Course module SOW-DGCN18 Credits (ECTS) 6 Category - Language of instruction English Offered by Radboud University; Faculty of Social Sciences; Cognitive Neuroscience; Lecturer(s) Previous 1-5 of 76-7 of 7 Next 2 Lecturer dr. M.E. Broersma Other course modules lecturer Examiner prof. dr. J.P.M. Fikkert Other course modules lecturer Contactperson for the course prof. dr. J.P.M. Fikkert Other course modules lecturer Lecturer prof. dr. J.P.M. Fikkert Other course modules lecturer Coordinator prof. dr. J.P.M. Fikkert Other course modules lecturer Academic year 2020 Period SEM2   (25/01/2021 to 16/07/2021) Starting block SEM2 Course mode full-time Remarks - Registration using OSIRIS Yes Course open to students from other faculties No Pre-registration No Waiting list No Placement procedure -

	Aims Mastering a first language is one of the most striking achievements of human development. This course starts with an introduction to theories of language acquisition, the empirical findings and milestones in early language perception and production, the current debates in the field, and research methods in the study of language acquisition. After a general introduction into the field, and into the methods used in the field, we will focus on several topics that currently are central to the field. During the course you learn to critically discuss scientific papers and reflect on them; to design experiments to test questions regarding (bilingual) first language acquisition; and present a research proposal as a scientific poster. Finally, you will learn to translate current findings in language acquisition into a popular scientific blog. Content Acquisition of sound structure and the lexicon. During the first year of life infants become increasingly sensitive to language-specific features of the sound system of their native language. We review segmental, phonotactic, and prosodic aspects of phonological acquisition, and examine the research paradigms used to investigate infant and child speech perception. The results from perception studies are compared to those from production studies. Production studies show that there is a continuum between babbling and early words in terms of motor skills, but cognitive factors and the acquisition of a lexicon come into play too as children build their phonological systems.   The acquisition of information structure, syntax and the syntax-semantic interface: The second part focuses on first language acquisition and the development of grammatical processing mechanisms. We will examine research on first language acquisition and children's sentence processing, and ask what the relationship is between the development of grammatical competence and the development of processing mechanisms/strategies; how L1 parsing procedures develop in monolingual and bilingual children; and how children process sentences in comparison to adults. The role of sleep, adoption, brain development, and cross-linguistic differences in language acquisition will also be discussed. Level Presumed foreknowledge Test information Specifics Assumed previous knowledge This course is for CNS students only. Non-CNS students can contact Ellen Janssen (e.janssen@donders.ru.nl) or Arno Koning ( a.koning@donders.ru.nl).
	Required materials Course material Lecture notes. Literature will be provided on Brighspace Recommended materials Articles Friederici, A. D., & Männel, C. (2014). Neural correlates of the development of speech perception and comprehension. In K. N. Ochsner, & S. M. Kosslyn (Eds.), The Oxford Handbook of Cognitive Neuroscience(pp. 171-192). New York, USA: Oxford University Press. Book Frank, M. C., Bergelson, E., Bergmann, C., Cristia, A., Floccia, C., Gervain, J., Hamlin, J. K., Hannon, E. E., Kline, M., Levelt, C., Lew-Williams, C., Nazzi, T., Panneton, R., Rabagliati, H., Soderstrom, M., Sullivan, J., Waxman, S., & Yurovsky, D. (2017). A collaborative approach to infant research: Promoting reproducibility, best practices, and theory-building. Infancy, 22(4), 421-435. doi:10.1111/infa.12182. Link: http://www.mpi.nl/publications/escidoc-2475501 Book Ambridge, B., & Lieven, E.V.M. (2015). A Constructivist account of child language acquisition. In B. MacWhinney and W. O'Grady (Eds). Handbook of Language Emergence. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley Blackwell. (pp. 478-510). Instructional modes Class discussion Attendance Mandatory Yes Lab visits Attendance Mandatory Yes Lecture Attendance Mandatory Yes Remark Lectures, class discussion, student assignments, lab visits. Student assignments Attendance Mandatory Yes Tests Assignments Test weight 25 Test type Assignment Opportunities Block SEM2, Block SEM2 Remark NOTE: enrollment for a course automatically registers you for its exam. For participating in the retake, register again. Blog Test weight 30 Test type Report Opportunities Block SEM2, Block SEM2 Research proposal/poster presentation Test weight 45 Test type Presentation Opportunities Block SEM2, Block SEM2 Remark NOTE: enrollment for a course automatically registers you for its exam. For participating in the retake, register again.