Psycholinguistics

Learning Outcomes

Subject Specific Intellectual and Research Skills

Having successfully completed this module you will be able to:

• critically evaluate theories of language in the light of empirical evidence
• the theoretical interpretation of this evidence in terms of current debates about the modularity of the human mind
• link empirical evidence to the formulation of theories of language

Knowledge and Understanding

Having successfully completed this module, you will be able to demonstrate knowledge and understanding of:

• how humans understand and produce language
• the neurological basis for language in the brain
• what the empirical evidence outlined in each of these areas tells us about the organisation of language in the human mind
• How languages are acquired: why is language innate to humans
• the theoretical interpretation of this evidence in terms of current debates about the modularity of the human mind

Transferable and Generic Skills

Having successfully completed this module you will be able to:

• critically evaluate theories
• synthesise evidence from a range of sources in order to present a coherent argument
• establish the relationship between a theoretical framework and empirical evidence

Subject Specific Practical Skills

Having successfully completed this module you will be able to:

• apply theoretical models of language to the study of specific language questions
• apply some of the analytical tools acquired in your first year to the study of a specific area of linguistics

This module examines subtopics within psycholinguistics which all help to understand what the relationship between language and the human mind might be. Each area brings its own insights into this debate, and the module will aim to analyse the specificity of each of these fields, but also to establish links between them in

order to gain a deeper understanding of the issues relating them. We look at:

1. Language processing

• comprehension: how do we process the incoming sound sequence in order to extract the content of the

message.

• production: How do we transform what we want to say into a sequence of sounds. The various stages of the planning process will be explored.
• computational models
• The mental lexicon
• the process of reading and dyslexia.

2. Language and the brain

• -he structure of the brain
• evidence from brain damage: how does brain damage affect language production and comprehension?
• memory, word storage
• language disorders: what do they tell us about the organisation of language in the brain?

Teaching methods include

• a weekly lecture outlining a body of knowledge and concepts
• a weekly student-led seminar in which the issues presented in the lecture will be applied to the critical analysis of empirical evidence

Learning activities include

• group work during the seminars
• psychological experiments
• analytical tasks (e.g. analysis of first language acquisition data, of speech errors etc..)

Summative

This is how we’ll formally assess what you have learned in this module.

Referral

This is how we’ll assess you if you don’t meet the criteria to pass this module.

Repeat

An internal repeat is where you take all of your modules again, including any you passed. An external repeat is where you only re-take the modules you failed.