A term paper of  no less  than 1500 words  will be written on a Topic which you should select from a list of Language Development Hypotheses.

 

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, or support or refute the hypothesis you have selected from the list.  A minimum of three citations ( you can have as many above that number as you wish) with references in APA format will be included at the end of the paper.

 

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?

 

The List:

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)