The purpose of this seminar is to acquaint students with the main concerns in first and second language acquisition. The nature of human cognition and its relationship to natural (i.e. non-guided) language acquisition is a central concern here and hence first language acquisition with be given special attention. This is to be viewed from the standpoint of current linguistic theory and an attempt made to determine to what extent language acquisition can offer insights which are of relevance for views on language structure as a whole. Further areas to be covered are errors and mistakes, stages in language acquisition, language change and acquisition. The relationship of second to first language acquisition and the models and theories in this area are to form another main concern of the seminar.
Recommended literature
Aitchison, Jean 1998. The Articulate Mammal: An Introduction to Psycholinguistics. 4th edition. London: Routledge.
Aitchison, Jean 2003. A Glossary of Language and Mind. Edinburgh: University Press.
Clark, Eve V. 2002. First Language Acquisition. Cambridge: University Press.
Garman, Michael 1990. Psycholinguistics. Cambridge: University Press.
Gass, Susan M. and Larry Selinker 2008 [1994]. Second Language Acquisition. Third edition. London: Routledge.
Gregory, Richard L. (ed.) 2004. The Oxford Companion to the Mind. Second edition. Oxford: University Press.
Lightbown, Patsy M. and Nina Spada 2006. How Languages are Learned. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Lust, Barbara C. 2006. Child Language. Acquisition and Growth. Cambridge: University Press.
Obler, Loraine K. and Kris Gjerlow 1999. Language and the Brain. Cambridge: University Press.
O’Grady, William 2005. How Children Learn Language. Cambridge: University Press. |
