Last Update: September 10, 2011

ENG 749: FIRST AND SECOND LANGUAGE ACQUISITION
Linguistics Section, Department of English Studies, University of Cyprus
Fall Semester 2011: Wednesdays, 15.30 – 19.30 @ Room 311 (Loucas Court)

http://www.punksinscience.org/kleanthes/courses/UCY11S/CS/index.htm
Kleanthes Grohmann *** Email: kleanthi AT ucy DOT ac DOT cy
Room M 104, Phone: x5194 *** Office Hours: Wednesdays, before or after class, and by appointment

 

DESCRIPTION

“This course introduces current developments in the linguistic study of language acquisition. It offers a general overview of Universal Grammar and the biolinguistic principles of language, and then proceeds to specific interests in first language acquisition (one’s native language) and second language acquisition. Tied closely to the latter will be issues arising for bilingual linguistic contexts and the difference between language acquisition and language learning.” Specifically, the course will connect to ENG 750 and focus on the development of clitic placement and the formation of so-called A'-dependencies, such as wh-questions and relative clauses. The taught component will be integrated into the weekly CAT Meetings (Cyprus Acquisition Team), along the research agenda of the team.

 

ASSESSMENT

Regular attendance is strongly advised! Besides the class lectures, you will be graded as follows:

    1. exercises: 30% of the final grade — all to be arranged individually (by email)
    2. presentation: 30% of the final grade — November 21 (native language, in class)
    3. research/paper: 40% of the final grade — December 16 (ca. 3,000 words, by email)

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 you may know, I take a tough stance on plagiarism, so familiarize yourselves with the dangers — don’t even try it. [DOWNLOAD MANIFESTO HERE] Lastly: You should meet with me regularly to discuss your work and progress!

Exercises: Each one of you will be given (a set of) “topics for discussion” from the textbook, which you will then address in a short paper. There is no real word limit, but your answers should be clear.

Presentation: You will give an in-class presentation of a topic of your choice (which may but need not be related to your research/paper) of around 20 minutes or so plus discussion (‘question period’).

Research/Paper: You should start thinking about your project early enough, since one requirement of this seminar is to start producing "real" research. All details to be sorted in class soon and in person. (Since this is a course on acquisition, the slash means that you can choose between carrying out your own research study and collect data from learners or write an theoretical/overview paper instead.)

 

READING

There is a textbook for this course but we will also discuss relevant articles and book chapters throughout the semester. You should also make an effort to read beyond the assigned readings!

Jürgen M. Meisel (2011). First and Second Language Acquisition. Cambridge: CUP.

 

DOWNLOAD SCHEDULE [update: September 10]