A. Goals and Objectives
This course offers an introduction to the fast-developing field of psycholinguistics. It covers research areas such as speech perception, word recognition, sentence and discourse processing, speech production, and language acquisition. Major research findings and theories in each area will be discussed in class. We will also examine a number of empirical studies closely in order to understand how psycholinguistic issues have been approached and how research in this field has been applied to the study of second language acquisition(SLA) and applied linguistics. In addition, students will become familiar with some of the research tools used in psycholinguist research through hands-on activities. Students will be encouraged to explore the implications of psycholinguistic findings for second language acquisition and teaching. By the end of the course, students are expected to achieve the following objectives:

a. understand the major theories/models of language processing, production, and acquisition covered in the course, ....
b. become familiar with some of the major findings in each of the areas discussed,
c. feel comfortable reading and discussing research articles similar to those discussed in class,
d. have the working knowledge of some psycholinguistic experimental paradigms and related technology, and
e. understand the relationship between applied linguistics, second language acquisition, and psycholinguistics, and have the potential to study applied linguistics and SLA from a psycholinguistic perspective.

B. Textbook and Readings
1. Textbook: Gleason, J. B. & Ratner, N.B. (1998) (Eds.). Psycholinguistics (2nd Edition). Fort Worth, TX: Harcourt Brace College Publishers.

2. Additional Readings. Students are required to read additional research articles each week. See the daily syllabus for the articles designated for each week. Many of these articles represent attempts to apply psycholinguistic findings and methods to the study of second language acquisition and processing. Students are required to read the designated articles for each class before they come to class. All students are expected to contribute to the discussion of these articles. To retrieve the articles from EReserves, follow the following steps,

1) Go to http://reserves.gsu.edu
2) Click on "Electronic Reserves and Course Materials"
3) Under "Select an instructor:", arrow down to find my name Jiang, Nan
4) Click "Go" beside my name
5) Click on the course page that you would like to view (The second one is AL 8520)
6) Enter the password (to be announced in class)
7) Agree to the copyright
8) The reading list will come up
9) Click on the title to retrieve the pdf file of an article (you need Adobe Acrobat Reader)

3. Additional Books/Articles for the Research Project/Term Paper. These articles are related to the topic of individual term papers students are working on and thus may vary among students. Students are responsible for finding their own articles that are relevant to and most helpful for their research projects. The following online database will be very useful for finding articles in psycholinguistics:.PsycInfo and LLBA (Linguistics and Language Behavior Abstract). Let me know if you need help using the database.

C. Requirements and Grading
1. Attendance and participation. Regular attendance and active participation are critical to students' success in this class. Class roll will be taken at the beginning of or during every class. If you are late, it is your responsibility to let me know you are in class. A student may be dropped from this class if he or she has more than two unexcused absences. I suggest that you contact me before you have to miss a class. Tell me why you can't come to class so that I can determine whether the absence will be excused or not. The best way to contact me is by Email. But you can also call my office at 404-651-2936 or call The Department of Applied Linguistics & ESL at 404-651-3650 and leave a message.

2. Study questions (15%). Study questions will be given to students on a weekly basis. The purpose of these questions is twofold: to make sure students do the required readings before they come to class, and to help students better focused in reading. The questions are always related to the designated topics and readings for the week. They are given to students a week prior to the discussion of the topic and readings. Students are expected to bring their answers to class so that they can contribute to group dsicussion. They may or may not be asked to turn in the answers.

3. Critiques (10%). Each student is expected to do a critiques of a research article and lead discussion of the article in class. The purpose of the critique is to help students read SLA research articles closely and critically. A sign-up sheet will be handed out on the first day of class so that students can pick their articles. A critique has the following two components:

a. Oral part: You will be given 20 minutes for summarizing and critiquing the article and 5 minutes for leading class discussion in class.
b. Written part: turn in a written critique at the end of the class on the day of your oral critique. It should be of 2 to 3 double-spaced pages.

Both the oral and written forms of your critique should include the following information:
a. the reference of the article: author(s), year of publication, title, journal name,
b. the purpose and the research question: what is the purpose of the project or the specific.research question under investigation? Explain important concepts and definitions if necessary.
c. method information: participants (age, L1, L2, L2 level), materials, design, tasks/procedures, Dependent variable, independent variable,
d. results, findings, and conclusions: results from the study, summary of findings, the author's.interpretation of the findings and conclusions.
e. your evaluation of the study: e.g., right question? appropriate method? reasonable interpretation of the findings? conflicting evidence?

4. Mid-term Exam (30%). A take-home mid-term exam will be assigned on March 4, and the answers are due at the beginning of class on March 18.

5. Term Paper (45%). Students are required to write a term paper on a topic covered in this course. There are three options for this assignement.

a. A review paper -- a student can write a review paper in which he or she analyzes, synthesizes, and evaluates the research done on a specific topic related to psycholinguistics or psycholinguistic study of second language acquisition and teaching. A good review paper for this course should have a specfic rather than a general topic, a clear and well-supported theme, and an adequate coverage of information. It should enclude a minimum of 12 references.

b. A research proposal -- a student can also write a detailed proposal for a research project that investigates a psycholinguistic issue or an applied linguistic issue from a psycholinguistic perspective. A good project proposal should have a clearly defined research question, an adequate review of literature related to the question, detailed description of the method to be used, including such information as participants, experimental paradigms or test methods, test materials and other instruments, research design, dependent and indepedent variables involved, test procedures. The proposal should also list possible outcomes of the project and potential significances of the findings.

c. A research report -- a student can complete a research project that is related to one of the topics of this course and write a report on the project as the term paper. The project can be a simple replication of a published study, a study attempting to extend a published finding to a new participant population or a new language, or a study that examines a research question that has not been explored. A good report should have a well-defined research question, an adequate literature review, an apppropriate research method, a clear presentation of the results, and a reasonable interpretation or explanation of the findings. Students are encouraged to discuss their research ideas with the instructor before they begin the project. Students may work in a small group for the project, but they have to write the report individually and independently.

The term paper should be word-processed (12 point font, double-spaced), 8-12 pages in length, and follow APA style. Consult the APA style Web page or come to the instructor if you need more information. The paper is due by 4:00 p.m. on May 6. You can put a copy in my mailbox in the department mailroom, or send a Word file to me via Email. If you want the paper to be returned to you during the break, put it in a self-addressed, stamped envelop.

6. Grading. This course has a total of 100 points. They are divided among the four assignments as shown above. The letter grade for the course is determined by the total number of points you receive, using the following criteria:

A: 90 or more ,
B: 80-89,
C: 70-79,
D: 60-69,
F: 59 or less.

D. Other Course-Related Issues
1. Late Assignments. No late assignment will be accepted unless a student arranges with me to turn in an assignment late prior to its due date.

2. Bonus points for participating in research projects. If you are interested in participating in the ongoing project in my lab, please let me know. You will receive a bonus point for each experiment you participate in. You may receive a maximum of three bonus points.

3. Plagiarism. Plagiarism carries serious penalties at this university. Do not use the works or ideas of others without proper acknowledgment (i.e., documentation). Do not submit a paper written, in whole or in part, by another and present it as your own. See the Policy on Academic Honesty in the Graduate Catalog for more information.