- Applied Linguistics -

 This course investigates both the learning and the acquisition of language from several angles, but always through the eyes of a linguist. We will look at the grammatical system itself and ask how it allows stages of acquisition (and whether these stages are transitional phases or remain as layers of a grammar system). We will ask how linguistic theory intersects with brain theory, and whether we can find some correlation between the growth of the cortex and the stages of language acquisition. We will ask what cognitive skills develop while language develops, and whether they intersect with language or develop independently from language. And we will look at literacy as a linguistic newcomer in the evolution of mankind: are there stages in the learning of reading and writing comparable to the stages of language acquisition? Towards the end of the semester, we will have a brief look at second-language learning and survey some of its popular theories. Throughout the course, we will review basic grammar: this course also fulfills the English Language Studies requirement for English majors. It would be advisable, however, to have some working knowledge in English grammar roughly equivalent to the content of ENGL3132. (ENGL 3132 is not a requirement for 4263).