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DRPS : Course Catalogue : Centre for Open Learning : Philosophy, Psychology and Language Sciences

Undergraduate Course: Psychology of Language (LLLI07017)

Course Outline
SchoolCentre for Open Learning CollegeCollege of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences
Credit level (Normal year taken)SCQF Level 7 (Year 1 Undergraduate) AvailabilityNot available to visiting students
SCQF Credits10 ECTS Credits5
SummaryThis is a for-credit course offered by the Centre for Open Learning (COL); only students registered with COL should be enrolled.

An examination of the psychological and neurobiological factors that enable humans to learn, use, and understand language. We will examine language development and acquisition, language comprehension and production, and language and cognition. Throughout, these topics will be illuminated through reference to their representation in the brain, various pathologies that impede normal language function, and comparative structures in other animals.
Course description Contents by class:
1. What is psychology and what is language? Introducing the psychology of language. How do we define language and where did it come from?
2. An overview of linguistics (the study of language). How do we describe language? Methodological approaches and an overview of language representation in the brain.
3. How does language develop in children? Examining theories of child language development; developmental language pathologies and insights into language from children.
4. Bilingualism and second language acquisition: early vs. late bilingualism; the critical period in light of bilingualism; bilingualism in the brain.
5. Written vs. spoken language: lexical processing; production and representation; word recognition and comprehension; brain damage and language aphasias.
6. Sentence processing and parsing; comprehension and literacy in the brain; language lateralisation and literacy; reading and speech processing; reading comprehension disorders
7. The Whorfian hypothesis; pidgins and creoles; sign languages and language in the deaf and blind.
8. Models of meaning and conceptual structure; perception and language; social and cognitive approaches and the issue of modularity; pathologies affecting language and cognition.
9. Recap of the major issues throughout the course.
10. Overview of the structure of a language system; new and future directions in the psychology of language.
Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
Pre-requisites Co-requisites
Prohibited Combinations Other requirements None
Course Delivery Information
Not being delivered
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
  1. Demonstrate knowledge of various theories of how people are able to acquire, use, and understand language(s);
  2. Understand the experimental and other evidence that support these theories;
  3. Demonstrate knowledge of the major experimental techniques for investigating language processing;
  4. Apply their knowledge to wider discussion of how people use and understand language and what happens when the system breaks down.
Reading List
Essential:
Harley, T., 2008. The Psychology of Language: from Data to theory. 5th ed. Hove; New York: Psychology Press.

Recommended:
Field, J., 2003. Psycholinguistics: A resource book for students. New York, NY: Routledge.
Forrester, M.A., 1996. Psychology of language: a critical introduction. London: Sage.

For Basic Linguistics:
Fromkin, V.A., Rodman, R. and Hyams, N., 2006. An Introduction to Language, London: Heinle.
Additional Information
Graduate Attributes and Skills Not entered
Special Arrangements Please contact Reception to arrange a confidential appointment with our Student Guidance Advisor if you feel you have specific study requirements to enable you to study an Open Studies course or complete assessments. Giving us this information will enable us to make arrangements to meet your requirements for studying in accordance with the Equality Act 2010.
KeywordsNot entered
Contacts
Course organiserMr Maximillian Jaede
Tel:
Email: v1mjaede@exseed.ed.ac.uk
Course secretaryMr John Ethcuit
Tel: (0131 6)50 3409
Email: jethcuit@exseed.ed.ac.uk
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