COURSE UNIT TITLE

: LANGUAGE AND BIOLOGY

DEGREE PROGRAMMES

Description of Individual Course Units

Course Unit Code Course Unit Title Type Of Course D U L ECTS
DIL 3055 LANGUAGE AND BIOLOGY ELECTIVE 2 0 0 3

Offered By

Linguistics

Level of Course Unit

First Cycle Programmes (Bachelor's Degree)

Course Coordinator

ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR GÜLSÜM SONGÜL ERCAN

Offered to

Course Objective

This course aims at providing information on the biological evolution of language, the biological structures which function in perception and production of language, and how these structures may have developed.

Learning Outcomes of the Course Unit

1   enumerate the phases of the biological evolution of language
2   explain how the language organs evolved
3   explain how syntax and semantics developed
4   explain the connection between language and brain
5   describe generally the anatomy of speech

Mode of Delivery

Face -to- Face

Prerequisites and Co-requisites

None

Recomended Optional Programme Components

None

Course Contents

Week Subject Description
1 Human and Animal Communication Systems Biological basis of language Animal communication systems Use of language by humans
2 Culture and Language Mother tongue myths Language and Palaeolithic evolution Complexity of languages
3 Sapir Whorf Hypothesis Sapir Whorf Hypothesis Bases of Sapir Whorf Hypothesis
4 False beliefs about the origins of language
5 Evolution of language Language organs
6 Evolution of language Language-related regions in the brain
7 Evolution of language Evidence from other primates
8 MIDTERM EXAM
9 Biological bases of language Language organs Language and Brain Language Device
10 The anatomy of speech Gesture sound transition Phonetic structure of languages Sound sound image connection
11 Protolanguage Communication with words Proto-semantics
12 Mechanics of Syntax Significance of syntax Relations between words Lexical Functional Grammar
13 From protolanguage to syntax Syntactic recursion Autonomy of Syntactic device
14 Basic units of meaning Concepts, images and definitions Thematic segmentation

Recomended or Required Reading

1. Desalles, J.L. (2007). Why we talk: the evolutionary origins of language. Oxford: OUP
2. Jenkin, L. (2000). Biolinguistics: Exploring the biology of language. Cambridge: CUP
3. Cedric Boeckx. 2010. Language in Cognition: Uncovering Mental Structures and the Rules behind Them. Malden, Mass. & Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell.

Planned Learning Activities and Teaching Methods

1. 1- Lecture
2. 2- Presentation

Assessment Methods

SORTING NUMBER SHORT CODE LONG CODE FORMULA
1 MTE MIDTERM EXAM
2 FIN FINAL EXAM
3 FCGR FINAL COURSE GRADE (RESIT) MTE * 0.40 + FIN * 0.60
4 RST RESIT
5 FCGR FINAL COURSE GRADE (RESIT) MTE * 0.40 + RST * 0.60


*** Resit Exam is Not Administered in Institutions Where Resit is not Applicable.

Further Notes About Assessment Methods

None

Assessment Criteria

1. Learning outcomes 1-5 will be evaluated via the questions asked in the mid-term and final exams.

Language of Instruction

Turkish

Course Policies and Rules

1. 70% class attendance is obligatory.
2. Absence from classes will not be considered as an excuse for late submission of the homework assignments/projects.
3. Cheating and plagiarism attempts in assignments and exams will be evaluated with a 0 (zero) grade.

Contact Details for the Lecturer(s)

Öğr. Gör. Dr. Ayşegül ÖZCAN VURAL
Faculty of Letters Department of Linguistics
C156

Office Hours

Monday 13:15 - 15:00
Wednesday 13:15 - 15:00

Work Placement(s)

None

Workload Calculation

Activities Number Time (hours) Total Work Load (hours)
Lectures 13 2 26
Preparations before/after weekly lectures 13 2 26
Preparation for midterm exam 1 12 12
Preparation for final exam 1 16 16
Final 1 2 2
Midterm 1 2 2
TOTAL WORKLOAD (hours) 84

Contribution of Learning Outcomes to Programme Outcomes

PO/LOPO.1PO.2PO.3PO.4PO.5PO.6PO.7PO.8PO.9PO.10PO.11PO.12PO.13PO.14
LO.14
LO.24
LO.35
LO.445
LO.545

CONTACT INFORMATION
Dokuz Eylül Üniversitesi Cumhuriyet Bulvarı No: 144 35210 Alsancak / İZMİR
Phone: +90(232) 412 12 12 - Fax: +90 (232) 464 81 35

Copyright 2015 DEÜ. BİD

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