LING 6

Main Course

Out of Mouths of Babes

Description

Lecture, six hours. How children acquire language, most complex of human cognitive achievements. Look at amazing linguistic abilities of infants and their first perception and production of speech sounds, then investigation of how children learn words and rules for producing and understanding sentences. Language acquisition in special populations such as children acquiring sign languages, bilingual children, and people acquiring language beyond critical period. Focus mainly on English, with consideration of other languages. Offered in summer only. P/NP or letter grading.