Acquisition of Variation
Dr. Kathryn Schuler (likes to be called Katie)
Mondays, 2:30-4:30pm Online
Course description
In this seminar, we’ll read papers and discuss children’s aquisition of variation. We’ll focus specifically on what we know about how children acquire variation and what factors lead children to change variation rather than acquire it (e.g. regularization). Topics will include acquisition of sociolinguistic variation, age of acquisition of particular variables, whether/when children ues language as an social index, children’s acquisition of pidgin and creole languages, children acquiring language from non-native speakers (e.g. deaf children born to hearing parents or late-learning signers), and more.
Requirements
- Reading and posting discussion questions: Each week, you will be responsible for preparing for the discussion by reading and annotating 1-2 papers on the weeks’ topic with discussion questions (on Perusall).
- Lead discussions: Several times throughout the semester (but not every week), you will serve as discussion leader for a paper either alone or with one other student. As discussion leader, you’ll be responsible for presenting the paper, including summarizing (motivation, research questions, approach, and findings) and leading a discussion of the work. If you cannot attend synchronously you can submit a pre-recorded presentation.
- Research project proposal: You will select a topic of interest (within the bounds of acquisition of variation) and write a research project proposal. There will be several assignments leading up to this final paper to help you make progress.
Materials
- Course website (you are here) for schedule, policies, questions, and links to all course materials.
- Basecamp for messages and discussions.
- Canvas site for grade related things.
- Perusall for annotated reading (you’ll start the discussion here as you read)
Evaluation
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Class participation and preparation (50%) including reading and annotating to start the discussion on Perusall, participating in class discussions, and preparing for and leading discussions when you are a discussion leader. Grading rubric here.
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Research project proposal (50%) including several check-point assignments throughout the semester (abstract, drafts, peer review, etc) and your final project proposal.
Typical week
- Mondays are discussion days on Zoom. One or more of you will present a paper and lead the discussion during class time.
- Thursdays are deadline days. Research project checkpoints and feedback deadlines are always Thursday at midnight (but note that not all Thursdays have something due).
Getting help
The best way to get help is to ask a question on basecamp. You can @mention Katie privately via a ping, ask a question for everyone in the campfire (chat), or ask questions right on documents. You can ask questions about papers and discuss them via Perusall.