Topics in Second Language Acquisition

Catalog description

This repeatable course promotes inquiry into issues related to second language acquisition, for example, use of technology in language learning, language variation, code-switching, pragmatics, sociocultural theory. Students will engage in research and project work and employ qualitative and/or quantitative research methodology and analytical and/or empirical methods to illuminate and understand the acquisition, use, and maintenance of second languages. Prerequisite: Permission of instructor SPRING 2016 Section B: East Asian Psycholinguistics Our understanding of cognitive processes and mechanisms underlying language has primarily come from studies of European languages. However, languages such as Chinese, Japanese and Korean offer profound implications for the acquisition, representation, and processing of language, due to their differences from most European languages. Topics include first and second language acquisition, spoken word recognition, reading, language disorders, and the relationships between language, culture, and cognition. This course serves to prepare students for more advanced studies of East Asian languages, experimental linguistics, and linguistic theory.