# Fundamentals of Language Acquisition

- Institution: IIT Guwahati
- Department: Humanities and Social Sciences
- Teacher: Prof. Bidisha Som
- Level: Undergraduate
- Language: English
- Subjects: Society and politics
- Source: [NPTEL](https://nptel.ac.in/courses/109103753)
- Licence: [CC BY-NC-SA](https://nptel.ac.in/faq) (Non-commercial use only.)
- Syllabus: [at the source](https://nptel.ac.in/courses/109103753)
- Who can watch: Teens profiles and older (sources give no ratings; placed by Invisible Network from the source's own words)

How humans acquire language is not a question only linguists ask; it is a mystery to many as how children learn the nuances of the most complex grammatical structures effortlessly that adults and machines find difficult. This is a key topic within Linguistics and all students of the discipline require an understanding of the nuances of the same. Not just Linguistics, this is important from the perspective of child development as well as research in intervention in language teaching tools etc. The course will cover the main theories of first language acquisition, acquisition of the components of language like phonology, morphology, words, syntax, semantics, communication skills, second language acquisition as well as language acquisition among atypical children. to give a holistic understanding of the topic at hand. Each of these domains will be thoroughly discussed, with adequate theoretical understanding as well as empirical data from research.

Intended audience: UG/PG/PhD students from any discipline and early career researchers dealing with language related courses or teaching. Also applicable for students of developmental psychology, speech and language disorder, cognitive science as well as industry specializing in the domain of language and social interventions for atypical children suffering from cognitive disorders/ delay.

