Department of Linguistics

LING240: Language and Mind

instructor: Matt Wagers

e-mail: mwagers /at/ umd \dot\ edu
(spam-guarded: replace symbols appropriately)

office: 1413 Marie Mount Hall; (tel) x5-8656;
office hours: by appointment

meets:

Summer Session I:
M-F, 9:30-10:50AM, (31 May - 10 July, 2005)
1108B Marie Mount Hall

--> skip to schedule

--> readings folder


(from Andrei Tarkovsky, Offret Sacrificatio)

course aims:

In this class we will explore how the study of language has been pivotal in understanding the structure of the mind. We will discuss what approaches linguists take in analysing language, what properties a linguistic system exemplifies, and how this const rains our theories of what a mind looks like and what a brain can do. Along the way, we'll consider questions that have intrigued and perplexed scientists and philosophers for centuries. For example, how do children come to know a language? Are humans the only animals to have language? Is the brain more like a spork or a Swiss Army knife? Indeed we will spend a considerable amount of time discussing the relationship between cognition and neuroscience. How is it that our brains are language-ready?

The course will naturally include lectures, but we will aim for it to be prevalently one of seminar-style discussion. This topic has kept thinkers busy for ages, so there's no reason it shouldn't do the same for you, and there's also no reason that you can't make an interesting contribution to the on-going debate. Prepare to have your common-sense notions of language challenged.

We will also have a mini-colloquium: periodically inviting "real live linguists," to bring us a cutting-edge perspective on the domains they work in.

evaluation criteria:

weekly exercises -- 50%
At the beginning of each week, I'll supply you with a handout giving an outline of the topics that we're covering that week, and the kinds of questions you should focus on as we discuss the material. Included in that handout will be either prompts for short responses, or a set of problems to attack. You can therefore be thinking about these problems as we proceed with that week's topic. You'll hand in your responses the following week.
midterm -- 15%
The midterm will be an in-class writing assignment.
final research paper -- 25%
In lieu of a final exam you will write a research paper of 8-10 pages addressing a topic of your choice, either of your own devising, or from a list of suggestions. This assignment is your opportunity to dig deeper into an issue that sparks your inte rest.
in-class participation -- 10%
Our class is small and meets often. Class participation is an important component of the course. Neither your nor I benefit from getting up early five days a week in the summer just for 1.5 hours of boring lecturing! Speak up and often.

further policies

course material:

Principal source (required): Jackendoff, Ray. Patterns in the mind Basic Books: 1994. ISBN 0-465-05462-5.
Available at the University Book Store, and widely available online. I recommend checking half.com first, where there are many suitable copies available for less than $10 (a considerable savings compared to the list price).
Articles: we will be reading a number of original research articles and reviews from both scholarly journals and more popular sources. These will be made available online when possible, and otherwise available for photocopying in the Linguistics main office (1401 MMH) for a nominal per-page charge (these are noted in the schedule below with the text '[pc]')..
Also recommended (optional): Marcus, Gary. The birth of the mind Basic Books: 2004. ISBN 0-465-04406-9.
We will be reading significant excerpts from this book, which I will place on reserve in McKeldin. However, it is an excellent and inexpensive little book, which you may want to buy. Again, check half.com.

schedule

(subject to frequent change)
THEMEDATETOPICREADINGS
Week 1
Biological foundations of language 31 MayThe biological basis of language
1 JunA case study: Nicaraguan Sign LanguageL. Osborne, A Linguistic Big Bang, NYT Magazine, 24 Oct 1999
2 JunCognitive science and grammarsJackendoff, pp. vii-20
3 JunThe birds chimps and the beesAnderson, "The Dance 'Language' of Honeybees," from Dr Doolittle's Delusion [pc]
Week 2
Representation and Abstraction 6 JunSpeech production(you should have read at least through p. 36 in Jackendoff by now)
7 JunPerception: cues and categoriesJackendoff ch. 4 & 5
8 JunDevelopmentP. Kuhl (2004) Early Language Acquisition: Cracking the Speech Code. Nature Reviews Neuroscience 5: 831-843. Read carefully through p. 836. Read the rest if you're inclined.
9 JunPhonology: abstraction and variationCategorical Perception lab instructions
10 JunColor categories and linguistic representationKay & Regier 2003; Davidoff 2001
Week 3
Combination 13 JunMorphologyM. Aronoff, Morphology, from the MIT Encyclopedia of Cognitive Science
14 JunSentences: fundamental relationshipsJackendoff, ch. 6 (introductory account of syntax)
e-mail me your raw results from the speech perception lab
15 JunSentences: constraints/transformationsC. Phillips (2003) Syntax, from the Encyclopedia of Cognitive Sciences (L. Nadel, ed.) (a more comprehensive account)
16 JunCompositionality & MeaningM. Krifka, Compositionality, MITECS
Week 2 response due (i.e. lab write-up)
Interfaces17 JunThe theory of mind and linguistic representationde Villiers & de Villiers (2003) "Language for Thought: Coming to Understand False Beliefs" read through p. 10
Week 4
Deployment/development 20 JunAcquisition arguments iWeek 3 response due
21 JunMIDTERM
22 JunAcquisition arguments ii
23 JunThe brain: organizationJackendoff, ch. 11
24 JunThe brain and nativismMarcus, ch. 6
note: Marcus is on reserve in McKeldin
Week 5
Interfaces

Week 4/5 outline (with response prompt)

27 JunWhat is innate knowledge? iiMarcus, ch. 7
28 JunNumber
29 JunSpace
30 JunDoes modality matter?Poizner, Klima & Bellugi, ch. 8 [pc]
for an intro to sign languages: PKB ch. 1, or Jackendoff ch. 7
1 JulColloquium: Deborah Chen Pichler (Gallaudet)Karmiloff & Karmiloff-Smith, ch. 7 excerpt
Laura Petitto's website
Week 5 response due
Week 6
Endgame 4 JulFourth of July holiday: no class
5 Julspillover
6 JulStudent presentations
7 JulStudent presentations
8 JulSo what?