SYLLABUS
Monolingualism, Bilingualism and Multilingualism
University Course Taught in English
(elective course open to both foreign and Croatian students)

Instructor: Marta Medved Krajnovic, PhD
Institution: Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, Univeresity of Zagreb
Course title: MONOLINGUALISM, BILINGUALISM  AND MULTILINGUALISM: DEVELOPMENT AND MAINTENANCE
Language: English
Number of hours per semester: 30 hours – the course can be organised throughout a semestar (2 hours per week) or as a concentrated 3-week module (10 hours per week)
ECTS: 4 credits
Level: The course can be tailored to suit graduate and undergraduate level.

Course content: During 15 teaching units students will get familiar with the processes of first, second and foreign language acquisition, use and maintenance. Several leading theories that are trying to explain these processes will be presented and discussed. Special focus will also be put on the dynamic interaction among an individual’s languages and characteristics of a successful second / foreign language user in a global, multilingual society. Students will also be informed about research methods in language acuqisition sciencies.

UNIT 1 – introduction; defining first, second and foreign language acquisition/learning; historical overview of the respective research disciplines
UNIT 2 – the course and milestones in 1st language acquisition
UNIT 3 –  theoretical explanations of 1st language acquisition
UNIT 4 – revision: student presentations and discussion
UNIT 5 – the process of second language acquisition:  development of a learner’s language
UNIT 6 – crosslinguistic interaction and multicompetence
UNIT 7 – theoretical explanations of 2nd language acquisition (from 1970s – 1990s)
UNIT 8 – theoretical explanations of 2nd language acquisition (from 1990s – present day)
UNIT 9 – revision: student presentations and discussion
UNIT 10 – the process of foreing language learning: the role of input and interaction
UNIT 11 – individual differences in language acquisition (cognitive factors and the age factor)
UNIT 12 – individual differences in language acquisition (affective factors and strategies)
UNIT 13 – research methods in language acquisition studies
UNIT 14 – revision: student presentations and discussion
UNIT 15 –  multilingual individual in a multicultural world: opportunities and challenges

General and specific competencies: Students will get familiar with a fast developing field of language acquisition studies and gain new insights into the nature of human language capacity. The aim is also that throughout the course students develop a better understanding of their own language acquisition and language use processes, and of what is needed for a successful communication and functioning in a bilingual / multilingual environment. The students will also have an opportunity to further develop their presentation and debating skills.
Type of teaching: seminar classes (up to 20 studends)
Type of student evaluation: Students will be assessed on the basis of three sources of data: attendance and active participation in the seminar sessions; a 5 minute written test (administered at the beginning of each new unit) checking their basic understanding of the main issues covered in the previous unit; a 10-minute presentation of readings and a discussion related to a relevant topic.
Type of course evaluation: Course evaluation process will be two-fold:
1. during Units 4, 9 and 14 students will be asked to write a personal opinion paper about the clarity and relevance of the topics presented during previous sessions;
2. University administered course evaluation questionnaire

Literature:
(obligatory readings – selected chapters)
– Aronin, L., Hufeisen, B. (2009) The Exploration of Multilingualism. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.
– Auer, P., Wei, L. (ed.) (2007) Handbook of Multilingualism and Multilingual Communication. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter.
– Baker, C. (2000) The Care and Education of Young Bilinguals: An Introduction for Professionals. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters Ltd.
– Baker, C. (2006) Foundations of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism (4th ed.) Clevedon: Multilingual Matters Ltd.
– Bhatia, T. K., Ritchie, W. C. (ed.) (2007) The Handbook of Bilingualism. Blackwell Publishing.
– Kroll, J. F., De Groot, A. M. B. (ed.) (2005) Handbook of Bilingualism: Psycholinguistic Approaches. Oxford: OUP.
– Lightbown, P., Spada, N. (2006) How Languages are Learned (3rd ed.) Oxford: OUP.
– Saville-Troike, M. (2006) Introducing Second Language Acquisition. Cambridge: CUP.

(optional readings: chapters from books and articles from journals – to be chosen on the basis of students’ language biographies and academic interests)
– Cook, V. (ed.) (2002) Portraits of the L2 User. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters Ltd.
– Doughty, C. J., Long, M. H. (ed.) (2003) The Handbook of Second Language Acquisition. Blackwell Publishing.
– Gass, S. M., Selinker, L. (2008) Second Language Acquisition: An introductory course (3rd ed.). New York and London: Routledge.
– Gleason, J. B., Ratner, N. B. (2008) Psycholinguistics (3rd ed.) Wadsworth: Thomson Learning.
– Han, Z. (2004) Fossilization in Adult Second Language Acquisition. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters Ltd.
– Herdina, P., Jessner, U. (2002) A Dynamic Model of Multilingualism: Changing the Psycholinguistic Perspective. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters Ltd.
– Jarvis, S., Pavlenko, A. (2008) Crosslinguistic Influence in Language and Cognition. New York: Routledge.
– Long, M. (2007) Problems in SLA. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates
– Schmid, M., Kopke, B., Keijzer, M., Dostert, S. (ed.) (2007). Language Attrition: Theoretical Perspectives. Amsterdam / Philadelphia: John Benjamins.
– Singleton, D., Ryan, L. (2004) Language Acquisition: The Age Factor. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters.
– Wei, L., Moyer, M. G. (2008) The Blackwell Guide to Research Methods in Bilingualism and Multilingualism. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing.