## Lectures

1. [Lec 1: Introduction to the course, specific properties of human language](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/learn/nptel/109103753/e591aee4abcc) (YouTube)
2. [Lec 2: Evolution, biological markers](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/learn/nptel/109103753/cfaccbc8b5ae) (YouTube)
3. [Lec 3: Biological markers of evolution](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/learn/nptel/109103753/58b46e104fff) (YouTube)
4. [Lec 4: Gestural theory of language evolution](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/learn/nptel/109103753/9f93f53bc922) (YouTube)
5. [Lec 5: Cultural theory of language evolution](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/learn/nptel/109103753/6605a9203adc) (YouTube)
6. [Lec 6: Stages of development; Behaviorism](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/learn/nptel/109103753/3ff593133bdf) (YouTube)
7. [Lec 7: Behaviorism; Nativism](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/learn/nptel/109103753/27591489e1dd) (YouTube)
8. [Lec 8: Other variables: CPH and ToM](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/learn/nptel/109103753/d5a901c0d891) (YouTube)
9. [Lec 9: Joint attention and body schematics](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/learn/nptel/109103753/1656836bc661) (YouTube)
10. [Lec 10: Methods of studying language acquisition](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/learn/nptel/109103753/ce55735bac86) (YouTube)
11. [Lec 11: Stages of Development: Prenatal to Childhood](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/learn/nptel/109103753/9297bff10bd6) (YouTube)
12. [Lec 12: Theories of Speech Perception: Motor Theory, Universal Theory](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/learn/nptel/109103753/69ca43a404f1) (YouTube)
13. [Lec 13: Attunement Theory](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/learn/nptel/109103753/5f06a1a90b84) (YouTube)
14. [Lec 14: Speech Segmentation](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/learn/nptel/109103753/181ecf5880f1) (YouTube)
15. [Lec 15: Speech Production](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/learn/nptel/109103753/d4e928243bac) (YouTube)
16. [Lec 16: Inflectional morphology](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/learn/nptel/109103753/6c5b519e9213) (YouTube)
17. [Lec 17: Theories](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/learn/nptel/109103753/08b376ff9f92) (YouTube)
18. [Lec 18: Constructivism](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/learn/nptel/109103753/2b7ad4e636c1) (YouTube)
19. [Lec 19: Blocking Hypothesis](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/learn/nptel/109103753/aee60a337320) (YouTube)
20. [Lec 20: Dual and Single Route Models](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/learn/nptel/109103753/ede5d8c81548) (YouTube)
21. [Lec 21: From Phonological Word Form to Word-Meaning Mapping; Word Comprehension](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/learn/nptel/109103753/76f2aea7982a) (YouTube)
22. [Lec 22: Reference Problem and Extension Problem](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/learn/nptel/109103753/e7b48d9ecc6e) (YouTube)
23. [Lec 23: Theories of Word Acquisition](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/learn/nptel/109103753/63964134056e) (YouTube)
24. [Lec 24: Sociopragmatic factors and attentional learning account](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/learn/nptel/109103753/96741525c764) (YouTube)
25. [Lec 25: Emergentist Coalition Model](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/learn/nptel/109103753/4ac7fc76bce0) (YouTube)
26. [Lec 26: The Beginning](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/learn/nptel/109103753/daf4081d0bbb) (YouTube)
27. [Lec 27: Naivist and Constructivist Theories](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/learn/nptel/109103753/78bfa04cdcfa) (YouTube)
28. [Lec 28: Theories](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/learn/nptel/109103753/288483a3d55d) (YouTube)
29. [Lec 29: Morphosyntactic Dependency](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/learn/nptel/109103753/59456207d56d) (YouTube)
30. [Lec 30: Complex Structures](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/learn/nptel/109103753/2886b79a0152) (YouTube)
31. [Lec 31: Early approaches to SLA](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/learn/nptel/109103753/9498e2f0fdb5) (YouTube)
32. [Lec 32: Parallel between First and Second Language Acquisition](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/learn/nptel/109103753/56717e61c0ee) (YouTube)
33. [Lec 33: Theoretical Approaches](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/learn/nptel/109103753/d2d381ae2661) (YouTube)
34. [Lec 34: Functional Approaches](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/learn/nptel/109103753/7f8b8c7f3367) (YouTube)
35. [Lec 35: Psychological and Neural Aspects of SLA](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/learn/nptel/109103753/fd7e6a2f3a8a) (YouTube)
36. [Lec 36: Social aspects of SLA](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/learn/nptel/109103753/be53f1ba74b7) (YouTube)
37. [Lec 37: Childhood bilingualism](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/learn/nptel/109103753/ac74d80ddebe) (YouTube)
38. [Lec 38: Successive bilingualsim among children](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/learn/nptel/109103753/f4f4aec47f8c) (YouTube)
39. [Lec 39: Adult SLA](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/learn/nptel/109103753/4629c0845c4d) (YouTube)
40. [Lec 40: New domains](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/learn/nptel/109103753/a79ad5c54e24) (YouTube)
41. [Lec 41: Is experience necessary?](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/learn/nptel/109103753/7939bd085cbd) (YouTube)
42. [Lec 42: Linguistic input, BTR](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/learn/nptel/109103753/1e7c6134cfcd) (YouTube)
43. [Lec 43: BTR continued](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/learn/nptel/109103753/e8f6600ab6cc) (YouTube)
44. [Lec 44: Geographical factors, statistical learning, social brain](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/learn/nptel/109103753/a6de091f6e42) (YouTube)
45. [Lec 45: Social brain contd.](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/learn/nptel/109103753/1362bfc7aa81) (YouTube)
46. [Lec 46: Grice's rules, preverbal communication](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/learn/nptel/109103753/6e3f82082cb8) (YouTube)
47. [Lec 47: Verbal communication: speech act](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/learn/nptel/109103753/852701f04e0b) (YouTube)
48. [Lec 48: Implicatures: scalar and relevance](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/learn/nptel/109103753/6d3032765d2c) (YouTube)
49. [Lec 49: Turn taking](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/learn/nptel/109103753/f991466ee27b) (YouTube)
50. [Lec 50: politeness, figurative language](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/learn/nptel/109103753/c6ddaadcb2f8) (YouTube)
51. [Lec 51: Language areas in the Brain](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/learn/nptel/109103753/1050833c9f0f) (YouTube)
52. [Lec 52: Brain Mapping Methods and Milestones in Language Development](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/learn/nptel/109103753/74625b812b78) (YouTube)
53. [Lec 53: Brain Development and its Correlation with Language Development](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/learn/nptel/109103753/f692be31c757) (YouTube)
54. [Lec 54: Neural Activation Pattern for Bilinguals](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/learn/nptel/109103753/b5ea5516eefe) (YouTube)
55. [Lec 55: Proficiency](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/learn/nptel/109103753/665c815142a8) (YouTube)
56. [Lec 56: Language Development and Cognitive Processes: Independent or Interdependent](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/learn/nptel/109103753/85b60dfb3740) (YouTube)
57. [Lec 57: William Syndrome](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/learn/nptel/109103753/f2dcbfbbef45) (YouTube)
58. [Lec 58: Other Neuro Developmental Disorders](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/learn/nptel/109103753/ba0113ba0988) (YouTube)
59. [Lec 59: Down Syndrome Interventions](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/learn/nptel/109103753/ee6843e7f105) (YouTube)
60. [Lec 60: Summary](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/learn/nptel/109103753/e6d60cc89e2f) (YouTube)