Practical psycholinguistics

Aims

Aims

This module will provide training in psycholinguistic experimentation. We will cover principles and methods of testing, and apply these in practical work. The class will tackle at least two topics in syntax and morphology, formulate experimental hypotheses and, working in groups, carry out experimental tests. Adult native speaker and second language learners will be the target populations, and topics could include ambiguity resolution; the use of lexical, syntactic, morphological (etc.) information in language comprehension; language processing; and the psychological reality of linguistic representations.

By the end of the module students should be able to:

• critically analyse the data and arguments in experimental psycholinguistics;
• understand the design of a psycholinguistic experiment in the area and be able to execute such a design.
  

Prerequisites

Prerequisites

Students must have successfully completed:

• L08I Introduction to Language Acquisition

AND/OR

• L27H Psycholinguistics

Programme

Programme

Contact hours

Two hours per week.

Teaching programme

The class hours will involve lectures serving the module aims, and seminars for discussion of the lecture content and additional illustrative studies, and also for establishing the module projects.

Teaching materials

A selection of articles will be made available.

Assessment and feedback

Assessment and feedback

Feedback on formative work

Written comments on class exercises returned in the following week’s seminar.

Assessment and feedback

Students will write:

• Four formative one page answers, of which two will be resubmitted in Spring Term, week 7 as summative work, worth 20% of the mark for the module.
• Essay, due Spring Term Week 10, worth 40% of module mark.
• Poster presentation based on group experiment, due Summer Term, Week 4, worth 40% of module mark.
  • Feedback: The marked essays will be available for students to view within four term weeks of submission, or six calendar weeks, whichever is shorter.

Skills

Transferable skills developed in this module

All modules provide an opportunity to work on general oral/written communication skills (in class and in assessments) and general self management (organising your studies), alongside the specific skills in language or linguistics that the module teaches.

In addition, this module will allow you to particularly develop skills in the application of data management skills. In this module you will have the opportunity to develop skills in the design of experimental materials, as well as in the analysis of experimental results.

Follow this link to hear how past students use transferable skills from their degree in their current jobs.