HD 3370 - Language Development

(crosslisted)
(also COGST 3370, LING 4436 , PSYCH 4360)

Spring. 4 credits.

Prerequisite: at least one course in developmental psychology, cognitive psychology, cognitive development, neurobiology, biology, or linguistics. Open to undergraduate and graduate students. Supplemental lab course available (COGST 4500/LING 4450, HD 4370, PSYCH 4370). Graduate students should enroll in HD 6370.

B. Lust.

Surveys basic issues, methods, and research in the study of first-language acquisition. Considers major theoretical positions in the field in the light of experimental studies in first-language acquisition of phonology, syntax, and semantics from infancy on. The fundamental issues of relationships between language and thought are discussed, as are the fundamental linguistic issues of “Universal Grammar” and the biological foundations for language acquisition. The acquisition of communication systems in nonhuman species such as chimpanzees is addressed, but major emphasis is on the child.