Psycholinguistics: Language and Cognition

1. Written in-class test 1: this tests your knowledge and understanding of the terminology and concepts used in psycholinguistic research (course goal 3).
2. Written in-class test 2: similar to test 1, this tests your knowledge and understanding of the terminology and concepts used in psycholinguistic research and your ability to relate the learned material to a bigger picture in the field(course goals 1 and 3).
3. Written in-class mid-term exam; this tests your ability to analyze the information learned in the first part of the course and apply the obtained knowledge to the discussion of main issues in the field (course goals 1 and 2)
4. Written in-class final exam: this tests your knowledge of the material covered in the entire course, your knowledge of the relevant terminology and your ability to analyze the obtained information from a cross-disciplinary point of view.
5. Class presentation: this tests your ability to carry out independent investigation on a topic relevant to the field and your ability to critically review the experimental results (course goal 2 and 3)
6. Class participation: this tests your ability to actively participate in class discussions using the correct and appropriate terminology and ability to think across different disciplinary boundaries (course goals 1 and 3).

This course introduces students with different backgrounds to the study of language as an interdisciplinary enterprise. By weaving together basic concepts from linguistics, psychology, neuroscience, language acquisition, and development,  students become familiarized with a broad variety of topics ranging from the basic structure of the brain to theoretical and experimental issues in speech production and comprehension, and language impairment. Students are further introduced to the current issues in sociolinguistics and theoretical linguistics, focusing on their relation to experimental research.  

Format
The class meets twice a week. Students are expected to have read the assigned material prior to class. In addition to two exams, there are two tests that cover material discussed in class and in the readings. Possible topics for class presentations are given by the instructor though students have an opportunity to propose their own topic (to be approved by the instructor). In the proposal for the experiment (about 2000 words), students put forward an interdisciplinary experimental study that bridges over at least two of the areas of psycholinguistic research discussed in class.