Human language and mind: Thinking and speaking

Topic outline

• 

  Human language and mind: Thinking and speaking

  • Meetings in zoom Forum

    Dear students,
    For Human Language and Mind: Thinking and speaking, please join us in zoom:
    
    https://cuni-cz.zoom.us/j/98896277718?pwd=M0pFOGtaT1phOWNmaDdoRVV5bFBCZz09
    
    Meeting ID 988 9627 7718
  • COURSE DESCRIPTION and REQUIREMENTS Page

    HUMAN LANGUAGE AND MIND: THINKING AND SPEAKING

    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; and language diversity.

    Course requirements 

    Assignment		Weight in ZÁPOČET”	Comments and learning outcomes
    Attendance and active participation, familiarity with READINGS and TED Talks seminar - individual students are in charge of readings and web activities and guide the group through them preparation of web activities		20% 20%	5 absences or more ansencces entails failing the course
    Weekly responses to posted questions on the content of the class		10%
    Final		20%	Defining concepts and analyzing readings
    Research proposal		10%
    Presentation on a research project of the student’s choice		10%	Presenting on a chosen topic requiring independent research (15 to 20 mins)
    Paper, based on this project		10%

     

  • Project proposal form File
  • Topics and abstracts of possible projects File
• 

  WEEK 1: ORIGINS of MODERN MAN and LANGUAGE Feb. 16

  Topics: Cognition, intelligence and creativity

       Language as instinct vs. social learning 

       Hominids vs. modern humans: What to add to the mind to get language? (J. Searle)

       Animal communication systems vs. human language (D. Premack)

  QUESTIONS TO TACKLE in class:

  What are the reasons for the rise of humans and modern language? TED Talk by Y. N. Harari 2015: https://www.ted.com/talks/yuval_noah_harari_what_explains_the_rise_of_humans

  In what ways is language related to our brain and mind?

  Why do we talk? 

  Language in a community: When and where did language start?

  Is ART an evidence of thinking and speaking?

  What makes language human in our anatomy, genes, brain and cognition?

  Do we invent language or come to BE through language?

  Is language natural and instinctive?

  How does language work? Language design

  Readings: Language in Mind: Introduction to Psycholinguistics, by Julie Sedivy 2018, ch. 2, pp. 9-31

  Assignment: Web activities 2.1-2.3 in Julie Sedivy, ch. 2 http://sites.sinauer.com/languageinmind/

  • J. Sedivy, ch. 2, part I File
  • Language origins: Notes and questions File
  • The day we learned to think, 3-part series URL
  • The Origins and Evolution of Language | Michael Corballis, TED URL
• 

  WEEK 2: HOW HUMANS INVENT LANGUAGE Feb. 23

  Topics: Inventing and learning language

            Gesturing, babbling, speaking, writing and signing

            Language change: Survival of the fittest? Language diversity

            The birth of a language documentary (Nicaragua sign language)

  Assigned reading: Sedivy, ch. 2, part II: Evolution of speech, pp. 31-50

  Assignments: Web activities 2.4-2.5  http://sites.sinauer.com/languageinmind/

           Work out the PROJECT described on p. 53 (informal notes)

           Answer the questions of your choice in the list of Questions to answer and upload your document pls

  Recommended readings and materials: Chomsky, Evans, Premack etc.

  • J. Sedivy, ch. 2, part II File
  • Questions to answer Assignment
  • OUTLINE and QUESTIONS tackled in class File
  • Homo naledi File
  • David Premack 2004, Is language the key to human intelligence? File
  • D. Premack on language and intelligence, summary File
  • TED Talk How language transformed humanity, by Mark Pagel URL
  • John Searle on cognition and language Summary File
  • Vyvyan Evans Language is not an instinct File
  • Chomsky: Why only us?, summary File
  • TED Talks on human brain File
  • A whistling language used in Turkey URL
• 

  WEEK 3: Language and the Brain March 2

  • Topics: Learning about language in the brain:

  •         Genetic disorders, specific language disorder, dyslexia

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

            Understanding language, by J. Elman (lecture)

    Assignments:

  • Readings: Sedivy, ch. 3, part I, Genetic Disorders, pp. 54-67

  •        relevant web activities in http://sites.sinauer.com/languageinmind/

  •        Questions to answer
  • AND IF YOU WANT TO GO FURTHER...
  •          Seeds of Speech, by Jean Aitchison, Cambridge U Press 2000, ch. 1
  •          Researchers Debate the Origin of Language, by Marc Hauser 2002, in Harvard Gazette and How human mind originated 2009

  • Week 3 Questions to answer assignment
  • Sedivy ch.3 Genetic anomalies: Notes File
  • Sedivy 3, pp. 56-88 black&white File
  • Sedivy 3 p70, 74 File
  • Questions on genetic disorders and other language impairments File
  • Brain parts video URL
  • Signs, homesigns, gestures and language change: Notes File
  • How brain processes language URL
  • Aitchison, Seeds of Speech, ch. 1-3, 5, 7 File
  • M. Hauser, How human mind originated, 2009 File
• 

  WEEK 4: MAPPING LANGUAGE in the BRAIN March 9

  How does brain process, perceive and produce language?

