Syllabus

BCSC 265: Syllabus

Spring 2024

Time and Location

Tuesdays and Thursdays, 12:30 – 1:45pm
Room: Hylan 305

Personnel

Instructor: Dr. Chung-Lin Martin Yang

Office hours: Mondays/Wednesdays 2:40-3:40 pm and on Zoom

Course Description

This is a seminar course focusing on neurolinguistics. Prior coursework in psycholinguistics (or equivalent) is required. Completion of the required readings and your active participation in discussion are crucial in your effective learning in a seminar. The major goal of this course is to further explore various topics and the current trends in neurolinguistics. We will discuss the cognitive and neural underpinnings of language processing, language development, speech perception, sentence comprehension and production, reading and dyslexia, bilingualism and L2 acquisition, the use of gestures, as well as language processing in different populations.

Required readings are uploaded to Blackboard under “Reserves”. Please be sure to read them BEFORE each class. Announcements will also be made if there’s any change to the readings

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 (completion of the required readings) for at least 1 academic hour per week.

Course Requirements

  1. Participation (26%): As mentioned above, active participation in the discussion is key to your effective learning in a seminar course. This class will employ a mixture of both in-class and online discussion.
    1. General participation (10%): Regular attendance and active participation in discussions are expected. Everyone should ask a question/give a comment at least once a week. If you’re not comfortable with public speaking, you can submit your question/comment to the real-time chat or poll moderated by the TA. Aaron will keep track of the participation record.
    2. Discussion on the assigned readings (15%):
      1. Before-class discussion (5%): Everyone should contribute one insightful comment/question for each reading by posting them on Blackboard by 9:30am on the day of class, which will yield 19 comments/questions in total. (The presenter will simply add their own question within the article presentation – no need to post it on the board.) These comments/questions will be used in Items ii., iii. and iv. below.
        Example of an insightful comment/question: I don’t see how their result supports their hypothesis if they found A instead of B. What if...
      2. In-class discussion led by the presenter: The article presenter should choose any 4 comments/questions from the discussion board (by 11am on the day of class) and discuss them with the whole class during the presentation. The presenter will need to reply “To be discussed later” to each comment/question they chose from the board.
      3. In-class group discussion (5%): For the next 10 questions/comments from the discussion board, Aaron will prepare a list and randomly assign these 10 comments/questions* to the 10 groups for in-class group discussion. The presenter will still need to be ready to answer any follow-up questions arising from the group discussion.
      4. After-class discussion (5%): Everyone will be assigned to discuss one of the remaining comments/questions (by posting your response on the discussion board within 48 hours from the time of class (i.e., by 12:30pm Thursday for Tuesday’s discussion and by 12:30pm Saturday for Thursday’s discussion). You can respond to another person’s response within the same thread.
        *Note: the number of questions for in-class group discussion may be adjusted depending on the time remaining in each class. If only 5 questions are discussed during the in-class group discussion, then 10 questions will be saved for after-class discussion.
      Bonus questions: there will be a bonus question period at least once a week. I will explicitly announce the beginning and the end of the bonus period. You’ll get one point whenever you directly answer a question asked by Prof. Yang or Aaron or join the discussion with an elaborate response (a simple response like “I agree”, “I believe so”, “I think that’s not right” doesn’t count) during the bonus period. You can earn up to 1 point per bonus question. For every 6 pts you earned, you can waive an essay assignment. Aaron will keep track of your bonus points. Your participation in the bonus period also counts toward your weekly participation requirement.
    3. Participation in other groups’ presentations (1%): for each session of group presentation (two sessions in total), everyone should ask at least 1 question or give at least 1 comment/suggestion. We will keep track of this
  2. Article discussion/presentation (11.5%): A discussion leader will be assigned for each class (starting Week 2.2). The discussion leader should prepare a 15-minute presentation that summarizes the main points from the reading, and then facilitate the discussion. More details will be provided on Blackboard.
  3. Essay assignments (15%): Write three essays (3 pages each) on the assigned readings. In each assignment, critique any three readings assigned after the previous essay. You may critique/comment on any points brought up from the readings (e.g., theoretical perspectives, methodology, hypotheses, conclusion, etc.). Due dates can be found in the course schedule below.
    (See “Bonus questions” above to see how you can waive an essay assignment! The more bonus points you earned, the less you need to write! If you want to use your bonus points to waive an essay assignment, simply submit a note either as a document or a submission comment to the essay submission portal saying, “Requesting to waive this essay using 6 bonus points”. Aaron will keep track of and update your total bonus points.)
  4. Presentation of proposed topics (12.5%): Present what your group would like to do for your final paper (~10 minutes). More details and instructions will be posted on Blackboard. For this presentation, you should provide a paper for the whole class to read, and your first presentation will center around this paper.
  5. Final presentation (15%): conference-style presentations: 10-minute presentation plus 3-minute discussion. Evaluation will be based on organization, clarity, depth of discussion, etc.
  6. Group term paper (20%) (10 pages double-spaced plus bibliography): A comprehensive literature review: review at least 10 journal articles on a topic of your choice and write a coherent essay. You should also include your own perspectives and possible future directions or how you would replicate some of the studies.
    Submit your first draft of reading list by March 5th and your final list by March 22nd.

Formatting requirements: All written assignments should follow the same format: 1” margins, double-spaced, 12-pt Times New Roman, course number and your name on the header instead of the main body of text. A maximum of 5 pts will be deducted for all graded written assignments if the format fails to meet the stated requirements here. For every single written assignment, be sure to properly cite your resources.

Plagiarism will be reported to the Academic Honesty Board.

Citation should follow the APA format.

Class policies

  1. Academic misconduct
    All assignments and activities associated with this course must be performed in accordance with the University of Rochester's Academic Honesty Policy. Plagiarism and any form of academic misconduct will be reported following the guidelines set by the University.
    Be sure to carefully read “AvoidingPlagiarism.pdf” by Remmel uploaded to Blackboard.
  2. Late submission will NOT be accepted. Documentations (e.g., doc’s notes) are required to justify the needs for make-ups or late submissions.
  3. Special accommodation: If you need special accommodation (e.g., medical or family emergencies, observance of religious holidays/cultural events, etc.), please let us know as early as possible. We will do our best to accommodate!
    COVID-related policy: If are not feeling well (even just with some mild symptoms), are waiting for COVID test results, have been in close contact with COVID patients, or need to take care of someone, just let me know by sending me an email. We can discuss how to make up your missed work. If unfortunately you test positive for COVID, please carefully follow the instructions and procedures.
  4. Mobile devices
    Please silence your mobile devices for the in-person sessions. No cellphone/smartphone or any other entertainment devices are allowed while the inperson class is in session.

Grading

The final grades will be based upon the following scale:

  • 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