Synopsis and Critique of an original research paper on spoken language that you choose

Due Dates are on the Weekly Schedule

This assignment has an oral and a written component.  

Step One:  You will select a journal article that includes an original research study about human spoken/signed language. 

Article Criteria:  You will select a journal article that includes an original research experiment about spoken/signed language.  The article should be published in an academic journal and should assess quantitative data on speech.   Your Prof or TA are available to you in advance if you have questions about the suitability of an article--please ask!  I encourage you to turn to a topic that intrigues you, whether or not we have dwelt on it in class.  If you get stuck, we can help you find high quality experiments on a topic of interest.

The experiment reported on must use quantitative data on speech (or a signed equivalent) production and/or perception. Hint: Appropriate research articles generally have a "Method" section.   (If you have the necessary mathematical/computational background, a [non-experimental] modeling paper on speech may be considered in conversation with Professor Byrd.)  

If you are choosing among a couple options, please check in with us; we can help!  If you are interested in a specific topic but are unable to find a suitable article--again, ask!  Some past topics from this class (examples only; not limitations) are here.

Please Read regarding what not to choose:  •Note that literature or topic overviews, review papers, surveys, tutorial texts, websites, popular science journalism, or other work lacking quantitative data on speech are not appropriate for this assignment; •nor are articles about language in non-spoken forms (e.g., reading), about grammar/language using orthographic data, or about non-human communication systems.  •If a paper's data is (merely) 'counts' or ratings of something (rather than measurements of signal or behavior) or if the data relies on transcription of speech or 'vocabulary' measures, this likely means it is not acceptable for this assignment.  •Finally, you may want to steer away from:  very lengthy articles that include several experiments (or sub-studies), extremely abbreviated research reports, or articles heavily dependent on specialized jargon [e.g., brain, audiology, medical] or math that you are unfamiliar with.   

I recommend articles dated 2010 to present and from one of these journals, which are all available online through the USC Libraries:  Journal of Phonetics, Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, Phonetica, Language and Speech, Journal of the International Phonetic Association, Laboratory Phonology, Speech Communication, and Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research.  If you wish to use an older article or one from another journal, talk to me first. 

Don't know how to search for an article? GoogleScholar, ResearchGate, or PubMed may be helpful; also Ask a Librarian or watch a USC Libraries Tutorial.   You likely will want to go to USCLibraries and choose "Find" "Journals" to get the pdf of an article you desire.

First thing to turn in:  A pdf file of your selected journal article must be  submitted to the Dropbox and provided for advance approval.  The due date for this is on the Weekly Schedule.  Turn the complete article in as a pdf.  You have the link to upload this to the Class Dropbox  in an email from Professor Byrd.  Please make sure the filename starts with your name, e.g. SallySmith_ResArticle.pdf.   You will be emailed an approval or follow-up shortly.  Turning the initial pdf submission in on time is worth a portion of the grade.

Step Two:  You will prepare a synopsis and critique of your article.  No use of AI or LLMs (e.g., ChapGPT) is permitted (and experience suggests that the material they produce would yield a poor grade).

This will be presented first orally to the class and then in writing to Professor Byrd.

Your article critique will include the following in your own words:

1.     What scientific inquiry is the work concerned with; what is the big picture point;

2.     How is that inquiry pursued (e.g., hypotheses, subjects, data, and analysis methods);

3.     What results are found, and what does the work conclude based on those findings;

Next, items 4 and 5 should extend beyond what the paper's authors themselves report and bring your own insight, knowledge, and critical thinking to bear.

4.     What are some strengths, limitations, confounds, and/or shortcomings of this experiment, especially its design
(pls don't only say 'a small number of subjects');

5.     What are the article's scientific strong points. And what further scientific questions does this study inspire.

For both the oral presentation and written submission, you will be graded on the items above with reference to the accuracy and the insightfulness of the critique, the clarity and preparedness of your presentation, and how well you are able to help your classmates/reader understand the article without their having read it.  

A. Oral Presentation:  You will orally present your work to your classmates in person.  In person attendance is required of all class members.  

Length and Requirements of Oral Presentation--This presentation should take 3-4 minutes, no more; so practice so you are sure to be at an appropriate length in making your remarks.  The clock will start after you share your title and authors. 

You may, if you like, use notes on a one-sided sheet of paper only, prepared in advance.  Your one-page notes must be a hard copy.  This notes page might contain keywords from your research article or an outline with a bulleted list of points, but it should not be a script of your presentation. The presentation is not to be read aloud from a prepared text; points will be deducted if you are not speaking extemporaneously.  You may not use any graphic aids or slides.

A.2  Questions on Classmates' Oral Presentations:  At the oral presentations, every student will need to write a specific question on every other student’s  article presentation.  These are due (typed) to the Dropbox after the final presentations (see Weekly for due date).  A point for this effort will be a component of the final grade on your assignment.

B. Written Submission

Length and Requirements of Written Paper--A Word doc is preferred, or a pdf is acceptable; no Google docs.  Three pages [excluding citation] (hard limit); Times New Roman 12; single space (check if composing in Google doc); 1” margins (top, bottom, & sides), no headers, footers, or footnotes (except your name, page numbers [optional], and the required citation).  The document should indicate the complete citation of the research paper you are synthesizing (in MLA or APA format). 

In addition to these requirements, you will be graded on the accuracy of your article synopsis (points 1-3), how insightfully and thoroughly you covered points 4 and 5, and the overall quality and clarity of your writing (yes, including grammar, structure/paragraphing, typos/proofreading, and spelling).  

Try to report information important to the experiment, omitting in this streamlined synopsis information that would likely be tangential or unimportant for another scientist assessing the experiment.  Do not insert figures or tables from the paper into your synopsis.  With regard to science writing, generally the first person should be avoided.  Regarding quotations:  only if it is a crucial point--substantive or expository--that you cannot make effectively in your own words, a (relatively brief) quotation is okay; that said, the synopsis should be presented accessibly, IN YOUR OWN WORDS.   This will be part of your grade. Don't replicate phrases from the paper.

If I believe material submitted by a student was produced by an LLM (e.g. ChatGPT, Bard, etc.) and/or if it is flagged by a GPT Detector, I reserve the right to give the student an impromptu oral exam on the same material.  WARNING UPDATE 5/2023: ChatGPT etc. will likely provide an incorrect synopsis of an article; it may not have access to article full-texts and may basically 'make-up' a synopsis that will sound plausible but be wrong. (This is called 'hallucinating' within the LLM community.)

Turn  in your written article synopsis (preferably as a Word doc if possible) to the class assignment Dropbox by the paper due date.  Also turn in your questions for each of your classmates by its due date.  You have the link to upload these in an email from Professor Byrd.  Please make sure the filenames starts with your name, e.g. SmithSally_ArtCritique.doc (or .pdf) and SmithSally_presquestions.