Welcome to the course!
In this course, we will be exploring the field of psycholinguistics together. This is a discipline that is fundamentally interested in the psychological processes that allow us humans to acquire, produce and comprehend language. We will cover several topics in each of these areas. Psycholinguistics is, by its nature, an interdisciplinary endeavour, which not only sits on the fence between psychology and linguistics, but also touches other areas in the cognitive sciences.
You can access further information about the course here.
Consultation hours: Wed 14:00 - 16:00 after prior arrangement via email
Class format
Classes are held weekly on Thursdays at 6 PM in U43 (FSS).
Our classes will consist of two parts, a lecture and a discussion session.
Each week, we will cover a topic of interest in the field of psycholinguistics. In the lectures, the basic issue, its background, and the research that has tried to address it will be introduced. Following this, you will have the opportunity to ask questions about the lecture content. After a short break, we'll start the discussion session. Here, we will focus on delving deeper into the topic. We will split into small groups and go through discussion sheets that will be provided for each session. Each week will have a main discussion question that will guide what we'll be talking about.
For each week, there is a reading list that you are expected to have read before each class. Some weeks, there will be a larger number of studies and I do not expect you to read all of them. However, starred (*) readings are mandatory. That you read the studies assigned is crucial since the discussion will often assume acquaintance with the studies! Also, feel free to find and read some other studies if you want to and share them with others in class!
Classes in case of remote learning (pandemic edition)
Should we all have to stay at home again (I very much hope this won't be the case!), we'll move over to Zoom. The format then will be that of prerecorded lectures (~45 min) that I will put up at the beginning of each week, and of Zoom discussion sessions (~45 min) that will take place during the original time-slot. For the discussion sessions, we will split into 2 groups at minimum (maybe more depending on how free your schedules will be) to make the discussion more practical!
Zoom links
Group 1 (18:00 - 18:45): https://us02web.zoom.us/j/8417
Group 2 (18:45 - 19:30): https://us02web.zoom.us/j/8194
Assessment
Hand your essay in here: Essay homework vault
This course is assessed by means of a colloquium (Pass/Fail). This will have two parts:
- An essay answering a question in psycholinguistics
- 1500 - 2000 words excluding references, hard limit
- The question may be either
- your own question or
- one of the seminar main discussion questions
- a discussion over your essay either individually or in a group (depending on the similarity of questions)
Those of you who wish to write an essay on their own question are recommended to consult their choice with the lecturer first. Handing in the essay is a necessary condition for passing the course. Essays under or over the word limit will not be accepted.
You will receive written comments on your essays. During the discussion, we will cover your essays as well as the topic at large. This will be an opportunity for you to delve deeper into your topic of choice. The expected standards for passing are described in the document below:
Please hand in your essays electronically in Word document format only (.doc, .docx), other formats will not be accepted. Late submissions will not be accepted unless an extension request is sent prior to the deadline. Please do not include your name. Your essay should be identifiable only by your UČO (student) number in order to maintain anonymity.
The deadline for handing in the essay is December 18 at 23:59. Essays handed in late will not be accepted unless an extension request is sent to the lecturer prior to the deadline.
P.S.: If you're wondering what those wonderful blue bird-like creatures in the picture are, then I can tell you these are "wugs"! The wug is the mythical animal that represents psycholinguistics. It comes from an ingenious language acquisition experiment by Gleason (1958) that showed that children have an implicit knowledge of linguistic structure that they can apply to new words!