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LING3384 – Child Language Acquisition: Morphology and Syntax

2023 – Session 1, Online-scheduled-weekday

General Information

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Unit convenor and teaching staff Unit convenor and teaching staff Convenor
Rebecca Holt
Co-convenor
Sithembinkosi Dube
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

Grade descriptors and other information concerning grading are contained in the Macquarie University Assessment Policy. All final grades are determined by a grading committee, in accordance with the Macquarie University Assessment Policy, and are not the sole responsibility of the Unit Convenor. Students will be awarded a final grade and a mark which must correspond to the grade descriptors specified in the Assessment Procedure (clause 128). To pass this unit, you must demonstrate sufficient evidence of achievement of the learning outcomes, meet any ungraded requirements, and achieve a final mark of 50 or better. Further details for each assessment task will be available on iLearn.

Late Submissions

Unless a Special Consideration request has been submitted and approved, a 5% penalty (OF THE TOTAL POSSIBLE MARK) will be applied each day a written assessment is not submitted, up until the 7th day (including weekends). After the 7th day, a grade of ‘0’ will be awarded even if the assessment is submitted. Submission time for all written assessments is set at 11.55pm. A 1-hour grace period is provided to students who experience a technical concern.

For example:

Number of days (hours) late Total Possible Marks Deduction Raw mark Final mark
1 day (1-24 hours) 100 5 75 70
2 days (24-48 hours) 100 10 75 65
3 days (48-72 hours) 100 15 75 60
7 days (144-168 hours) 100 35 75 40
>7 days (>168 hours) 100 - 75 0

For any late submissions of time-sensitive tasks, such as scheduled tests/exams, performance assessments/presentations, and/or scheduled practical assessments/labs, students need to submit an application for Special Consideration.

Assessment Tasks

Name Weighting Hurdle Due
Review Quiz 1 15% No Week 5
Review Quiz 2 20% No Week 9
Analysing child language data 25% No Week 11
Final Exam 40% No Examination period

Review Quiz 1

Assessment Type 1: Quiz/Test
Indicative Time on Task 2: 15 hours
Due: Week 5
Weighting: 15%

 

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

Review Quiz 2

Assessment Type 1: Quiz/Test
Indicative Time on Task 2: 20 hours
Due: Week 9
Weighting: 20%

 

This quiz reviews lecture, reading, 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

Analysing child language data

Assessment Type 1: Problem set
Indicative Time on Task 2: 25 hours
Due: Week 11
Weighting: 25%

 

In this assignment, you use child language data to test linguistic hypotheses about language development. You will work with data, organise it, use graphs, charts, or tables 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.

Final Exam

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

 

The final examination reviews lecture/tutorial/reading 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

  • Lectures and tutorials will be conducted online.
  • Students are expected to listen to all of the lectures in the order they are delivered, at the scheduled time or 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.  
  • 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.  
  • There may be compulsory reading material(s) some weeks. The reading materials will be specified in iLearn.
  • 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.

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

Academic Integrity

At Macquarie, we believe academic integrity – honesty, respect, trust, responsibility, fairness and courage – is at the core of learning, teaching and research. We recognise that meeting the expectations required to complete your assessments can be challenging. So, we offer you a range of resources and services to help you reach your potential, including free online writing and maths support, academic skills development and wellbeing consultations.

Student Support

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

The Writing Centre

The Writing Centre provides resources to develop your English language proficiency, academic writing, and communication skills.

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

Student Services and Support

Macquarie University offers a range of Student Support Services including:

Student Enquiries

Got a question? Ask us via AskMQ, or contact Service Connect.

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.

Inclusion and Diversity

Social inclusion at Macquarie University is about giving everyone who has the potential to benefit from higher education the opportunity to study at university, participate in campus life and flourish in their chosen field. The University has made significant moves to promote an equitable, diverse and exciting campus community for the benefit of staff and students. It is your responsibility to contribute towards the development of an inclusive culture and practice in the areas of learning and teaching, research, and service orientation and delivery. As a member of the Macquarie University community, you must not discriminate against or harass others based on their sex, gender, race, marital status, carers' responsibilities, disability, sexual orientation, age, political conviction or religious belief. All staff and students are expected to display appropriate behaviour that is conducive to a healthy learning environment for everyone.

Professionalism

In the Faculty of Medicine, Health and Human Sciences, professionalism is a key capability embedded in all our courses.

As part of developing professionalism, students are expected to attend all small group interactive sessions including clinical, practical, laboratory, work-integrated learning (e.g., PACE placements), and team-based learning activities. Some learning activities are recorded (e.g., face-to-face lectures), however you are encouraged to avoid relying upon such material as they do not recreate the whole learning experience and technical issues can and do occur. As an adult learner, we respect your decision to choose how you engage with your learning, but we would remind you that the learning opportunities we create for you have been done so to enable your success, and that by not engaging you may impact your ability to successfully complete this unit. We equally expect that you show respect for the academic staff who have worked hard to develop meaningful activities and prioritise your learning by communicating with them in advance if you are unable to attend a small group interactive session.

Another dimension of professionalism is having respect for your peers. It is the right of every student to learn in an environment that is free of disruption and distraction. Please arrive to all learning activities on time, and if you are unavoidably detained, please join activity as quietly as possible to minimise disruption. Phones and other electronic devices that produce noise and other distractions must be turned off prior to entering class. Where your own device (e.g., laptop) is being used for class-related activities, you are asked to close down all other applications to avoid distraction to you and others. Please treat your fellow students with the utmost respect. If you are uncomfortable participating in any specific activity, please let the relevant academic know.


Unit information based on version 2023.02 of the Handbook