Students

LING3384 – Child Language Acquisition: Morphology and Syntax

2021 – Session 1, Special circumstances

Notice

As part of Phase 3 of our return to campus plan, most units will now run tutorials, seminars and other small group activities on campus, and most will keep an online version available to those students unable to return or those who choose to continue their studies online.

To check the availability of face-to-face and online activities for your unit, please go to timetable viewer. To check detailed information on unit assessments visit your unit's iLearn space or consult your unit convenor.

General Information

Download as PDF
Unit convenor and teaching staff Unit convenor and teaching staff
Loes Koring
Margaret Wood
Credit points Credit points
10
Prerequisites Prerequisites
20cp in LING units at 2000 level or above including (LING220 or LING2220)
Corequisites Corequisites
Co-badged status Co-badged status
Unit description Unit description

This unit is an introduction to current theories of child language acquisition, including the generative approach and usage-based approaches. The focus of the unit is typically-developing children's acquisition of morphology and syntax, but we also discuss children with developmental language delay. Tutorials review online lecture content, test linguistic hypotheses by investigating transcript data from children's spontaneous speech, and discuss appropriate methodologies for evaluating knowledge of language in different populations of children. This unit introduces foundational theoretical knowledge regarding child language development that is important for anyone wishing to do the Master of Speech and Language Pathology and work with children.

Important Academic Dates

Information about important academic dates including deadlines for withdrawing from units are available at https://www.mq.edu.au/study/calendar-of-dates

Learning Outcomes

On successful completion of this unit, you will be able to:

  • ULO1: Demonstrate knowledge of theories of child language acquisition and their predictions for the developmental path
  • ULO2: Develop skills using data from corpora of child language, and searching them for relevant information, including using CLAN, a software program that searches transcripts of children's spontaneous speech in a repository of child language data.
  • ULO3: Test linguistic hypotheses, and make further predictions through analysis and interpretation of existing acquisition data, either from a corpus of child language data or from existing experiments.
  • ULO4: Evaluate methodologies for assessing children's linguistic knowledge including standardised tests and experimental methodologies, and command the ethical issues surrounding working with children

General Assessment Information

Assessment Submissions

Assessments are to be submitted electronically via the LING3384 iLearn page unless otherwise advised. Instructions for submitting assessments via Turnitin are available here:

 http://www.mq.edu.au/iLearn/student_info/assignments.htm

Late submissions:

  • Late submissions without an extension will receive a penalty of 3% of the total mark available for the assessment task per day including weekend days (i.e. this is 3% of the total marks possible for the task – NOT 3% of the marks the student received. For example, if the assessment task is worth 100 marks and the student is two days late their mark for the task is reduced by 6 marks.)
  • Late submission of an assessment task without an extension will not be accepted at all after the date on which marked assessment tasks have been released to the rest of the class. Any student with unsubmitted work at this date will receive a mark of 0 for the assessment task.
  • Extensions will only be given in special circumstances, and can be requested by completing the Special Consideration request at ask.mq.edu.au and providing the requisite supporting documentation.
  • Extensions that will result in submissions after the assessment task has been returned to the class will require a separate assessment task to be completed at the unit convenor's discretion.
  • For more information on Special Consideration, see the university website https://students.mq.edu.au/study/my-study-program/special-consideration\
  • If a student fails the unit due to non-submission of an assignment or non-attendance at an exam, an FA grade will be applied in accordance with the University's Assessment Policy.

Assessment Tasks

Name Weighting Hurdle Due
Analysing child language data 35% No Week 12
Review Quiz 2 15% No Week 9
Review Quiz 1 10% No Week 4
Final Exam 40% No Exam period

Analysing child language data

Assessment Type 1: Problem set
Indicative Time on Task 2: 35 hours
Due: Week 12
Weighting: 35%

 

In this assignment, you use child language data from the CHILDES corpora in order to test linguistic hypotheses about language development. You will organise the data, use graphs or charts to illustrate findings, and interpret the data.

 


On successful completion you will be able to:
  • Demonstrate knowledge of theories of child language acquisition and their predictions for the developmental path
  • Develop skills using data from corpora of child language, and searching them for relevant information, including using CLAN, a software program that searches transcripts of children's spontaneous speech in a repository of child language data.
  • Test linguistic hypotheses, and make further predictions through analysis and interpretation of existing acquisition data, either from a corpus of child language data or from existing experiments.

