Human language and mind

Topic outline

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  Human language and mind

  • General information Page

    Fall 2021, Monday 10 – 11:30 am, Oct. 11-Dec. 20, 2021 Prof. Eva Eckert, Ph.D. eeck233@gmail.com Meetings at FF UK, Palachovo nám., rm 310 Office hours: Monday after the class at 11:30 or by appointment  Course description HUMAN LANGUAGE and the MIND is a course in human thinking and speaking that deals with psychological, cognitive and anthropological aspects of language as a key to mind, intellect and creativity; interrelation of language, thoughts and brain; language in mediating experience, remembering and creating meaning; the instinctive, emotional and rational in our cognition; pre-linguistic cognition of hominids; children’s language acquisition; language diversity and memory.

  • Student projects Folder
  • sample student projects File
  • Research proposal form File
  • Announcements Forum
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  WEEK 1: ORIGINS OF SPEECH and MODERN MAN Oct.11

  Cognition, language intelligence and language creativity

  Nativist vs. anti-nativist views/ Instinct and language module vs. social learning and cognition

  TED: The search for human ancestors in Ethiopia, by Z. Alemseged https://www.ted.com/talks/zeresenay_alemseged_looks_for_humanity_s_roots?language=en

  Human ancestors vs. modern humans: What we need to add to the mind to get language? (J. Searle)

  Animals’ communication systems vs. the language of humans (D. Premack)

  What are the reasons for the rise of humans and modern language? TED Talk by Y. N. Harari

  How language transformed humanity, TED Talk by M. Pagel

  Readings: Sedivy, ch. 2, pp. 9-31

  • Sedivy ch. 2, part I File
  • Class 1 Outline and Questions File
  • Defining human language File
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  WEEK 2: HOW HUMANS INVENT LANGUAGE 18 October

  Inventing and learning language

            Gesturing, babbling, speaking, writing and signing

            Language change: Survival of the fittest? Language diversity

            The birth of a language documentary (investing sign language in Nicaragua)

  Web activity 2.1-2.5 in Sedivy http://sites.sinauer.com/languageinmind/

  Readings: Sedivy, ch. 2, pp. 31-50

  • Sedivy ch. 2, part II File
  • Class 2 Questions and concepts File
  • Šedivý, terms and concepts, ch. 2 Page
  • TED Talk How language transformed humanity, by Mark Pagel URL
  • The day we learned to think, 3-part series: Page
  • TED by Y.N. Harari Page
  • Cartoons Page
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  WEEK 3: LANGUAGE and the BRAIN 25 Oct.

  Genetic disorders: Specific language disorder, dyslexia, etc.

          The quest to understand consciousness, TED Talk by A. Damasio

          Understanding language, by J. Elman (cont.)

  Readings: Sedivy, ch. 3, pp. 54-67

  Assignment: Web activity in http://sites.sinauer.com/languageinmind/

  • Sedivy, ch. 3, pp 55-88; read 55-67 File
  • Sedivy ch. 2 REVIEW Inventing language: Sign language, cultural transmission and language change File
  • Inventing language in Nicaragua URL
  • Sedivy, ch. 3, Questions on genetic syndromes, SLI and dyslexia File
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  WEEK 4: MAPPING LANGUAGE in the BRAIN Nov. 1

  How does brain process, perceive and produce language?

  McGilchrist,The Divided Brain, TED Talk

  Reading: Sedivy, ch. 3, pp. 67-84

  Assignment: Web activity in http://sites.sinauer.com/languageinmind/

  • Sedivy, Genetic and language impairment ch. 3, pp. 55-88 File
  • Questions on ch. 3, part II Language in the brain, aphasia etc.. File
  • Science Bulletins: Language in the Brain, Columbia U lab fMRI video URL
  • NOTES: Neocortex, frontal lobe, corpus callosum File
  • TED H. Markram_Neocortex and cerebral columns; and other brain's secrets URL
  • Powerful stroke of insight, TED Talk by Jill Bolte-Taylor URL
  • Sedivy ch.3 pictures and graphs in color File
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  WEEK 5: SOUNDS, SYMBOLS, LETTERS and MEANINGS Nov. 8

