The purpose of this course is to offer a overview of the research related to the interaction between syntax, informational content, and prosodic phonology that accounts for the differences in Spanish word order.

This course will focus on how generative grammar frameworks have modeled the (morpho)syntactic representations of speakers–in particular, those of second-language speakers. To this end, our course will examine second language acquisition within the framework of current generative grammar (Generative Second Language Acquisition Research). Within generative linguistics, certain principles of language are assumed to be innately present in the first language of the learner (L1), helping to account for the fact that children and L2 learners have been shown to acquire complex and subtle aspects of language even though these are rarely found in the input (the so-called “Poverty of the Stimulus” situation). This innate structure is known as ‘Universal Grammar” (UG). UG has been assumed to contain fixed principles, as well as parameters which allow for variation across languages. Input data from the first language interacts with these innate principles, helping children learn their L1 and children (and adults) to learn languages beyond the first.

Research on UG in SLA has focused on a number broad topics, including a) whether principles and parameters do constrain L2 acquisition, b) whether the assembly and reassembly of features plays an important role in explaining the syntactic representation of learners, c) the nature of the so-called ‘Logical problem’ of L1 and L2 acquisition, d) the acquisition and development of functional categories; e) the nature of the initial state of L2 acquisition, f) the nature of ultimate attainment and the existence of critical/sensitive periods, g) acquisition at linguistic and cognitive interfaces, and h) the role of the acquisition of the lexicon, among many others.

Although we will use Romance Languages (primarily Spanish) as our main departure point, the general theoretical approach and the theories and hypotheses we will study can be applied to the acquisition of any language.

This course will be a combination of lecture, discussion, assignments and original research papers. You will also participate in a workshop that you will lead where you will present a research project and learn how to incorporate feedback to strengthen your experimental design. Assessment will be based on class participation, paper summaries (and lit reviews), presentations, homework, and a research paper proposing an original study (or a conceptual replication).

This course involves an examination of the methods and argumentation used in syntactic analysis, both from a general point of view and from the perspective of generative grammar. Emphasis is placed on analyzing language data, on constructing and evaluating syntactic argumentation, and on understanding the Principles & Parameters approach to the study of sentence structure. Secondarily, this course is also an introduction to scientific theorizing: what it means to construct a scientific theory, how to test a scientific theory, how to choose among competing theories. Linguistic data will be drawn from Spanish.

Online Course Design for Advanced Language Courses is a course that provides language instructors with a foundation in Computer Assisted Language Learning (CALL) theory and best practices for online language course design. Through this course, students will become familiar with publications on digital pedagogy theory, be introduced to Quality Matters (QM) online design standards, and create online shells for advanced language courses, including the fields of linguistics and literature. The course will provide students with the opportunity to experience the digital classroom and, based on that experience, evaluate crucial content/design components of online FL courses. The capstone project requires each student to create and present their own online Spanish language course that complies with the QM rubric.

This course offers an introduction to the pedagogical and sociocultural issues surrounding the teaching and language learning of heritage language learners. The course highlights Spanish heritage language (SHL) learners as the primary lens through which to view heritage language pedagogy and emphasizes a critical language awareness approach. The course will begin by defining the field and SHL learners and will address issues related to the goals of SHL instruction and methods available for its teaching, sociolinguistics processes common in SHL students' Spanish and the sociopolitical position of Spanish in the US. This course incorporates a practical component of classroom observation and lesson and activity planning to prepare future teachers for effective SHL teaching practices.

This class is suitable for any graduate student interested in teaching college-level heritage language classes and current or future K-12 teachers of Spanish heritage learners.

The goal of this course is to systematically examine methods, approaches, techniques and activities for the teaching of foreign languages and its use in the classroom. It will include an overview of learner strategies and cooperative learning, the use and adaptation of textbooks, and some of the journals available in the field. Participants will be introduced to second language acquisition theories, course design, lesson planning and testing, and have experience creating a cohesive instructional unit.

Advanced study of Spanish phonology from a generative perspective.

This course continues the study of the generative analysis of the phonological system of Spanish started in Spanish phonology I. SPAN 580 (Spanish Phonology II) reviews recent analyses of important phonological processes of Spanish, highlighting advances, difficulties and unresolved theoretical and empirical issues. The course aims to provide students with: (a) the knowledge and resources necessary to read and critique/analyze generative analyses of the phonological system of Spanish; (b) a general understanding of major theoretical models of phonology through their application to Spanish; (c) a general understanding of the challenges presented by Spanish to modern linguistic analysis, as well as the ability to formulate research questions. Students who wish to enroll in the course are required to have a sound knowledge of the descriptive facts of the phonology of Spanish and of major concepts/tools of generative phonology.

This course is an overview of the phonological system of Spanish and some of the analyses proposed by generative phonology. It covers alternative accounts of the same phenomenon with the goal of introducing the student to phonological analysis and to advances made by various theories in trying to account for the facts in various dialects of Spanish. Given the need for a strong foundation and mastery of concepts and tools of phonological theory, a significant part of the course will be devoted to introducing students to them. The second part of the course focuses on the application of those tools and concepts to the phonological system of Spanish on the basis of extant analyses. A sound knowledge of the descriptive facts about the phonology of Spanish is assumed.

This course provides graduate students with an opportunity to explore main issues and theories in the field of heritage languages from different perspectives and prepare them to conduct research in this field. Some of the topics included in the course include: heritage language populations and communities, language policies and ideologies, heritage language competence and development, and heritage language pedagogues. Emphasis will be placed on Spanish as a heritage language in the United States but other heritage languages will also be covered.