Applied Linguistics and Language Acquisition

This course focuses on linguistics, language acquisition and phonetics, tailored for students working with clinical populations. The aim is to give students sufficient knowledge of speech and language, and their analyses, to understand the nature of both typical and atypical processes in this and future courses and professional practice. Students examine the structure of the English language, developmental sequences, theoretical perspectives and influencing factors in language development in children. Students will transcribe and analyse a language sample and draw conclusions about the child’s developmental level. Students will also examine the physical characteristics of speech sounds as well as the laryngeal, pharyngeal, oral and nasal anatomy and physiology associated with speech sound production. While the primary focus of the course is on English, students will develop an understanding of how speech and language differs across languages and how the analyses learnt can be applied to any language, with a specific focus on te reo Maori.