Language Acquisition - 1st semester
Objectives
a) To be able to identify and describe the main characteristics of different theoretical models of language acquisition;
b) To recognize the advantages and disadvantages of different methodologies for the collection and analysis of child productions and their adequacy to different research questions;
c) To recognize unversal properties and language-specific properties of the language acquisition process;
d) To be able to describe properties of phonologic development;
e) To be able to describe properties of morphologic development;
f) To be able to describe properties of syntactic development;
g) To be able to describe properties of semantic and pragmatic development;
h) To be able to analyze chils productions, taking into account different stages of phonologic and morphosyntactic development.
General characterization
Code
711131058
Credits
6
Responsible teacher
Maria Sousa Lobo Gonçalves
Hours
Weekly - 4
Total - Available soon
Teaching language
Portuguese
Prerequisites
We recommend previous frequency of the following courses: phonology, morphology, syntax and semantics.
Bibliography
Costa, J. e A. L. Santos. 2003. A falar como os bebés. Lisboa: Editorial Caminho.
Fletcher, Paul & Brian MacWhinney, eds. 1995. The Handbook of Language Acquisition. Cambridge: Blackwell Publishers.
Guasti, M.-T.. 2017. Language Acquisition. The Growth of Grammar. Cambridge, London: MIT Press, 2ª edição.
Lust, B. 2006. Child Language. Acquisition and Growth. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Lust, B. & C. Foley eds. 2004. First Language Acquisition. The essential readings. Malden/Oxford/Victoria: Blackwell.
Freitas, M. J. & A. L. Santos, orgs. 2017. A aquisição de língua materna e não materna. Questões gerais e dados do Português. Textbooks in Language Sciences. Berlim: Language Science Press.
Teaching method
Teaching methods:
The classes include theoretical classes, as well as practical sessions of child data analysis.
Support materials are made available in the moodle platform.
Evaluation method
Assessment methods:
Two written tests (30% each) and two homeworks that consist in the analysis of phonologic and morphosyntactic aspects of children´s productions (20% each).
Subject matter
1. General characteristics of the process of language acquisition and global stages of language development
2. Theoretical perspectives on language acquisition: behaviourism, cognitivism, usage-based models, innatism
3. Language acquisition in the Principles and Parameters framework
4. Methodologies for the study of language acquisition: naturalistic methods and experimental methods
5. Aspects of phonological development
6. Aspects of morphological development
7. Aspects of syntactic development
8. Aspects of semantic and pragmatic development