The Psycholinguistics of Bilingualism ENGLANG5137

  • Academic Session: 2025-26
  • School: School of Critical Studies
  • Credits: 20
  • Level: Level 5 (SCQF level 11)
  • Typically Offered: Either Semester 1 or Semester 2 (Alternate Years)
  • Available to Visiting Students: No
  • Collaborative Online International Learning: No
  • Curriculum For Life: No

Short Description

It is commonly estimated that at least half of the language users in the world speak two or more languages. Bilingualism (or multilingualism) is the norm, rather than the exception. How do speakers navigate their multiple different grammatical systems to produce and comprehend speech? What cognitive resources do they rely upon when using two or more languages? And is it true that there is a 'bilingual advantage', which assists bilinguals in performing non-linguistic tasks? This course provides introductory training in the theory and methods of psycholinguistic research, specifically as applied to speakers of two or more languages.

Timetable

10 x 1-hour lecture

8 x 1-hour seminar

6 x 1-hour workshop

 

This is one of the options and may not run every year. The options that are running this session are available on MyCampus.

Requirements of Entry

Standard entry to Masters at College level.

Excluded Courses

None

Co-requisites

None

Assessment

1 x reading summary + response (1000 words, 20%)

 

EITHER

1 x technical exercise, to build an experiment using appropriate software, methods, and design (30%)

1 x final project proposal, to motivate, design, and discuss predictions for an independent experiment (50%, 2500 words)

 

OR

1 x final project (80%), comprising the following two components:

■ Building and running a psycholinguistics experiment using appropriate software, methods, and design (30%)

■ A final project write-up, including a literature review, description of methods, basic analysis of results, and discussion (50%, 2500 words)

Course Aims

This course aims to:

■ Introduce core research methods in psycholinguistics, including behavioural and electrophysiological paradigms

■ Explore common psycholinguistic models of speech perception and production, as applied to bilingual language processing

■ Examine ongoing disagreements in the field, with particular emphasis to the debate about the so-called 'bilingual advantage'

Intended Learning Outcomes of Course

By the end of this course students will be able to:

■ Summarise and evaluate primary research studies about the psycholinguistics of bilingualism

■ Employ current models of language processing to account for experimental results

■ Critically evaluate evidence supporting and contradicting the 'bilingual advantage'

■ Identify open questions in the field of bilingual psycholinguistics

■ Design and motivate an experimental psycholinguistic research project that addresses open research questions

Minimum Requirement for Award of Credits

Students must submit at least 75% by weight of the components (including examinations) of the course's summative assessment.