Syllabus

BCSC 152: Syllabus

Fall 2024

Time & Location

Time: Tuesdays and Thursdays, 12:30 - 1:45pm
Room: Wegmans 1400

Personnel

Instructor: Dr. Chung-Lin Martin Yang Office: Meliora Hall 322
Office Hours: 10:30 – 11:30am Mon/Wed (in person and on Zoom) (starting Sept. 4 th)

TAs (in alphabetical order):
Elodie Schley
Isabella Johnson
Hannah Zavalkoff
Doris Zhang

Course Description

The goal of this course is to introduce you the psychological and neuropsychological processes involved in language comprehension, production and acquisition. This course will also provide a solid foundation for those who want to further investigate a wide range of topics in psycholinguistics. Topics to be covered in this course include cognitive mechanisms underlying language processing and acquisition, speech perception, production, word recognition, sentence processing, brain and language, language impairment, and so on.

This course follows the College credit hour policy for four-credit courses. This course meets twice weekly for 3 academic hours per week. The course also includes independent out-of-class assignments (complete the required readings) for at least 1 academic hour per week.

Recommended textbook

Harley, Trevor (2014). The Psychology of Language: from data to theory. Psychology Press (also available as an eBook
Supplemental readings will be posted on Blackboard.

Course Requirements

  1. Participation (9%): Active participation in discussions is expected, some of which may require you to turn in a short summary or post something on Blackboard. The initial class survey is worth 1%. Each graded discussion is worth 2% of the course grade. There will be 4 graded discussions throughout the semester. (These will be only graded as Complete/Incomplete - no partial credits, and late submissions won’t be accepted.)
    If you have any questions about the course materials or lecture, please do feel free to ask for clarification in class, ask us after class, email us, or come to our office hours. We are all friendly and eager to help!
  2. Homework Assignments (20%): Due dates can be found in the course schedule below. Late submission will NOT be accepted unless you have medical or family emergencies (see course policies #2 and 3 below).
  3. Quizzes (20%): Four closed-book quizzes, which include multiple-choice and true/false questions, will be administered on Blackboard in class. Please bring your laptop or tablet (no smartphones!) to take the quizzes only in our regular lecture hall. (Blackboard will record your IP address!) The purpose of these quizzes is to assess how much you understand the course topics and readings.
  4. Midterm (25.5%) and final (25.5%): A closed-book paper midterm and a final exam will be administered in class. The dates can be found in the class schedule below. Both exams will include multiple-choice and true/false questions. The final exam is NOT cumulative. Study guides will be posted on Blackboard.

Class Policies

  1. Academic misconduct
    All assignments, tests, and activities associated with this course must be performed in accordance with the University of Rochester's Academic Honesty Policy and the Student Code of Conduct (PDF). More information
    Plagiarism, cheating, and any form of academic misconduct will be reported following the guidelines set by the University.
    1. Proper use of the digital platforms (e.g., Blackboard, Poll Everywhere, and Zoom): please be respectful when you post your comments/questions online or respond to the polls and activities.
  2. Special accommodation: If you need special accommodation (e.g., medical or family emergencies, observance of religious holidays/events, etc.), please let us know as early as possible. We will do our best to accommodate! If you can’t take a test or submit an assignment on time for health reasons, documentations are required for make-ups or late submissions (see below for COVID/flu-like symptoms). Otherwise, late submissions won’t be accepted.
  3. COVID-related policy: If you are not feeling well (even just have some mild symptoms), are waiting for COVID test results, or have been in close contact with COVID patients, just let me know by sending me an email at your earliest convenience. We can discuss how you can make up the missed work. If unfortunately you test positive for COVID, please carefully follow the instructions and procedures.
  4. Mobile devices
    Please silence your mobile devices. No cellphone/smartphone or any other entertainment devices are allowed while class is in session. Laptop/tablet use in class is allowed for note-taking and reading course materials only.
  5. Please keep track of your own grades throughout the semester and let us know if you have any questions.
  6. Grading
    The final grades (rounded up to the nearest integer) will be based upon the following scale: (Note that the total points shown on Blackboard are not accurate, as that’s not weighted by each grading category.)
  • A 93 -100
  • A- 90 - 92
  • B+ 87 - 89
  • B 84 – 86
  • B- 80 - 83
  • C+ 77 – 79
  • C 73 – 76
  • C- 70 – 72
  • D+ 67 – 69
  • D 63 – 66
  • D- 60 – 62
  • E below 60