Description and contextualization of the subject

This course aims to bring students closer to the study of early language acquisition through their familiarization with current research oriented to the study of the language development of monolingual and bilingual children (0-8 years) in their first language(s).

Ordinary call: orientations and renunciation

The final mark will be the sum of three partial marks: active participation in class (20%), oral presentation (30%) and essay (50%).



Class sessions in this course of 3 ECTS credits will be organized as follows:



• Lectures on concepts and contents concerning the topics listed in the program will comprise most of the class time together, as well as some practical exercises. Written materials and/or references will be provided throughout the course.



• Attendance to class is obligatory and students will be penalized if absence is not properly justified. Regular assistance and active participation of the student will be crucial (20% of the final mark). Moreover, students are expected to participate in class and to meet the deadlines of the exercises set, among them (at least) one oral presentation (30% of the final mark) and one written one (50% of the mark).



• The oral task will consist of the presentation of the main content of a research paper, previously agreed with the teacher. In the 15-20 minutes presentation students will demonstrate:

The aim of the paper, some of the most relevant contents, including some examples, tables and/or figures, but only if necessary for comprehension, the dscussion and/or conclusion.

o Each student should provide his/her classmates with a 2- to 3-page hand-out of the presentation.

o Students will be requested to auto- and hetero-evaluate oral presentations.



• The written task will consist of a short essay of 6-10 pages, based on the discussion of some theoretical and/or methodological aspects of one of the papers presented in class compared with at least ONE additional piece of research published.

Extraordinary call: orientations and renunciation

The final mark will be the sum of the marks obtained in the two tasks: an oral presentation (40%) and a written paper (60%), both of them similar to the assignments in the first call.

Temary

During the course students will:

-become aware of theoretical and empirical questions concerning children’s initial linguistic competence, as well as the changes observed during the first years of life

-become familiar with different theoretical approaches to the study of child language and some of the methodologies used recently in experimental research oriented to the study of children’s linguistic performance in vocabulary, phonology or morphosyntax.

- learn about the variability of bi- or multilingual acquisition processes and the factors affecting them (language profile, language typological distance…).



CONTENTS



UNIT 1. THE STUDY OF CHILD LANGUAGE • Description, goals, basic terms • Methods used in the study of early child language. Some language-development models •



UNIT 2. EARLY BI-/ MULTILINGUALISM • Typology • Grammatical fusion and separation• L1 / L2 • Interlinguistic influence: structural borrowing, convergence, mixed utterances • (In)vulnerability across domains



UNIT 3. PHONETIC AND PHONOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENT • Perception • Production •Segmental inventories• Syllabic structure



UNIT 4. COMPREHENSION AND PRODUCTION OF VOCABULARY • The MacArthur-Bates tests: CDI • Adaptations to some languages •Some models of lexical activation



UNIT 5. MORPHOSYNTACTIC DEVELOPMENT • Assessment: MLU • Over-regularisation and its interpretation • Lexical and functional categories • The syntax-pragmatics interface (null and overt subjects).

Bibliography

Basic bibliography

Ambridge, B. & E. Lieven (2011), Child Language Acquisition. Contrasting Theoretical Approaches. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.





Crain, S. & D. Lillo-Martin (1999). An Introduction to Linguistic Theory and Language Acquisition. Massachussets: Blackwell.



De Houwer, A. (2009), Bilingual First Language Acquisition. Bristol-Buffalo-Toronto: Multilingual Matters.



Idiazabal & J. Dolz (eds.) (2013) Enseñar (lenguas) en contextos plurilingües. Bilbao: Servicio editorial de la Universidad del País Vasco/ Euskal Herriko Unibertsitatea.



Guasti, M.T. (2002), Language Acquisition. The Growth of Grammar. Cambridge MA-London: The MIT Press.



Grosjean, F. & P. Li (2013), The Psycholinguistics of Bilingualism. West Susssex, UK: Wiley & Blackwell.



Meisel, J. (2011), First and Second Language Acquisition. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.



Montrul, S. (2013), El bilingüismo en el mundo hispanohablante. Malden, MA: Whiley-Blackwell.



Müller Gathercole, V.C. (ed.) (2013) Solutions of the Assessment of Bilinguals. Bristol-Buffalo-Toronto: Multilingual Matters.

Journals

Applied Psycholinguistics



Bilingualism: Language and Cognition



Brain and Language



Cognition



First Language



Infancia y Aprendizaje



International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism



Applied Psycholinguistics, Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, Brain and Language, Cognition, First Language, Infancia y Aprendizaje, International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism, International Journal of Bilingualism, Journal of Child Language, Language Acquisition, The Language Learning Journal, Lingua, Linguistische Berichte, Linguistic Approaches to Bilingualism, Probus, Second Language Acquisition.