  Reading: Sedivy, ch. 3, pp. 67-84

  McGilchrist,The Divided Brain, TED Talk

  Assignment: The reading and web activities 1-4 http://sites.sinauer.com/languageinmind/

  • Sedivy 3, Brain, part II, pp78-93 in color File
  • Cl. 4, ch. 3 Brain, Part II File
  • Imaging language in the brain, by American Museum of Natural History URL
  • Neocortex, TED Talk by H. Markram URL
  • Jill Taylor, TED Talk, My Stroke of Insight File
  • The_divided_brain, TED Talk by Iain McGilchrist URL
  • Ian McGilchrist, The Divided Brain, notes File
  • Premack, Is Language the Key to Human Intelligence? http://www.ling.upenn.edu/courses/cogs502/Premack2004.pdf File
  • The Premack question and the theory of mind File
  • Chomsky& Berwick, Why Only Us File
  • Aitchison 6 File
  • The day we learned to think, summary article File
  • TED What's so special about our brain, by S. Herculano-Houzel URL
  • TED, Visualizing neurons inside the brain, C. Schoonover URL
  • A look inside the brain in real time URL
• 

  WEEK 5: LANGUAGE ACQUISITION: LEARNING SOUND PATTERNS March 16

  • How infants learn: The nature of speaking; Statistical learning;

    Sound recognition and matching sounds to words;

    Concepts and reference

  • TED Talk Pat Kuhl et al., Language, culture, mind and brain File 

  • Reading: Learning sounds, in Sedivy, ch. 4, pp. 105-119

  • Recommended readings: Seeds of Speech, ch. 7, by J. Aitchison
  • Review: File 2.1-2.3 (Phonetics)
  • Assignment: Web activity in http://sites.sinauer.com/languageinmind/

  • Sedivy, ch. 4, pp. 105-19 File
  • BRAIN FUNCTIONAL ANATOMY: Review questions File
  • Learning from sounds: Notes File
  • REVIEW: Language Files 2 and 2.1, Phonetics
  • TED Patricia Kuhl: The linguistic genius of babies URL
  • Pat Kuhl et al., Language, culture, mind and brain File
  • The Anatomy of Speech, in The Day We Learned to Think - BBC video URL
  • How to perceive sound URL
  • Jean Aitchison, Seeds of Speechs, chs 2, 3, 5, 7 (Broken Air) File
• 

  WEEK 6: L ACQUISITION: Sounds and words, part II March 23

  How child learns language

  What are the sounds and where are the words?

  Sounds and phonemes; Phonetics ans articulation; phonology; Sound laws

  Why do we talk https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=Why+do+we+talk+

  Readings: Sedivy, ch. 4, part II

  and if you want to go further: Language and the mind, by Hickey, Raymond

               Learning vs. growth, in Language in Use, by G. Diessel, pp. 313-19

               Digital mind in an analog world, in Language Instinct, by S. Pinker 1994, pp. 269-87

              Semiotic Landscape, by G. Kress and T. Leuwen, in Language in Use, pp. 344-9

  ASSIGNMENT: Relevant web activities in Sedivy, online

  • Sedivy, ch. 4, part II File
  • Sounds: Early learning Sedivy 4, part I File
  • HL sounds: Basics, Sedivy 4, part II File
  • Infants' learning from sounds: Questions File
  • Becoming You video series File
  • Place of articulation table File
  • Vowel articulation File
  • Consonant articulation table File
  • Word trees File
  • Notes on Pinker File
  • Pinker, A Digital Mind in an Analog World, ch 10, WordsRules File
  • Kress & Leuwen, Semiotic landscape File
  • Language and the mind, by Raymond Hickey URL
• 

  WEEK 7: WORDS and GRAMMAR March 30

  • The nature of speaking; Recognizing sounds and matching them to words;

              Concepts and reference

    Reading: Learning words, in Sedivy, ch. 5, part I

    and more, i.e., Recommended readings: 

            Productivity and the Mental Lexicon, by Ingo Plag, in Language in Use, pp. 106-13

