Students
LING3384 – Child Language Acquisition: Morphology and Syntax
2024 – Session 1, In person-scheduled-weekday, North Ryde
General Information
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| Unit convenor and teaching staff |
Unit convenor and teaching staff
Loes Koring
Felicity Cox
|
|---|---|
| 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.
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 |
Late submissions for an assessment task will not be accepted once that assessment task has been marked and returned to students.
Special Consideration
If you are unable to complete an assessment task on or by the specified date due circumstances that are unexpected, unavoidable, significantly disruptive and beyond your control, you may apply for special consideration in accordance with the special consideration policy. Applications for special consideration must be supported by appropriate evidence and submitted via ask.mq.edu.au.
Assessment Tasks
| Name | Weighting | Hurdle | Due |
|---|---|---|---|
| Review Quiz 1 | 15% | No | Week 5 |
| Final Exam | 40% | No | Exam Period |
| Review Quiz 2 | 20% | No | Week 9 |
| Analysing child language data | 25% | No | Week 12 |
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
Final Exam
Assessment Type 1: Examination
Indicative Time on Task 2: 20 hours
Due: Exam 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
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 12
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.
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
Unit content will be provided in lectures, tutorials, readings, and extra activities. There are compulsory readings assigned for some weeks, available via Leganto. If there are reading materials, they will be posted on iLearn under the heading for the relevant week. Some weeks, there'll be extra activities. These activities may provide additional materials, and are for you to get some practice with what we've been discussing that week. They will be posted on the iLearn site. Any practice quizzes will not be assessed, but the contents of the activities are considered part of the unit materials.
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:
- Academic Appeals Policy
- Academic Integrity Policy
- Academic Progression Policy
- Assessment Policy
- Fitness to Practice Procedure
- Assessment Procedure
- Complaints Resolution Procedure for Students and Members of the Public
- Special Consideration Policy
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 connect.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.
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- Workshops
- Chat with a WriteWISE peer writing leader
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Unit information based on version 2024.01R of the Handbook