INX 199
Breaking the Code: How Children Learn Language
Fall 2005-Spring 2006

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Topics and Required Readings Winter Term Update: There is an updated Course Info Sheet that gives the class schedule and due dates for the Winter Term. Note: Until further notice, all readings will be handed out during class the week before they are due. Overview of Topics for Fall Term See reference list below for books referred to in readings. Sept. 14:    Learning Your Native Language          Reading: None. Sept. 21:    What Do You Know When You Know a Language?          Reading: Fromkin, Rodman, & Hyams, Chapter 1 (3-29).          Reading: Fromkin, Rodman, & Hyams, Chapter 4 (117-128). Sept. 28:    Born Talking? (Or, Why Language Isn’t Learned)          Reading: Pinker, Chapter 2 (esp. 31-54).          Reading: Fromkin, Rodman, & Hyams, Chapter 8 (342-351). Oct. 5:    We’re Special, But Not in That Way! (Language Is Learned, After All)          Reading: Tomasello book, Chapter 1 (1-7).          Reading: Tomasello "Opinion" (156-163). Oct. 12:    Baby Steps or Giant Leaps? Stages in Language Acquisition          Reading: Fromkin, Rodman, & Hyams, Chapter 8 (351-368).          Reading: Optional: Pinker, Chapter 9 (262-288). Oct. 19:    Learning Words: The Building Blocks of Language          Reading: Barrett [in Fletcher & MacWhinney, Chapter 13] (362-375).          Reading: Akhtar & Tomasello [in Golinkoff et al., Chapter 5] (115-130). Oct . 26:    Is the Glass Half Empty or Half Full? A Closer Look at Word Meaning          Reading: Fromkin, Rodman, & Hyams, Chapter 5 (173-187, 204-207).          Reading: Malt [in Bechtel & Graham, Chapter 5] (331-333, 335-336).          Reading: Tomasello [in Bechtel & Graham, Chapter 37] (478-480). Nov. 2:    Do They Really Say That? Looking at Actual Child Language Data          Reading: Sokolov & Snow [in Sokolov & Snow, Chapter 1] (1-25). Nov. 9:    Beyond Word Learning to First “Sentences”          Reading: Clark, Chapter 7 (161-186). Nov. 16:    Adding Grammar: Why the Child Holded the Baby Rabbit          Reading: Clark, Chapter 8 (186-212). Nov. 23:    Do Actions Speak Louder Than Nouns? A Closer Look at Verb Meaning          Reading: Gleitman & Gillette [in Ritchie & Bhatia, Chapter 9] (279-293). Nov. 30:    Why Adam Fell the Toy as He Pulled Himself Up by the Bootstraps          Reading: Verb learning handout. Dec. 7:    Social Use of Language: The Budding Lawyer          Reading: Clark, Chapter 12 (303-307, 311-315, 324-328).          Reading: Clark, Chapter 13 (331-340, 346-353). Overview of Topics for Spring Term Special topics, from among: animal language, evolution of language, how language shapes thought, sign language, bilingualism, “wild children”, talking robots, language deficits. References: Bechtel and Graham (1998). A companion to cognitive science. Blackwell. Clark (2003). First language acquisition. Cambridge University Press. Fletcher & MacWhinney (1995). The Handbook of Child Language. Basil Blackwell. Fromkin, Rodman, & Hyams (2003). An introduction to language. Thomson/Heinle. Golinkoff et al. (2000). Becoming a word learner: A debate on lexical acquisition. Oxford University Press. Pinker (1994). The language instinct: How the mind creates language. Wm. Morrow. Ritchie & Bhatia (1999). Handbook of child language acquisition. Sokolov & Snow (1994). Handbook of research in language development using CHILDES. Lawrence Erlbaum. Tomasello (2003). Constructing a language: A usage-based theory of language acquisition. Harvard University Press.