Welcome
The University of Calgary Department of Linguistics is one of western Canada's leading centres for the scientific study of language. Our faculty conduct innovative research in the traditional theoretical sub-disciplines of phonology, phonetics, syntax, morphology and historical linguistics. We are also leaders in the fields of first and second language acquisition, theoretically-informed experimental investigations of language, and field work on indigenous languages of Canada. For more information on the programs we offer, please visit our Undergraduate and Graduate pages, or the University Calendar. Departmental News Teaching Opportunities - Spring & Summer 2012Application deadline: February 15, 2012 GSA Food DriveThank you to everyone who brought items in for the GSA food drive. Our Department collected the most items and we won a $300 gift certificate to the grad lounge! Student AccomplishmentsCongratulations to Danica MacDonald for the following:
New publicationJurgen Meisel has a new book out in the Cambridge University Textbooks in Linguistics series.
Each chapter includes suggested reading and topics for further discussion • Summarizes research questions and findings from various subfields to demonstrate how they are related and how they often complement each other • A useful glossary at the end of the book provides a guide to the technical terms. Review: Advance praise: '… an excellent textbook on similarities and differences between first and second language acquisition, but also an insightful and provocative synthesis of research on this topic.' Fred Genesee, McGill University For further information, click here for a link to the publisher’s website.Dr Julie SedivyWe are very pleased to announce that Dr Julie Sedivy has joined the department as Adjunct Associate Professor. She is the lead author of a new book exploring the ways in which language is harvested for its persuasive power, "Sold on Language: How Advertisers Talk to You and What This Says About You", and will be teaching courses in Linguistics and Psychology this year. You can follow Julie's blog at Psychology Today by clicking here, and you can also read an interesting article with her regarding political talk, here. Julie also gave a public talk on May 18th 2011 to launch her new book.
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Infants and very young children develop almost miraculously the ability of speech, without apparent effort, without even being taught – as opposed to the teenager or the adult struggling without, it seems, ever being able to reach the same level of proficiency as five year olds in their first language. This useful textbook serves as a guide to different types of language acquisition: monolingual and bilingual first language development and child and adult second language acquisition. Unlike other books, it systematically compares first and second language acquisition, drawing on data from several languages. Research questions and findings from various subfields are helpfully summarized to show students how they are related and how they often complement each other. The essential guide to studying first and second language acquisition, it will be used on courses in linguistics, modern languages and developmental psychology.