Journals: Applied Linguistics, Applied Psycholinguistics, Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, Brain and Language, International Review of Applied Linguistics, Journal of  Child Language, Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, Language Learning, Modern Language Journal, Second Language Research, Studies in Second Language Acquisition, TESOL Quarterly

SYLLABUS
Language and cognition: from theory to application
University Course Taught in English
(elective course open to both foreign and Croatian students)

Instructor: Renata Geld, PhD
Institution: Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Zagreb
Course title: Language and cognition: from theory to application
Language: English
Number of hours per semester: 30 hours
ECTS: 4 credits
Level: graduate
Course content: Students attending this course will be encouraged to discover and re-discover the nature of language and its relation to various aspects of cognition, and hypothesize the relevance of this relationship for various fields of science and everyday life.
Being a sophisticated and complex phenomenon, language offers numerous insights into how our mind works, i.e. how language relates to thought. The aim of this course is to introduce the fundamental notions related to human conceptual organization and discuss evidence supporting the idea that language communicates with other cognitive processes. If this is so, the language we speak represents a source of information about the nature of our mental imagery and cognitive processes such as attention, judgment and categorization, perspective, etc. Furthermore, the interrelation between language and our perceptual and conceptual knowledge opens up possibilities to investigate how human interaction with the world and our specific sensory experience affects the nature of language. This, in turn, allows linguists, psychologists, educationalists, special needs educationalists and speech therapists, first and second language researchers, philosophers, computer scientists, i.e. cognitive scientists from various disciplines as well as other scientists, to use language as a “diagnostic” tool to determine both highly individual and largely universal phenomena pertaining to the way we perceive, process and understand, store and use our knowledge. For example: the language children speak tells us a great deal about how their perceptual and conceptual categories are formed; various elements in the language of the congenitally blind are likely to be very informative about their mental imagery and the role of alternate sensory input they experience; what we attend to in the process of learning something new tells us a great deal about what we already know and how our domains of knowledge relate to each other, etc.

The course structure:

UNIT 1 – Introduction to central notions: human mind, general cognitive processes, perception, mental representation(s), mental imagery, concepts and conceptualization, experience and embodiment, language and linguistic meaning construal.
UNIT 2 – Cognitive science – the significance of interdisciplinarity in scientific research.
UNIT3 – Students’ profiles and reports (brief reports on the students’ field(s) of interest and future profession, motivation for joining the course, and tentative ideas about the importance of fundamental notions introduced).
UNIT 4 – The nature of general cognitive processes and their relation to language. Basics of cognitive development, and fundamental theoretical assumptions related to language acquisition.
UNIT 5 – The relationship between our body and mind, and the affect this relationship is likely to have on our thought and language.
Unit 6 – How our language(s) structure time and space, and what our language(s) reveal about our sensory experiences, cultural phenomena, and everyday life. The issue of creativity of human mind.
UNIT 7 – Students’ reports on selected topic(s). Discussion.
UNIT 8 – Individual and universal phenomena in cognitive processing. The nature of abstract thought and its interrelation with general cognitive processes and experience (examples from language, mathematics, physics, arts, etc.).
UNIT 9 – Brainstorming and discussing ideas for individual micro-projects.
UNIT 10 – Presentation of topics for micro-projects.
UNIT 11 – How to test theoretical assumptions, conduct research, and apply relevant findings.
UNIT 12 – Consolidation and revision.
UNIT 13 – Students’ reports (micro-projects).
UNIT 14 – Students’ reports (micro-projects).
UNIT 15 – Students’ reports (micro-projects).

Required reading:
– Croft, W. and Wood, E. J. (2000). Construal operations in linguistics and artificial intelligence. In: Albertazzi, L. (ed.), Meaning and Cognition, A multidisciplinary approach. Amsterdam/ Philadelphia: John Benjamins.
– Croft, W. and Cruse, D. A. (2004). Cognitive Linguistics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press (selected chapters).
– Ellis, N. C. (2003). Constructions, Chunking, and Connectionism: The Emergence of   Second Language Structure. In: Doughty, C. and Long, M. (eds.), The Handbook of Second Language Acquisition. Malden/Oxford/Melbourne/Berlin: Blackwell Publishing.
– Geld, R. and Šimunić, M. (2009). A case study of a blind speaker of English as L2. In: Brdar, M.,Omazić, M., Pavičić Takač, V. (eds.), Cognitive Approaches to English: Fundamental, Methodological, Interdisciplinary an Applied Aspects. Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Publishing.
– Gibbs, W. R. (2006). Embodiment and Cognitive Science. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
– Langacker, R. W. (1999). Grammar and Conceptualization. Berlin & New York: Mouton de Gruyter, (selected chapters).
– Parrill, F., Tobin, V., and Turner, M. (eds.) (2010). Meaning, Form, and Body. Stanford: Center for the Study of Language and Information (selected chapters).
 
At the end of this course, at a general level, the students will be able to:
–   find relevant literature and read it critically;
–   analyze and synthesize various data;
–   participate in discussions argumentatively and open-mindedly;
–   appreciate and accept criticism and other people’s opinions;
–   initiate, design and conduct a small-scale research.

 At a more specific level, the students will be able to:
–  consolidate their prior linguistic and general knowledge with new insights about the nature of  language and human conceptualization;
–  consolidate their prior linguistic and general knowledge with new insights about the interrelation between language and other cognitive processes;
–  apply theoretical knowledge about the nature of language and cognition to their own areas of interest;
–  recognize the relevance of certain interrelations between language and cognition for various scientific disciplines and fields of life.