(BA) (4-year-programme) - The University of Hong Kong

148LING3152.Swahili structure and universal grammar (6 credits)Swahili is the most widely spoken African language and one of the most intensively studied in manyuniversities in Africa, Europe, and North America. In this course, an overview of the major aspects ofSwahili and Bantu Linguistics will be provided. The basics of phonology, morphology, syntax andsemantics will be covered, with emphasis on the morphosyntactic component of the language.Students will learn how to analyze basic Swahili sentence structures from formal perspectives, usingthe basics of grammatical frameworks such as Lexical Functional Grammar and the Minimalistapproaches. Prior knowledge of introductory linguistics and spoken Swahili are helpful but notessential.Prerequisite: LING1000Assessment: 100% coursework.LING3153.Language and the brain (6 credits)This course is an introduction to the representation and processing of language in the human brain, thesystems and processes that enables us to speak, understand speech, learn languages, and read andwrite. Through attending the course, students will acquire in-depth knowledge of how language isdeveloped, processed, and organized in the brain. Traditional as well as most recent research fromlinguistics, cognitive neuroscience (e.g. brain imaging) and the study of language disorders will bereviewed.Prerequisite: LING1000 and LING2048Assessment: 100% coursework.LING3155.Reading development and reading disorders (6 credits)This course aims to provide a deep understanding of reading development and reading disorders indifferent written languages. Through attending the course, students should be able to understand howdifferent cognitive processes contribute to the development of skilled word reading and textcomprehension and what possible problems children may encounter during the course of readingdevelopment. Effective treatment and instruction approaches will also be discussed.Prerequisite: LING1000Assessment: 100% coursework.LING3157.Language evolution (6 credits)Questions concerning the origins and evolution of language and the relevant learning mechanisms inhumans to process language arise naturally after one learns the fundamental features of language inareas such as phonetics, syntax, semantics and pragmatics. These questions belong to the realm ofevolutionary linguistics, which has recently become a resurgent academic field, due in part to theapplication of knowledge and techniques from a variety of disciplines besides linguistics. This coursewill provide a general introduction to evolutionary linguistics. Following an interdisciplinaryperspective, the course will introduce fundamental concepts of some relevant disciplines that couldshed light on language origin and evolution, including archaeology and anthropology, comparativestudies of humans and other animals, genetics, neuro- and psycho-linguistics, and computersimulation.Prerequisite: LING1000.Assessment: 100% coursework.