Review Quiz 2

Assessment Type 1: Quiz/Test
Indicative Time on Task 2: 15 hours
Due: Week 9
Weighting: 15%

 

This quiz reviews lecture and tutorial content on early child language acquisition

 


On successful completion you will be able to:
  • Demonstrate knowledge of theories of child language acquisition and their predictions for the developmental path
  • Develop skills using data from corpora of child language, and searching them for relevant information, including using CLAN, a software program that searches transcripts of children's spontaneous speech in a repository of child language data.
  • Evaluate methodologies for assessing children's linguistic knowledge including standardised tests and experimental methodologies, and command the ethical issues surrounding working with children

Review Quiz 1

Assessment Type 1: Quiz/Test
Indicative Time on Task 2: 10 hours
Due: Week 4
Weighting: 10%

 

This quiz reviews foundational issues and theories of child language acquisition

 


On successful completion you will be able to:
  • Demonstrate knowledge of theories of child language acquisition and their predictions for the developmental path

Final Exam

Assessment Type 1: Examination
Indicative Time on Task 2: 20 hours
Due: Exam period
Weighting: 40%

 

The final examination reviews lecture/tutorial content for the entire unit.

 


On successful completion you will be able to:
  • Demonstrate knowledge of theories of child language acquisition and their predictions for the developmental path
  • Test linguistic hypotheses, and make further predictions through analysis and interpretation of existing acquisition data, either from a corpus of child language data or from existing experiments.
  • Evaluate methodologies for assessing children's linguistic knowledge including standardised tests and experimental methodologies, and command the ethical issues surrounding working with children

1 If you need help with your assignment, please contact:

  • the academic teaching staff in your unit for guidance in understanding or completing this type of assessment
  • the Writing Centre for academic skills support.

2 Indicative time-on-task is an estimate of the time required for completion of the assessment task and is subject to individual variation

Delivery and Resources

Please note that this unit has been altered to accommodate our delivery provisions in compliance with current COVID-19 requirements (Special Circumstance delivery). Learning activities (such as tutorials and other small group learning activities) will be offered on-campus while keeping an online version available for those students who choose to continue their studies online (selected via eStudent). Learning activities for this unit will be delivered as follows:

  • The lectures are recorded, which makes lectures available to students who are unable to attend classes. 
  • Students are expected to listen to all of the lectures in the order they are delivered, as near as possible to when they are delivered. In addition, they are advised to use the recordings to review or revise lectures, especially as the exam draws near.  
  • Tutorials start in week 1. Part of the tutorials will be spend on a Q&A of the week's lecture materials.
  • Tutorial material is designed for students to practice progressively what has been covered in lectures, so students who do not keep up to date with the lecture material will find themselves at a serious disadvantage in tutorials during the semester.  
  • It is essential to bring your laptop to tutorials (if you attend an on campus tutorial), as you will be using your laptop to examine child language data.
  • There may be compulsory reading material(s) some weeks. The reading materials will be specified in iLearn.
  • Some weeks there will be an online activity. This is not assessed, but is designed to provide interest, and act as review.
  • Lecture support material, activities, assessment task instructions, and other relevant materials are uploaded to the LING3384 iLearn site. Lecture slides may be made available, although there is no guarantee that they will be available before lectures.  

Unit Schedule

Please see schedule posted on the iLearn site.

Policies and Procedures

Macquarie University policies and procedures are accessible from Policy Central (https://policies.mq.edu.au). Students should be aware of the following policies in particular with regard to Learning and Teaching:

Students seeking more policy resources can visit Student Policies (https://students.mq.edu.au/support/study/policies). It is your one-stop-shop for the key policies you need to know about throughout your undergraduate student journey.

To find other policies relating to Teaching and Learning, visit Policy Central (https://policies.mq.edu.au) and use the search tool.

Student Code of Conduct

Macquarie University students have a responsibility to be familiar with the Student Code of Conduct: https://students.mq.edu.au/admin/other-resources/student-conduct

Results

Results published on platform other than eStudent, (eg. iLearn, Coursera etc.) or released directly by your Unit Convenor, are not confirmed as they are subject to final approval by the University. Once approved, final results will be sent to your student email address and will be made available in eStudent. For more information visit ask.mq.edu.au or if you are a Global MBA student contact globalmba.support@mq.edu.au

Student Support

Macquarie University provides a range of support services for students. For details, visit http://students.mq.edu.au/support/

Learning Skills

Learning Skills (mq.edu.au/learningskills) provides academic writing resources and study strategies to help you improve your marks and take control of your study.

The Library provides online and face to face support to help you find and use relevant information resources. 

Student Services and Support

Students with a disability are encouraged to contact the Disability Service who can provide appropriate help with any issues that arise during their studies.

Student Enquiries

For all student enquiries, visit Student Connect at ask.mq.edu.au

If you are a Global MBA student contact globalmba.support@mq.edu.au

IT Help

For help with University computer systems and technology, visit http://www.mq.edu.au/about_us/offices_and_units/information_technology/help/

When using the University's IT, you must adhere to the Acceptable Use of IT Resources Policy. The policy applies to all who connect to the MQ network including students.


Unit information based on version 2021.02 of the Handbook