Choose one of the following topics and write a short research paper (about 5 pages):

1. Write a short research paper on a particular figure or school of thought in the study of language acquisition (e.g., neurolinguistics, Noam Chomsky, or behavioralism). What are the basic tenets of this school or figure? What are the basic assumptions about language acquisition? How effective are those assumptions at describing language acquisition accurately? How does what you've learned about this school or figure help you to understand better how a first language is acquired?

 
2. Write a short research paper in which you explore the differences between first-language acquisition and second-language acquisition.  How is a second language acquired?  What are the differences between the way a first language and a second language are acquired?  How do we know about these differences?  How do these differences affect the way second languages are or should be taught?  What do these differences tell us about the human capacity to acquire language(s)?

 
3. Write a short research paper in which you investigate the symptoms, causes, and history of a speech pathology or language deficiency (such as deafness, autism, stuttering, or lisps).

 
4. Tape and transcribe a very short conversation or part of a conversation between two people.  Explain how the conversation typical or atypical in terms of the "rules" of conversation.  How does the conversation evolve?  Do the participants violate any "rules" of conversation?  Do they violate the cooperative principle?

 
5. Choose a brief passage from a play or novel that consists of a conversation between two or more characters.  Explain how typical of real conversation the passage is.  Do the characters follow the "rules" of conversation?  Can you identify adjacency pairs, repairs, opening and closing sequences, etc.?  How realistic is the dialogue as portrayed in this literary form?

 
6. Write a short research paper in which you explore whether or not an animal language is truly language.  How do the experts define language?  How do the experts characterize the animal language you have chosen?  Do they consider it a language?  Why or why not?  Do you agree?

Use the Oxford English Dictionary and/or other sources to research the history and linguistic properties of a single English word. Where and when did the word originate? When did it come into English usage? How has it evolved over the centuries? What words have been derived from it and how? In about 5 pages, trace its semantic, phonological, orthographic, and morphological changes from its origins (as far back as we know) through the present.