Научно-исследовательский семинар "Язык на стыке природы и культуры"

Бакалавриат 2017/2018

Лучший по критерию «Новизна полученных знаний»

Статус: Курс по выбору

Направление: 45.03.01. Филология

Кто читает: Департамент филологии

Где читается: Санкт-Петербургская школа гуманитарных наук и искусств

Когда читается: 1-й курс, 1, 2 модуль

Формат изучения: без онлайн-курса

Преподаватели: Князев Михаил Юрьевич

Язык: русский

Кредиты: 3

Контактные часы: 40

Полная версия программы учебной дисциплины

Аннотация

Research seminar ‘Language as a natural and cultural phenomenon’ introduces students to the recent debates about the nature of language as a human facultyby way of discussing the existing empirical research. The focus is on the relationship between language and other cognitive faculties and mechanisms involved in linguistic competence and performance. Particular emphasis is placed on language acquisition and processing. In terms of the theoretical approach, the starting point is Noam Chomsky’s linguistic nativism and associated proposals (e.g. the dual-route model) and their criticism from diverse theoretical standpoints (usage-based approaches, connectionism, etc.).

Цель освоения дисциплины

The course is aimed at familiarizing students with the variety of theoretical approaches to language on the basis of particular empirical problems in linguistics.
Thus, the course should provide students with a non-dogmatic understanding of the subject matter of linguistics, at the same time introducing them to the specific style of theorizing and argumentation within diverse linguistic frameworks.

Планируемые результаты обучения

The student identifies different theoretical approaches to the nature of the language faculty.
The student reads linguistics research articles in English and explains how the main proposal of the article connects to one of the major theoretical approaches.
The student provides arguments for and against different approaches to human language faculty.
The student presents, in oral and written form, the content of research articles in English devoted to the particular area in linguistics.
The student poses her own research question and collects data with respect to a particular problem covered in the course content.

Содержание учебной дисциплины

Introduction: The biological and the cultural dimensions of language
Nativism and its opponents. Cognitive science and contemporary linguistics: a historical overview. Language within the system of cognitive faculties: Jerry Fodor's modular hypothesis on the mind and language. Double dissociation: SLI and the Williams syndrome. Mind and language: the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis. Interlinguial differences in color and space perception.
Language faculty and universal grammar
Syntactic, morphological, phonetic and psycholynguistic aspects of the language faculty. The Universal Grammar hypothesis. Linguistic diversity and language universals. Pidgin and creole. Piraha and Daniel Everett's critique of the Universal Grammar hypothesis. Language acquisition: critical and intuitive periods. The poverty of the stimulus argument. Language acquisition as a logical problem. Anti-nativist approaches: connectionism, static learning, Michael Tomasello's theory.
Biological and evolutionary approaches to language
Localization of the language faculty in the brain, aphasia, the language gene search, natural language vs. animal communication. Evolutionary approaches: Chomsky, Hauser, Fitch. The broad and narrow sense of language faculty. Pinker and Jackendoff's critique, Kirby's experiments, and the Chater and Christiansen theory. Language intuition and prescriptive norm. Individual language competence: Dambrowska's critique of Universal Grammar. Nativism in relation to language and other human abilities (music, eithics, mathematics): philosophoca implications (empiricism vs. rationalism).

Элементы контроля

Literature review
At home, students write a brief literature review (1-3 pages, 12 pt Times New Roman, double-spaced) on one of the given topics, conducting an independent library search for relevant source(s).
In-class participation
For homework, students read the literature on the seminar topic. In class, they participate in group discussions of it (45-60 minutes) after the course instructor’s introductory remarks. Students are prepared to come up with 3 critical comments/observations on the topic that can stimulate the group to respond. They ask and answer questions on the topic.
Final paper
For the exam, the students write a research essay on one of the given topics at home, in English, and submit during the examination period. The essay demonstrates their familiarity with and critical comprehension of the literature on the research question and incoroporates the results of their own informed thinking and research into their individual subject area.

Промежуточная аттестация

Промежуточная аттестация (2 модуль)
0.2 * Final paper + 0.24 * In-class participation + 0.56 * Literature review

Программа дисциплины