  Not available
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  WEEK 6: LANGUAGE ACQUISITION: LEARNING SOUND PATTERNS Nov. 15

  How infants learn: The nature of speaking;

  Sound recognition and matching sounds to words;

  Concepts and reference

  Reading: Learning sounds, in Sedivy, ch. 4

  • sample projects File
  • L in Mind ch4 Sounds p 105-119 File
  • Class 6 Questions on Learning sounds File
  • L in Mind ch4 Sounds p 120- File
  • Categorical perception in babies' learning File
  • Pat Kuhl's research in language acquisition; Notes File
  • Pat Kuhl, TED Talk URL
  • Sound assimilation cartoon File
  • Consonant chart File
  • Consonant symbols and word examples File
  • Vowel phonetic symbols and examples File
  • Vowel triangle graph File
  • Phonology: the phoneme and rules File
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  WEEK 7: INFANTS’ LANGUAGE ACQUISITION: LEARNING WORDS Nov. 22

  Topic: LANGUAGE ACQUISITION: LEARNING WORDS       

  Description: The nature of speaking; Sound recognition and matching sounds to words;

                        Concepts and reference

  Reading: Learning words, in Sedivy, ch. 5

  • Notes and Questions: From sounds to words File
  • Sedivy, ch. 5, Learning words, part I File
  • Sedivy, ch. 5, Words, part II File
  • How mind builds words File
  • How child learns words, Deb Roy's TED Talk URL
  • Questions& notes: Learning words File
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  WEEK 8: LANGUAGE LOGIC: BUILDING SENTENCES Nov. 29

  Topic: LANGUAGE ACQUISITION: LEARNING THE STRUCTURE OF SENTENCES

  Description: How does mind build “logical“ sentences and “correct“ grammatical structures?

  Readings: Learning the structure of words and sentences, in Sedivy, ch. 5, pp. 168-80, and ch. 6, pp. 185-200

  • Questions on syntax File
  • OUTLINE: Thinking in sentences File
  • Sedivy, Syntax, ch. 6, part I File
  • Class outline: Morphology and learning strategies File
  • Your REVIEW Qs File
  • Language Files 5 Syntax cartoon
  • How our mind builds sentences File
  • Sentences to analyze File
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  WEEK 9: LANGUAGE DIVERSITY Dec. 6, 2020

  LANGUAGE DIVERSITY                              

  Description: Language universals; Speakers‘ learning biases

  Reading: Sedivy, pp. 471-492, ch. 12.1 and 12.2

  Assignment: web activities of http://sites.sinauer.com/languageinmind/

  • Sedivy, ch. 12, pp 471-95 File
  • Class outline and questions on diversity of languages File
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  WEEK 10: LANGUAGE DIVERSITY Dec. 13, 2020

  LANGUAGE DIVERSITY                              

  Description: Words, concepts and cultures

  Reading: Sedivy, pp. 492-516, ch. 12.3-12.5

  Assignment: web activities and maps on variation across languages http://sites.sinauer.com/languageinmind/wa12.01.html

  https://wals.info/ lets you map features and patterns to show their distribution and concentration:

          Consonant inventories 
  

          Structural marking for hearsay

          Preference for prefixes vs. suffixes

  https://www.ted.com/talks/lindsay_morcom_a_history_of_indigenous_languages_and_how_to_revitalize_them?utm_source=newsletter_daily&utm_campaign=daily&utm_medium=email&utm_content=button__2020-04-29

  Indigenous languages across North America are under threat of extinction due to the colonial legacy of cultural erasure, says linguist Lindsay Morcom. Highlighting grassroots strategies developed by the Anishinaabe people of Canada to revive their language and community, Morcom makes a passionate case for enacting policies that could protect Indigenous heritage for generations to come.

  • Sedivy, ch. 12, part 2, pp 496-518 File
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  Week 11: Dec. 20