  •         How do they do it?, by Steven Pinker

  •         Tomasello, Michael, The usage based theory of language acquisitionASSIGNMENT: Prepare a proposal to carry out research on any topic affiliated with the course (please complete the proposal form on the top of our Moodle course where you can also find a list of topics to consider)

  •            prepare the relevant web activities, ch. 5, part I 

  • ch. 5 OUTLINE: Learning Words File
  • HIGHLIGHTS: Learning strategies File
  • Building first words: Notes File
  • Learning words: Questions File
  • Sedivy, ch. 5, part I File
  • Deb Roy, MIT, TED Talk, wiring the house and observing language acquisition of an infant son URL
• 

  WEEK 8: LEARNING WORDS: Morphology April 6

  Language in sculpting the infants' brain

  Understanding speakers' intentions

  Parts of speech; Words vs. rules

  Reading: Learning words, in Sedivy, ch. 5, part II

             Lupyan, Gary & Ben Berger, How Language Programs The Mind 

  for recommended readings, see below

  ASSIGNMENT: Relevant web activities in Sedivy, online

  • Sedivy ch. 5, part II File
  • The logical minds of babies, TED, by Laura Schultz URL
  • How to read each other's mind, by R. Saxe, TED Talk URL
  • Word morphology File
  • Morphology: Word trees File
  • Plag, Productivity and the mental lexicon File
  • Ingo Plag: Notes and questions on word formation and rules File
  • notes on Diessel File
  • Diessel, Learning vs growth File
  • R. Hickey, Language and the Mind File
• 

  WEEK 9: LANGUAGE: INSTINCT or REASON? April 13

  Not available
• 

  WEEK 9: LANGUAGE ACQUISITION: BUILDING SENTENCES April 13

  Topic: LANGUAGE ACQUISITION: LEARNING THE STRUCTURE OF SENTENCES

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

          The nature of syntactic knowledge; Learning grammatical categories

  Readings: Sedivy, ch. 6, pp. 185-200

  ASSIGNMENT: Relevant web activities in Sedivy, online

  • Dan Everett: Endangered languages, lost knowledge and the future URL
  • The Interpreter, on language of the Piraha File
  • Sedivy, ch. 6 File
  • QUESTIONS on syntax File
  • Sentence trees File
  • Syntax notes File
  • Thinking in sentences, notes File
  • TED Neuroscience conversation with Dalai Lama URL
• 

  WEEK 10: The Syntax Rules April 20

  We will continue to work on syntax, and the reading remains as defined above, i.e., Sedivy, ch. 6

  Assignment: Review the readings by Ingo Plag, A. Tomasello, Lupyan and Bergen, and Diessel in the lessons on language acquisition

  Prepare relevant web activities 6.1, 6.2 and 6.3

  Communication, information and manipulation

  Readings: Sedivy, ch. 11, part 1

  The language of communist power, by Petr Fidelius 1989, in M. Goetz-Stankiewicz

              The process of communication accommodation, by H. Giles, in New Sociolingcs Reader 2009

  • Tomasello Intending and constructing language File
  • How we read each other's mind, TED Talk by Rebecca Saxe URL
  • Lupyan&Bergen, How language programs the mind File

    "We have argued that language is a powerful tool for programming the mind by helping to activate more abstract/categorical representations by affecting modal mental states. On this perspective, it becomes critical to view the evolution of language as not simply the evolution of a communication system."

  • St. Pinker Language and social relations, RSA Animates URL
  • Tomasello-Bavin, The usage-based theory File
• 

  WEEK 11: LANGUAGE DIVERSITY and UNIVERSALS April 27

  What do languages have in common and how to explain it?

  How universal are language universals?

  Reading: Review Sedivy, ch. 6 and read ch. 12, part I

  Assignment: Complete the web activities of ch. 6, 6.1-6.5 

  • Sedivy, ch. 12, part I File
  • QUESTIONS and NOTES File
  • Additional questions on syntax File
  • Class outline: Syntax concl. File
• 

  WEEK 12: LANGUAGE DIVERSITY May 4

  Words, concepts and culture

  One mind, two languages

  Reading: Sedivy, ch. 12, part II

  Assignment: Relevant web activities

  • Sedivy, ch. 12, Diversity, part II File
  • ch. 12, selected pp. File
  • Diversity notes and questions File
  • Questions and comments; Universals and biases File
• 

  WEEK 13: Language diversity; Student presentations May 11

  • Words, concepts and culture, Sedivy 12.3 and 12.4 File
  • Universals and biases File
  • Bilingualism File
  • How language mediates our thinking File
• 

  FINAL