PSYCHOLOGY 326
Psychology of Language
3 credit hours

Spring 2011
Professor:		Dr. Paula Waddill
Office:			202 Wells Hall
Phone:			809-2317
e-mail:			paula.waddill@murraystate.edu
Office Hrs:		Tue. & Thur: 9:30 – 10:30, 2:00 – 3:30; Wed.: 1:00 – 4:00; other times by appointment.
Course page:	on Blackboard (log in to MSU’s Blackboard to find the course page)
Home page:	http://campus.murraystate.edu/academic/faculty/pwaddill/index.html (or click on the “Courses” link in RacerNet, then on Dr. Waddill’s name in the “College of Humanities and Fine Arts” section)

Catalog Description:	A survey of psychological research on language behavior and the role of language in social and cultural contexts. Emphasis on understanding language processes both in the adult speaker and the child acquiring language.
Prerequisites:			PSY 180 or consent of instructor

Purpose and Objectives:  Communication through language is carried out via two basic human activities:  speaking and listening.  This course is designed to provide students with an overview of the field of psycholinguistics, including the important theories, models, and research relevant to language perception, comprehension, production, and development. Students who have successfully completed the course will have demonstrated the ability to: 
•	Identify and describe major theories and models of language perception, comprehension, and production.
•	Discuss the general stages of normal language acquisition.
•	Identify and discuss theories of discourse representation and memory in monolingual and bilingual speakers.
•	Identify the physiological structures and processes involved in speech and language production and comprehension.
•	Describe basic linguistic symptomatology of aphasias and schizophrenia.
•	Discuss, from an ethnographic perspective, the linguistic, social, and cultural principles involved in conversational interaction.

Instructional Activities: Class meetings will consist of lectures, demonstrations, discussions, and audio-visual presentations.  The lectures are designed to supplement the text, not duplicate it.  There will be material presented in the lectures that is not in the textbook.  Each student is personally responsible for getting all announcements, handouts, and other information given out in class. The general reading assignments are listed on the syllabus, and the instructor will announce specific assignments in class.  All students are expected to have read the assigned chapter(s) prior to coming to class.  Each student is expected to actively participate in classroom discussions, which cannot be done effectively if one has not previously read through the assigned material.
                                                     
Required Text: Carroll, D. W. (2008) Psychology of language (5th ed.). Belmont, CA:  Thomson/Wadsworth.

Evaluation:  Your final course grade will be based on two sources:
	1.	Tests:  There will be five 50-point tests during the course; the days for the tests are listed in the Course Outline on the last page of this syllabus. The format for the exams will be a combination of conceptual multiple choice, true-false-why, and short answer items. All students are expected to take each test in class on the day listed in the syllabus unless prior, approved arrangements have been made with the instructor. There will be no make-up exams without an acceptable written, verifiable excuse. If a student misses an exam without such an excuse, his/her score on that test will be entered as a 0 (zero points).  

	2.	Homework Assignments: Students will complete three different application-based homework assignments during the course of the semester. Each assignment will require you to apply and extend the information you are learning in class and from the textbook. The assignments are worth 25 points each. The topic of each assignment along with its format, specific requirements, and due date are provided on the Blackboard. Each assignment is due at the beginning of class on the due date listed for that assignment. If an assignment is turned in after the end of class on the date due, the score will be lowered by 5 points. The score will be lowered an additional 10 points per day for every subsequent day the assignment is late (including weekends).

 Grading:	The final course grade will be based on the total number of points you earn on your tests and homework:
	
	Five tests @ 50 pts. each  						250
	Three homework assignments @ 25 pts. each 	  75
													___
	TOTAL POINTS POSSIBLE				325	

Grades will not be based on a curve.  Your grade does not depend upon anyone else's performance, only upon your own.  Final grades will be based on the following absolute scale:

		A	= 	293 - 325 points
		B 	= 	260 – 292.99 points
		C 	= 	227 – 259.99 points
		D 	= 	195 – 226.99 points
		E 	=  	194.99 points or below

