04 67 79 15 42 2012-2013 SEMEST - University of Minnesota

ANGLAIS
ENGLISH
Linguistique, Civilisation, Littérature, Traduction (Thème/Version).
LICENCE 3 (UNIQUEMENT)
E61AN3 Langue/Linguistique (26h TD et 13 TP = 39h) – 3c
Choisir 1 TD :
LING 6C Child Language Acquisition
How do children come to acquire one or more languages ? What cognitive capacities are brought to bear on this procès ? Is child
language acquisition a matter of Learning ? If so, how much of this is implicit Learning ? If not, what alternative account can we
provide of the child’s linguistic development ? In order to discuss thèse questions, we begin by considering the idea of mental
modules. We then go on to discuss Chomsky’s claim that children are born with an innately-endowed « language module ». We
also discuss the work of Chomsky’s opponents. We then track the stages in the child’s development and end by considering
bilingual first language acquisition, and child language and speech disorders.
: Elementary textbook : Cattell, Ray (2000). Children’s Language. London : Cassell.
Additional textbook : Clark, Eve (2003). First Language Acquisition. Cambridge : Cambridge University Press. Additional
primary source reading, and transparencies, at Copie Conforme
Week 1. Modularity of Mind (i): Mental modules and double dissociation.
Reading : Ellis, A.W., Young, A.W. What is cognitive neuropsychology ? In Ellis & Young (Eds.)(1999) Human Cognitive
Neuropsychology. Hove, Sussex : Psychology Press
Week 2. Modularity of Mind (ii): autism, emotion and brain damage videos.
Chomsky’s theory of language acquisition (i)
Reading : Extract from Damasio, A. (1999). The Feeling of What Happens. London : Vintage.
Reading: Smith, N. (2004). Chomsky: Ideas and Ideals. Second edition. Chapter 1. Cambridge: CUP.
Week 3 Chomsky’s theory of language acquisition (ii)
Chomsky, N. (2000). New horizons in the study of language and mind. In Chomsky, N. (2000). New Horizons in the Study of
Language and Mind. Cambridge : CUP
Week 4: Sampson’s Empiricism. Karmiloff-Smith’s Constructivism; emergent linguistic modularity without an innate language
module.
Reading : Sampson, G. (1997). Educating Eve. London : Cassell. Chapters 2 & 5.
Karmiloff-Smith, A. (1998). Development itself is the key to understanding developmental disorders. Trends in Cognitive
Sciences
Week 5. From the womb to the first year of life: perception and production.
Reading: Vihman, M. & Vellmen, S. (2000). ‘Phonetics and the origins of phonology.’ In Burton-Roberts, N, Carr, P. &
Docherty, N. Phonological knowledge. Oxford Univ Press
Week 6. From the first year into the second year of life: perception and production
Reading : Stager, C.L. & Werker, J.F. (1997). Infants listen for more phonetic detail in speech perception than in word-learning
tasks. Nature 388 : 381-382
Vihman, M.M. et al (1985). From babbling to speech : a re-assessment of the continuity issue..Language 61.2 : 397-421
Week 7. The emergence of syntax : two-word constructions and item-based learning
Reading : Tomasello, M et al (1997). Differential productivity in young children’s use of nouns and verbs. Journal of Child
Language 24 : 373-387
Week 8. Syntax beyond the two-word stage
Reading: Clarke (2003), chapter 9: Adding complexity within clauses.
Week 9 The acquisition of morphology. The dual mechanism hypothesis
Reading : Dabrowska, E. (2003). Learning a morphological system without a default. Journal of Child Language 32: 191-205.
Week 10 Child acquisition of word meanings: child conceptual development.
Reading: Gopnik, A. (2001) ‘Theories, language and culture: Whorf without wincing’ In Bowerman, M& Levinson, S.C (Eds.)
Language acquisition and conceptual development. Cambridge: CUP. 45-69
Week 11. The bilingual child (a): Types of bilingual acquisition context. The separation of systems issue.
Reading : Brulard, I. & Carr, P. (2003) : French-English bilingual acquisition of phonology : one production system or two ?
International Journal of Bilingualism 7.2 : 177-202
Week 12 The bilingual child (b): Language mixing in the bilingual child.
Reading: Yip & Matthews (2006) The Bilingual Child: section on CS.
Week 13 Revision class.
Assessment/Modalités de contrôle : (a) A take-home mid-term exercise. Coef: 1. (b) A written exam at the end of the semester
(coeff. 2). Seconde chance et dispensés d’assiduité: commentaire sur un texte de Chomsky ou de Tomasello. Durée : une heure et
demie.
MODALITÉS DE CONTRÔLE
1ère évaluation, contrôle continu
Un travail d’entraînement à la maison (coeff. 1)
119