Psycholinguistics

Learning Outcomes

Knowledge and Understanding

Having successfully completed this module, you will be able to demonstrate knowledge and understanding of:

• How languages are acquired, first, second and bilingual language acquisition
• the neurological basis for language in the brain
• how humans understand and produce language
• the theoretical interpretation of this evidence in terms of current debates about the modularity of the human mind
• what the empirical evidence outlined in each of these areas tells us about the organisation of language in the human mind

Subject Specific Intellectual and Research Skills

Having successfully completed this module you will be able to:

• critically evaluate theories of language in the light of empirical evidence
• the theoretical interpretation of this evidence in terms of current debates about the modularity of the human mind
• link empirical evidence to the formulation of theories of language

Subject Specific Practical Skills

Having successfully completed this module you will be able to:

• apply some of the analytical tools acquired in your first year to the study of a specific area of linguistics
• apply theoretical models of language to the study of specific language questions

Transferable and Generic Skills

Having successfully completed this module you will be able to:

• establish the relationship between a theoretical framework and empirical evidence
• critically evaluate theories
• synthesise evidence from a range of sources in order to present a coherent argument

This module examines three areas of psycholinguistics which all help to understand what the relationship between language and the human mind might be. Each area brings its own insights into this debate, and the module will aim to analyse the specificity of each of these fields, but also to establish links between them in

order to gain a deeper understanding of the issues relating them. In particular, the study of these fields will be used to critically evaluate current debates about the modularity of the mind in relation to language.

The three areas investigated are as follows:

1. First language acquisition

• How are first languages acquired?
• Crosslinguistic similarities/differences
• Language development in exceptional circumstances (e.g. deaf children, blind children, Williams syndrome children, language-deprived children, bilingual children etc...)

2. Language processing

• comprehension: how do we process the incoming sound sequence in order to extract the content of the

message.

• production: How do we transform what we want to say into a sequence of sounds. The various stages of the planning process will be explored.

3. Language and the brain

• evidence from brain damage: how does brain damage affect language production and comprehension?
• memory, word storage
• language disorders: what do they tell us about the organization of language in the brain?

Teaching and learning methods

Teaching methods include

• a weekly lecture outlining a body of knowledge and concepts
• a weekly student-led seminar in which the issues presented in the lecture will be applied to the critical analysis of empirical evidence

Learning activities include

• group work during the seminars
• psychological experiments
• analytical tasks (e.g. analysis of first language acquisition data, of speech errors etc..)

Resources & Reading list

Textbooks

Traxler, Matthew, J., (2012). Introduction to Psycholinguistics.

Fromkin, V., Rodman,R., and N Hyams (2003). An Introduction to Language. Thompson and Heinle.

Reuschemeyer, S., and Gaskell, G.M., (2007). The Oxford Handbook of Psycholinguistics. Oxford University Press.

Field, J., (2004). Psycholinguistics: The Key Concepts. Routledge.

Aitchison, J (2001). The articulate mammal. Routledge.

Summative

This is how we’ll formally assess what you have learned in this module.

Referral

This is how we’ll assess you if you don’t meet the criteria to pass this module.

Repeat

An internal repeat is where you take all of your modules again, including any you passed. An external repeat is where you only re-take the modules you failed.

Repeat Information

Repeat type: Internal & External