everything.study
24.949

Language Acquisition I

3-0-9 units · Graduate

Lectures, reading, and discussion of current theory and data concerning the psychology and biology of language acquisition. Emphasizes learning of syntax, semantics, and morphology, together with some discussion of phonology, and especially research relating grammatical theory and learnability theory to empirical studies of children.

Fall 2020

This course focuses on the process by which native speakers of a language acquire the ability to speak and understand that language. It covers some of the major results in the study of first-language acquisition, concentrating on morpho-syntax, semantics, and pragmatics. The findings primarily come from English, but cross-linguistic differences in the phenomena of interest and corresponding differences in acquisition patterns are considered where appropriate. Of interest throughout is how these developmental data inform linguistic theory and/or learnability theory.

Readings

Prerequisites & course information

Prereq: 24.952 , 24.970 , and 24.973 G (Fall) 3-0-9 units

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