Overview

In this module you will learn about speech and language disorders in monolingual as well as bilingual populations. You will have the opportunity to examine developmental conditions in children, such as children with Developmental Language Disorder, or autistic children, as well as various language domains, such as phonological, grammatical, semantic and pragmatic disorders. By examining acquired disorders in adults, such as adults with Aphasia, we look at neurolinguistics, i.e. the study of the breakdown of cognitive and linguistic abilities.

We also explore issues related to language assessment and diagnosis in bilinguals.

Students in this module, depending on assessment topics, research question(s) and methodologies will have to opportunity to utilize the department labs, specialized software and resources, when carry out their assessments. This can include access to and the use of; dedicated lab facilities for experiments, a direct brain activity measurement (ERP) and eye tracking systems, a professional grade sound isolation booth and high-end recording equipment setup, high-level statistical modelling and analysis software, behavioural experiment software systems, acoustic and phonetic analysis software, clinically-recognised standardised psychometric and language tests and a wide range of concordance software and specialised corpora for many languages.

Topics may vary from year to year, but will be drawn from:
1. Introduction to language impairment and bilingualism
2. Investigating language development and impairment in bilingual populations
3. Language in bilingual individuals with Down syndrome/other genetic conditions 4. Language and autism
5. Acquired language disorders – Neurolinguistics

Assessment Strategy

-threshold -D: Student has achieved the minimum acceptable standard of understanding and/or knowledge in all the learning outcomes. Student can demonstrate a minimum level of understanding of the basic concepts and be able to apply them to data with some degree of accuracy. -good -B: Student has achieved a better-than-average standard of understanding and/or knowledge in all learning outcomes, and has a clear and accurate understanding of concepts; ability to apply concepts to data critically and thoughtfully; evidence of wide reading and clear and accurate reference to source materials; free from misunderstanding and errors of content; free from irrelevant material. -excellent -A: Student has achieved a thorough standard of understanding and/or knowledge in all learning outcomes; or student has demonstrated an exceptional level of achievement in one or more learning outcomes together with a good overall standard. Student has achieved a thorough understanding of the subject, both in terms of content and theory; student is able to apply concepts clearly and accurately; substantial evidence of critical and original thought and analysis; clear, logical argument; high level of communicative competence; free from irrelevant material and errors of spelling and punctuation; evidence of extensive reading beyond basic texts and clear and accurate references to source material.

Learning Outcomes

• Critically evaluate relevant empirical studies.

• Describe, analyse and critically compare competing accounts and theories concerning atypical language acquisition and acquired language disorders in monolinguals and bilinguals.

• Identify and evaluate the linguistic characteristics of each type of speech and language impairments, and explain how these findings relate to linguistic theory .

• Present and discuss key facts, concepts, ideas and approaches relating to the study of language disorders.