This course explores key issues related to the psychology of language: how humans process, produce and acquire different aspects of language. Major psychological processes and factors involved in language perception and production will be discussed. We will also critically examine the range of methods used in psycholinguistic and language acquisition research. This course lays the foundation for advanced courses in psycholinguistics and language acquisition (e.g. ENGL2115 Theories of language acquisition and ENGL2158 Language processing and learning).

 

The psychology of language, speech perception, word recognition, sentence comprehension, language acquisition, language disorders, psycholinguistic methods

 

On completion of the course, students should be able to:

1. explain key concepts and psycholinguistic mechanisms involved in language processing and learning;
2. demonstrate a broad understanding of the nature of data and experimental methods involved in psycholinguistic research; and
3. synthesize empirical studies and develop a critical stance in their interpretation and evaluation

 

Weekly sessions will consist of a combination of lectures, interactive activities, and group discussion.

 

• Participation (10%)
• Presentation (20%)
• Quiz (30%)
• Term essay (40%)

 

Recommended textbook:

Harley, T. A. (2014). The psychology of language: From data to theory (4th Ed). Psychology Press. (e-resource in HKU lib)

Sedivy, J. (2020). Language in Mind: An Introduction to Psycholinguistics. (2nd ed.). Oxford University Press.

Traxler, M.J. (2012). Introduction to Psycholinguistics. Wiley-Blackwell.

Additional readings will also be recommended throughout the course.