Off with Darwinian Objections to the Poverty of the Stimulus [class 23-24]
Uriagereka (2007), Clarifying the Notion "Parameter" [class 24]

Consider also my repeated note on plagiarism:

Plagiarism is a serious offence! (See the factsheet handed out in the first class for a summary of what plagiarism is, and why it is so bad.) If I detect cheating or plagiarism in any way, I will report you to the Board of the Department of English Studies — as a consequence, you automatically fail this course and face more severe punishment which can even lead to expulsion from university. So, be honest and work honest. [DOWNLOAD HERE]