Bachelor
2021/2022
Psycholinguistics
Type:
Elective course (Psychology)
Area of studies:
Psychology
Delivered by:
School of Psychology
Where:
Faculty of Social Sciences
When:
3 year, 4 module
Mode of studies:
offline
Open to:
students of all HSE University campuses
Instructors:
Anatoly V. Kharkhurin
Language:
English
ECTS credits:
3
Contact hours:
36
Course Syllabus
Abstract
This course focuses on different areas of research in Psycholinguistics and provides an overview of major theories in each of these areas. Psycholinguistics is a relatively new discipline that emerged at the intersection of Cognitive Science, Psychology, Linguistics, Computer Science, and Anthropology. Although, the focus is on language, in contrast to Linguistics, this discipline is concerned with the mental processes underlying language processing. It deals with everything that you always wanted to know about languages, but were afraid to ask. What does happen in our brain when we speak, read, or write? How do we learn language? How do we learn second language? Does our language influence the way we think? Does the ability to speak more than one language changes our perception of the world? Can we make computers understanding and producing human speech? And more generally, how can a study of the psychological aspects of language processing contribute to the creation of the Artificial Intelligence?
Learning Objectives
- To explore some of the major paradigms of Psycholinguistics and to understand the kinds of questions that are pertinent to the study of the human mind in the linguistic context.
- To examine the contemporary theories and empirical evidence supporting scientific discussions in psychology of language.
- To develop and engage the critical thinking skills that are characteristics of behavioral scientists.
- To develop oral presentation skills necessary for professional presentations in the academic and scientific environment.
- To organize effective forms of interpersonal communication as part of group work.
Expected Learning Outcomes
- To acquire skills necessary to use academic sources to research and understand mental states and processes underlying language acquisition and use.
- To acquire skills to test theories about mental states and processes underlying language acquisition and use empirically.
- To acquire the critical thinking skills that are characteristics of behavioral scientists.
- To gain an understanding of the methodological and empirical foundations underlying Psycholinguistics research.
- To gain skills of effective forms of interpersonal communication as part of group work.
- To present results of individual and group work to the professional community in written, oral and/or visual forms.
- To relate Psycholinguistics theories to everyday linguistic practice on an intuitive level and using professional terminology.
Course Contents
- The Study of Language
- Multilingualism and Creativity
- Bilingualism and Second Language Acquisition
- Connectionism
- Language Production
- Structure of Sentences
- Recognizing Visual Words
- Language Development
- The Foundations of Language
- Describing Language
Assessment Elements
- Critical thinking questions
- Paper
- Oral presentation
- Data collection and analysis
- Midterm exam
- Final Exam
Interim Assessment
- 2021/2022 4th module0.05 * Critical thinking questions + 0.2 * Final Exam + 0.29 * Paper + 0.11 * Data collection and analysis + 0.2 * Midterm exam + 0.15 * Oral presentation
Bibliography
Recommended Core Bibliography
- Kharkhurin, A. V. (2012). Multilingualism and Creativity. Bristol, UK: Multilingual Matters.
- Pinker, S. (2013). Learnability and Cognition : The Acquisition of Argument Structure (Vol. New ed). Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsebk&AN=585970
- The psychology of language : from data to theory, Harley, T. A., 2014
Recommended Additional Bibliography
- Pinker, S. (1996). Language Learnability and Language Development, With New Commentary by the Author : With New Commentary by the Author. Harvard University Press.