Teaching

Courses taught

LNGN 210/APLN 500: Introduction to Linguistics

• A lower-level undergraduate survey course in linguistics, teaching students basic techniques for analyzing linguistic structures and introducing them to several subdisciplines, including phonetics, phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics, language variation, neurolinguistics, and language acquisition. It is a prerequisite for most linguistics courses. When cross-listed with the graduate section, assignments/exams are differentiated from undergraduate materials.

LNGN/PHIL/PSYC 288: Introduction to Cognitive Science

• A lower-level undergraduate survey course in cognitive science, providing a broad introduction to the study of human thought and behavior by combining approaches from several disciplines, including philosophy, linguistics, psychology, neuroscience, and computer science. The course covers a range of topics including consciousness, memory, attention, learning, language, the brain, autism, artificial intelligence, and social cognition. 

LNGN 325: Principles of Second Language Learning

• An upper-level undergraduate course in second language acquisition (SLA), examining the complex mechanisms and processes underlying the learning of a second language. The course covers theoretical and experimental approaches to SLA. It is an elective course for the linguistics major/minor and is required for students pursuing TESL certification. 

LNGN 450: Research in Linguistics (new Spring 2024!)

• The course will focus on conducting research in linguistics, with undergraduate students receiving hands-on research training in a laboratory setting. Students work in small groups and are involved in all aspects of the research process - developing the ability to ask research questions, utilizing cutting-edge research tools in language science (e.g., related to speech, language, and corpus linguistics), analyzing language data, and preparing scientific presentations. Throughout the course, topics such as research ethics, methodological approaches, diversity in linguistic research, information literacy in linguistics, and related career paths are discussed. The goal of this course is to train undergraduate researchers, while also highlighting the ways in which we can use linguistics tools as researchers in order to better understand the nature of human language.

LNGN 488: Seminar in Cognitive Science

• An upper-level special topics course designed for undergraduate or graduate students. The course surveys foundational research in neurolinguistics, examining how language is represented and processed in the brain. An advanced-level course, it covers state-of-the-art brain-imaging methods such as fMRI, EEG, and MEG. Students are required to propose a new experimental linguistics project that implements one of the imaging techniques.

APLN 520: Current Theories of Second Language Acquisition

• A graduate-level introduction to second language acquisition. The course is an elective for M.A. in Applied Linguistics students. It is required for students pursuing a 2nd certification in TESL or a graduate certificate in TESOL. Because of this, the graduate version of the course covers more applied topics relevant for language teachers and educators who teach ESL students.