First-year of study M.A. theme seminars (1MA THEME) for summer term 2024–2025 (Language, Mind, Technology)

What is this list?

This is a list of theme seminars we intend to launch in the summer term (October–February) in of our full-time M.A. programme Language, Mind, Technology. (For information on subject seminars for English Philology, follow this link .)

How to navigate the list?

The list is sorted by name of the teacher. The format of each entry is the following: the title of the course, the name of the teacher, and the description of the course.

Sounds and words of the world’s languages

prof. UAM dr hab. Marcin Kilarski

This course is an overview of the ways in which the languages of the world differ in their sound systems and word structure. We are going to ask and answer such questions as “What are the common features that languages share?” and “How can we account for differences among languages?”. The course will consist of the following parts:

  1. An introduction to linguistic typology;
  2. An overview of sound systems (consonant and vowel inventories, ordering of sounds);
  3. An overview of types of word structure (types of morphemes, ways morphemes are arranged in words, means of expressing lexical and grammatical meanings);
  4. Language change (ways in which languages develop grammar and situations where grammar and word structure become simplified);
  5. External contexts (role of cultural, socio-demographic and environmental factors).

Throughout the course we will analyse examples from a variety of languages without adopting any theoretical framework. The course can serve as a starting point for future explorations of, e.g., the role of social factors such as population size in the development/loss of language structure; the extent to which patterns in language are universal or culture-specific; and the degree to which more familiar languages such as English and Polish share features found in other languages.

The final grade will be based on a 20-minute presentation (90%) as well as attendance and participation in discussion (10%).

Sample references:

  • Aikhenvald, Alexandra Y. and R.M.W. Dixon (eds.). 2017. The Cambridge handbook of linguistic typology. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. [link to DOI].
  • Hammarström, Harald, Robert Forkel, Martin Haspelmath and Sebastian Bank (eds.). 2024. Glottolog 5.1. Leipzig: Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology. ([Link to Glottolog’s website]).
  • Hickey, Raymond (ed.). 2017. The Cambridge handbook of areal linguistics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. [link to DOI].
  • Moravcsik, Edith. 2013. Introducing language typology. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
  • Skirgård, Hedvig et al. 2023. “Grambank reveals the importance of genealogical constraints on linguistic diversity and highlights the impact of language loss”, Science Advances 9, eadg6175. [link to DOI].
  • Voelkel, Svenja and Franziska Kretzschmar. 2021. Introducing linguistic research. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. [link to DOI].

Theoretical approaches to multiple language acquisition

prof. UAM dr hab. Magdalena Wrembel

Research into second language acquisition has enjoyed a well-documented tradition; however, recently scholars have started to differentiate between the acquisition of the first foreign language (L2) as opposed to other subsequent languages (L3, L4, Ln). Consequently, Third Language Acquisition (TLA) has started to be recognised as an independent, dynamically growing field of inquiry. The seminar will focus on the existing theories of L3 acquisition modelling multiple language learning. Major models of L3 acquisition will be outlined featuring: the Cumulative-Enhancement Model (CEM) (Flynn et al., 2004), the L2 Status Factor Model (Bardel & Falk 2012), the Typological Primacy Model (TPM) (Rothman, 2015), the Linguistic Proximity Model (LPM) (Westergaard et al., 2017), and the Scalpel Model (Slabakova, 2017). We will discuss these L3 models as providing conflicting explanations to the sources and nature of cross-linguistic influence (CLI) in L3 acquisition. In turn, the Dynamic Model of Multilingualism (Herdina & Jessner, 2002) will be offered as embracing elements of the Dynamic Systems Theory or Complexity Theory (Kretzschmar, 2015). We will then shift the focus to dedicated models for L3 phonological acquisition that have been recently proposed, including the Natural Growth Theory of Acquisition (Dziubalska-Kołaczyk & Wrembel, 2022, 2024). In this seminar we aim to overview the existing theoretical approaches to multiple language acquisition by discussing their tenets and assessing their explanatory potential.

Credit requirements:

  • Reading of the assigned literature for each seminar.
  • Submitting a project – a research proposal framed in one of the selected models of L3 acquisition.

Selected references:

  • Berthele, R. 2021. The Extraordinary Ordinary: Re-engineering Multilingualism as a Natural Category. Language Learning 71: 80-120.
  • Cabrelli, J., Chaouch-Orozco, A., González Alonso, J., Pereira Soares, S., Puig-Mayenco, E. and Rothman, J. (Eds.). 2023. The Cambridge Handbook of Third Language Acquisition and Processing, Cambridge University Press [external link].
  • Cabrelli Amaro, J., S. Flynn and J. Rothman (eds) 2012. Third Language Acquisition in Adulthood. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.
  • De Angelis, G. 2007. Third or Additional Language Acquisition. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters.
  • Dziubalska-Kołaczyk, K., Wrembel, M. 2024. A revised Natural Growth Theory of Acquisition: Evidence from L3 phonology. In: Babatsouli, E. (ed.). Multilingual Acquisition and Learning: An ecosystemic view to diversity. John Benjamins. pp. 426–449.
  • Hammarberg, B. (ed.) 2009. Processes in third language acquisition. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.
  • Singleton, D. & Aronin, L. (eds.). 2019. Twelve Lectures on Multilingualism. Bristol: Multilingual Matters.