CLASS REQUIREMENT # 2–A 1500 WORD MINIMUM TERM PAPER:

A term paper of no less than 1500 words will be written on a Topic which you should select from the list of Language Development Hypotheses provided at the bottom of this guide in BLUE FONT.  This list is also available in the Class Requirements Section of the online Course.  The Term Paper is to present a discussion based on a minimum of three articles, books or chapters in a book (excluding the class Text, of course), that describe, support or refute the hypothesis you have selected from the list. Please note that you can do all three in the same paper if you wish.   A minimum of three references in APA format will be included at the end of the paper. The entire paper, however does not need to adhere to APA format.  This pertains to just the references.  An example of APA format is also provided in the Class Requirements Section of the online Class.

Also, at the end of the paper you should include a short Appendix, which will answer three questions:  1. What were the databases, if any, that you used to find each article or book; 2. What was the search strategy you used (i.e., the search words you used) in each database to find the articles; and 3.  Was each article that you cited an example of Primary or Secondary research? 

 

Topics:

1.            The effects of watching television for young children are detrimental to language development.

 

2.            The number of siblings and their position in the family in terms of birth effects language development.

 

3.            Increased opportunities to experience (play with) many objects as a young child is beneficial to concept (and hence) language development.

 

 

4.            Letting the infant cry at night so that she/she will learn to sleep all night long is detrimental to language development if not the psychological development of the baby.

 

5.            Exposing the child in the first five years of life to classical music like Bach and Beethoven is beneficial for cognitive and/or language development.

 

 

6.            The more you talk to a child in the first five years, the better cognitive and/or language development will be.

 

7.            Children who are read to (or who read) have better imagery and/or language development than children who watch Television.

 

 

8.            A plentiful diet of sugar based cereals, soft drinks, pastries, cookies, and/or fast foods, is developmentally detrimental to a child’s ability to sustain attention.

 

9.            Reading to a child every day (even an infant) is beneficial for language development.

 

 

10.         A baby, who immediately after birth is allowed to remain with the mother rather than being immediately put in a nursery, will demonstrate more vocalization in later months.

 

11.         Babies who are not touched will perish at worst or have diminished brain development at best.

 

 

12.         Children who watch Television spend less time reading or drawing than children who don’t.

 

13.         Children with stay-at-home moms (or dads) have better language development than those having parents who both work away from the home.

 

 

14.         Sustained middle ear infections among children from birth to 5 years will have a detrimental effect on language development.

 

15.         Learning to read and play music facilitates attention (focused, sustained, selective, alternating and dual).

 

 

16.         For the normal baby, being exposed to two, three or more languages is simultaneously is a good policy for language development.

 

17.         A person’s first language can not be acquired after puberty.

 

18.         Parrots, porpoises, and/or primates do not acquire language

 

 

19.         Children have better eidetic imagery than adults

 

20.         Syntax is only found in human communication.

 

 

21.         (Wild Card) You develop a hypotheses and then do the research for your report.  But be sure to clear this with the instructor first.

 

(Please note that you don’t have to prove the hypotheses one way or the other.  Just discuss them as you see fit.  Excluding the first, you may address all references to one Topic, or use separate topics for each reference, or any combination thereof.

 

CLASS REQUIREMENT # 4–TECHNOLOGY APPLICATION AND PRACTICE:  An Annotated Bibliography will be developed including Five (100 word minimum per annotation) Annotated Citations.  With the exception of the first, these references will be based on topics obtained from the Language Development Hypotheses in the list provided at the end of this survival document, and again in the Class Requirement Section online. You may use the same Topic for all, or different Topics for each, or any combination thereof.  The choice is yours.

 

The First annotated citation will be on the Topic of the “Legal and Ethical Dimensions of the Use of Information.”  This information can be obtained from the Internet using a search engine such as ONE SEARCH on the CSUN Oviatt Library Home page, or Google.  The annotated citation should be in APA format as much as possible, and should include the URL (address) of the of the Internet site; or a citation of the book or article if that was used.  The annotation should provide a short overview of the article and/or list the most critical points.  Please note that the subject of this article need not be associated with language Development.  It only needs to address information delivery.

 

The second two of these citations will be full Text articles or books obtained through Databases of professional books and journals available at, or online through the CSUN Library.  For more information on how to find these databases please see the discussion in the Class Requirements Section Online.  These citations will be reported in APA format.  Included in the annotation portion of each citation will be a paragraph, which briefly summarizes the article (you can usually get this information from the abstract), and answers following questions:

 

1. What is the background (authority) of the author (viz., degree and type of education, affiliated institution, history of research in the area as perhaps reflected by past articles in the bibliography)?

2.  Who is the intended audience (i.e., professionals, laypersons, women etc.)?

 

3.  How does this work compare or contrast with others you may have cited or be aware of?  If you are not aware of any others, simply state that as the situation.

 

4.  What is the scope and relevance of this work to the selected topic (hypothesis)?  What the heck do I mean by that?  Well, is it highly or only vaguely relevant to the hypothesis; and is it of minor or major importance.

 

The Last Two citations will be obtained through the Internet using any search engines provided online such as “Google Scholar.”  These citations will follow an APA format as closely as possible, including the URL information.  Included in each citation will be a paragraph, which briefly summarizes the site, and addresses the following questions related to, for the purpose of this exercise, the voracity of the Website:

 

1.     Is the site owner/manager’s identity available and is it associated with a reputable organization, company or educational institution?

 

2.     What is the background (authority) of the author (viz., degree and type of education, affiliated institution, history of research in the area as perhaps reflected by past articles in the site bibliography. If this information is not available, simply state that fact.)

 

3. What is the level of objectivity?  For example, are there advertisements on the site related in anyway to the topic?

 

4.    Is the Website current?  Cues to the contrary, for example, include broken or expired links and/or no posting date or updated notations.

 

5.  Is the information correct; error free, verifiable, and/or backed by full citations?