This is the current view of how the semester will proceed, but the schedule will be adjusted from time to time. Do not rely on the printed copy; instead, consult this page. Homework will generally be assigned on Thursdays and due on the following Thursday. The readings in the Readings column are those that pertain to the lectures that week (“G” refers to the Guasti textbook, “W” refers to the White textbook). Readings listed as “Related” constitute (part of) the source material for the discussions they are listed with, but it is not necessary to read “related” papers (usually because they assume a fair amount of background).
| Theme | Date | Class topic | Readings | Assignment |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Issues in L1A: structure, parameters, development of morphosyntax |
Tue Jan 18 |
The acquisition of syntax | (G1) | Survey |
| Thu Jan 20 |
First steps into syntax | G4:101-120 | HW1: Root infinitives | |
| Tue Jan 25 |
Root infinitives | G4:128-32, 141-6 | ||
| Thu Jan 27 |
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| Tue Feb 1 |
Agreement, case, ATOM, and the UCC | G4:133-40 Schütze & Wexler |
HW2: ATOM | |
| Issues in L2A: transfer, parameters |
Thu Feb 3 |
Second language acquisition of syntax | W1 (skip 1.3.1), W2:2-23, 35-42 | |
| Tue Feb 8 |
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| Thu Feb 10 |
The initial state in L2 acquisition | W3:58-87, 95-8 | HW3: L2A parameters | |
| Experimental methodology, data analysis, and reporting |
Tue Feb 15 |
Parameters in L2 acquisition | W4:127-32, 141-9 | |
| Thu Feb 17 |
CHILDES demo (and continuation from last class) | (no additional readings) | CHILDES lab: Data collection | |
| Tue Feb 22: Monday schedule, no class |
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| Experimental design, acquisition and pragmatics |
Thu Feb 24 |
The definiteness effect in L2A | White et al. (2009), Belikova et al. (2010) | CHILDES lab: write-up |
| Tue Mar 1 |
Null subjects, pro drop, subset principle | G5:160-185 | ||
| Thu Mar 3 |
Null subjects (continued) | |||
| Tue Mar 8 |
Acquisition of binding principles | Chien & Wexler:225-242 | ||
| Thu Mar 10 |
Acquisition of clitics and pragmatic constraints | Kapia:160-209 | Final project: Proposal |
|
| Mar 12–Mar 20: Spring recess | ||||
| Acquisition of syntactic movement |
Tue Mar 22 |
Wh-movement in L1 acquisition | G6:186-202, 209-220 | |
| Thu Mar 24 |
Wh-movement in L2 acquisition, critical periods | W8:241-251 Umeda |
Final project: Design |
|
| Acquisition of meaning |
Tue Mar 29 |
Passives and A-chains in L1 acquisition | G7 | |
| Thu Mar 31 |
Acquisition of semantics in L1 acquisition | G9 Meroni et al. |
Final project: Data collection |
|
| Topics | Tue Apr 5 |
Second language acquisition of argument structure | W7 El-Nabih: ch. 5 |
|
| Thu Apr 7 |
Specific language impairment | Wexler et al. Schaeffer et al. |
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| Tue Apr 12 |
Morphology/syntax interface in L2 acquisition | W6 | Final project: analysis |
|
| Thu Apr 14 |
Language mixing | MacSwan | ||
| Tue Apr 19 |
Morphosyntactic acquisition, Optimality Theory | Legendre et al. | Final project: Presentation prep |
|
| Thu Apr 21: Monday schedule, no class | ||||
| Assessment | Tue Apr 26 |
Recap | No reading | |
| Topics | Thu Apr 28 |
Presentations (AKB) A study of Arabic articles (KD) Tense and aspect in L1 Russian acquisition (MK) Adults syntax in English adjective-noun placement (TK) L2 German acquisition: Recognizing ambiguity in wh-questions (LZ) On the relation between plurals and number marking in early child French |
No reading | Final project: write-up |
| Tue May 3 |
Presentations (EK) Cantonese/English code switching (AFK) Subjacency in L1 ASL, L2 English (CM) Acquisition of NPIs (IS) Acquisition of DP in English (AV) Acquisition of Spanish morphosyntax (BZ) Exiting the OI stage for bilingual French/English |
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| Thu May 5 |
Presentations (WB) Topic (AAB) Topic (SH) Topic (AJK) Topic (BS) Topic |
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| Semester ends | ||||