Attendance: Students are expected to attend class regularly (which includes showing up for class on time) and to have read and completed all assigned work prior to coming to class. Attendance will be monitored, and students who miss 5 or more class meetings will be subject to the penalty of having 10 points deducted from their final course point total. The determination of whether or not an absence is excused is left to the instructor's discretion (but will conform to the University’s guidelines for excused absences as outlined in the current edition of the University Bulletin). For an absence to eligible for consideration as excused, the student must provide the instructor with a written, verifiable excuse no later than the day that the student returns to class. (The provision of such an excuse does not guarantee that the absence will be deemed "excused," but it will serve as the basis for the instructor's determination.)  Additional, excessive unexcused absences may result in the professor’s deducting a further 10 points from the student’s final course total.

Academic Honesty:  Cheating, plagiarism (submitting another person’s material as one’s own), or doing work for another person which will receive academic credit are all impermissible. This includes the use of unauthorized books, notebooks, or other sources in order to secure or give help during an examination; the unauthorized copying of examinations, assignments, reports, or term papers; or the presentation of unacknowledged material as if it were the student’s own work. Disciplinary action may be taken beyond the academic discipline administered by the faculty member who teaches the course in which the cheating took place. Note: Faculty reserve the right to invalidate any examination or other evaluative measures if substantial evidence exists that the integrity of the examination has been compromised.

Cell Phones and Laptops: The use of electronic devices like cell phones, Blackberries, smart phones, etc. (for phone calls, texting, surfing, or any other purpose) is not permitted during class. Ringers are to be turned off (or set to silent/vibrate) prior to the beginning of class. If you are expecting an emergency phone call or text, you must notify the professor prior to the beginning of class so that special accommodations can be made. Students who use their cell phone during class without professor permission will be dismissed from class for the rest of the class period. Students may use a laptop or netbook computer in class only for the purpose of taking class notes. Any student found to be using a laptop, netbook or other electronic device for any other purpose (e.g., surfing, messaging, Facebooking, tweeting, gaming, etc.) will be dismissed from class for the rest of the class period. Repeat offenses may result in the student not being permitted to use the device in class again for the remainder of the semester.

Non-Discrimination Policy Statement: Murray State University endorses the intent of all federal and state laws created to prohibit discrimination. Murray State University does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, religion, age, veteran status, or disability in employment, admissions, or the provision of services and provides, upon request, reasonable accommodation including auxiliary aids and services necessary to afford individuals with disabilities equal access to participate in all programs and activities. For more information, contact the Director of Equal Opportunity, Murray State University, 103 Wells Hall, Murray, KY 42071-3318. Telephone: 270-809-3155 (voice), 270-809-3361 (TDD).

COURSE OUTLINE 

Specific reading assignments will be given in class by your professor and are to be completed prior to the next class. Note that the course is divided into blocks, each block ending with a test. Due dates for homework assignments are given on Blackboard.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________

BLOCK I  					Chaps. 1, 2, 3
Jan. 18 – Jan. 27			Introduction: Themes; Linguistic Principles; Psychological Mechanisms
Feb. 1						Test #1

BLOCK II					Chaps. 4, 5
Feb. 3 – Feb. 15				Perception of Language; Internal Lexicon
Feb. 17						Test #2

BLOCK III					Chaps. 6, 7, 8

Feb. 22 – March 8			Sentence Comprehension/Memory; Discourse Comprehension/Memory; 
							Production of Speech/Language

March 10					Test #3

March 15 & 17				SPRING BREAK 

BLOCK IV					Chaps. 10, 11, 12
March 22 – April 7			Early Language Acquisition; Later Language Acquisition; Processes of Language Acquisition
April 12					Test #4

BLOCK V					Chaps. 9, 14, 13												

April 14 – May 5			Conversational Interaction; Language, Culture, & Cognition;
							Biological Foundations of Language

Mon., May 10, 10:30 a.m.	Test #5 (given during Final Exam period)	

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Note:  The information in this syllabus comprises a general guideline.  Since deviation from it may be necessary to meet the needs of the class, the right is reserved to make adjustments where necessary or helpful.