Admission requirements
Admission to this course is strictly limited to students who have taken Linguistics 5 (Introduction to English Generative Syntax) or a similar course.
Description
First language acquisition proceeds in a fixed fashion: from babbling to phonological systems; from the one-word stage to the sentence stage. Gradually, first language learners acquire the separate components of their grammar. Lexical knowledge, for instance, proceeds independently from syntactic knowledge. Generative theory posits modules for each subcomponent of language. These modules, then, are acquired separately. But they can also be lost separately. In the second half of the course we will look at dysfunctional language, and see that this, too, can be described in the modular fashion.
Course objectives
Students comprehend and are able to evaluate the generative concept of the Language Acquisition Device and the generative model of grammar.
Timetable
The timetable will be available by June 1st on www.hum.leidenuniv.nl/engels.
Mode of instruction
One two-hour seminar per week
Assessment method
Oral presentation (30%); written paper (70%).
Blackboard
This course is supported by Blackboard.
Reading list
Reader.
Registration
Students should register through uSis.
Contact information
Departmental Office English Language and Culture, P.N. van Eyckhof 4, room 102C. Tel. 071 5272144; mail: english@hum.leidenuniv.nl.
Coordinator of Studies Master: Ms. K. van der Zeeuw-Filemon, P.N. van Eyckhof 4, room 103C.
Remarks
No remarks.