Course Requirement #2—A 1500 MINIMUM (MORE IS OK) WORD TERM PAPER
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A term paper of no less than 1500 words will be
written on a Topic to be selected by the students from a list of Language
Development Hypotheses. This list is
provided below. The Term Paper is to
include a discussion, based on a minimum of three
articles, books or chapters in a book (excluding the class Textbook),
which describe, discuss, support and/or refute the hypothesis selected from the
list. A minimum of three citations with
references in APA format will be included at the end of the paper. Examples of
APA format are also provided below.
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Also at the end of the paper will be included a short
Appendix which will answer three questions:
1. What were the databases used to find each
article. (For example in the Communicative Disorders Multisearch example shown
below we searched ten Data Bases but found most of our articles in PubMed.)
2. What was the search strategy which was used, i.e., the search words used in each database
to find the articles. (In the example below, we used the terms
“Television and (Language Development).
We put the last two terms in brackets so that the computer would link
Television to both terms and not just “Language.”)
3. Was each article cited an example of Primary
or Secondary research? As defined by the Library at UC Berkley, “Primary
sources were either created during the time period being
studied, or were created at a later date by a participant in the events being
studied (as in the case of memoirs) and they reflect the individual viewpoint
of a participant or observer. Primary sources enable the researcher to get as
close as possible to what actually happened during an historical event or time
period.”
“ A secondary source is
a work that interprets or analyzes an historical event or phenomenon. It is
generally at least one step removed from the event. Examples include scholarly
or popular books and articles, reference books, and textbooks.”
The Term Paper will be sent to the instructor both
as an attachment and as text copied and pasted directly into an email
message.
How do you find these databases and journals? PLEASE FEEL FREE TO USE ANY SEARCH STRATEGY YOU FEEL COMFORTABLE WITH. THE FOLLOWING DISCUSSION IS FOR STUDENTS WHO HAVE NO IDEA HOW TO BEGIN AND WOULD LIKE A LITTLE DIRECTION.
If you are NOT familiar with online Library
Research, you may want to go to a Library Search Engine that focuses on databases
that would have Journals that include articles on Language Development. One such Search Engine is…Communicative
Disorders Multisearch at:
Please Use this link
to See
Multsearch
to See
Multsearch
(Please note that at various times you may be asked
to type in your CSUN User ID and Password. If you do not have these then you can look up the references individually using the CSUN Library Database).
Please Use this link
to See
The CSUN Library Database A - Z
”
The Multisearch engine will allow you
to search as many as ten data bases with one research strategy (i.e., words used for searching the data base). For example the Communicative Disorders
Multisearch page looks like the following.
You could type in the Search Words, “Television and Language Development ”
and check off the databases we would like to search in (from one up to ten).
to See
The CSUN Library Database A - Z
When you click on the “GO” button, you
will get a list of the databases that have related articles, and an indication
of how many there may be in each In this
case, for example, it reported that there were 210 articles in PubMed—easily enough for our needs.
Clicking on the PubMed link
brings up a list of related articles as shown in part below. The third article in particular seems to be
very appropriate.
This is an article entitled “Television Viewing Associates with Delayed Language
Development.” You may be able to get an
abstract or even the full text printout on this article by clicking on the
“FIND TEXT”
link at the beginning of the last line in the reference. There are two benefits to be obtained from
this link. When you click on Find Text
there will be an link to get “More Options.”
When you open the “More Options” link, you will have the opportunity to
choose “Save the
citation information” in whatever format you wish.
If you choose APA, it will automatically present the
reference in an APA format. You need to
check it, however, as sometimes even the computer makes an error and leaves
something out.
The other benefit is that we can follow the link to
a database that may provide either a copy of the full abstract, or the full
article itself. Please note in the Find
Text report above it states that the Full Text is available through (a database
called) Wiley Interescience. It you
click on this link, you will be taken, in this case, to the abstract of this
article in Acta Paediatrica, as shown below.
The following are Examples of APA format for various
types of references. Please use these as
models to construct your three references at the end of the paper. You can use these as models to construct the
type of reference you have at the end if your term paper.
·
Information Competency Exercise: Language
Development Hypotheses List for Student Research
1.
The effects of
watching television for young children are detrimental to language development.
2.
The number of
siblings and their position in the family in terms of birth effects language
development.
3.
Increased
opportunities to experience (play with) many objects as a young child is
beneficial to concept (and hence) language development.
4.
Letting the
infant cry at night so that she/she will learn to sleep all night long is
detrimental to language development if not the psychological development of the
baby.
5.
Exposing the
child in the first five years of life to classical music like Bach and
Beethoven is beneficial for cognitive and/or language development.
6.
The more you talk
to a child in the first five years, the better cognitive and/or language
development will be.
7.
Children who are
read to (or who read) have better imagery and/or language development than
children who watch Television.
8.
A plentiful diet
of sugar based cereals, soft drinks, pastries, cookies, and/or fast foods, is
developmentally detrimental to a child’s ability to sustain attention.
9.
10. A baby, who immediately after birth is allowed to
remain with the mother rather than being immediately put in a nursery, will
demonstrate more vocalization in later months.
11. Babies who are not touched will perish at worst or
have diminished brain development at best.
12. Children who watch Television spend less time reading
or drawing than children who don’t.
13. Children with stay-at-home moms (or dads) have better
language development than those having parents who both work away from the
home.
14. Sustained middle ear infections among children from
birth to 5 years will have a detrimental effect on language development.
15. Learning to read and play music facilitates attention
(focused, sustained, selective, alternating and dual).
16. For the normal baby, being exposed to two, three or
more languages is simultaneously is a good policy for language development.
17. A persons first language can not be acquired after
puberty.
18. Parrots, porpoises, and/or primates do not acquire
language
19. Children have better eidetic imagery than adults
20. Syntax is only found in human communication.
21. (Wild Card) You develop a hypotheses and then do the
research for your report.
Grading Criteria, and The Dooms Day Due Date Deadline for all Class Requirements.
·
The Term Papers will be graded on the following bases: To receive Full Credit a total minimum of 80% must be achieved:
o
Relevance
and style of the References (20%)
o
Complexity
of the topic selected (10%)
o
Thoroughness
of the discussion (40%)
o
Writing
skills including speling, {just kidding}--spelling, grammar, transition &
organization) (30%).
·
The Due Date: You can submit this assignment at any time up to the end of the
Semester. Everything is due by the date
of the final exam (not that we have a final exam) as posted in the
Semester Schedule of Courses. The due
date is also noted in the class Survival Information provided to all students
at the beginning of the Semester.
·
PLEASE NOTE THAT THIS ASSIGNMENT MUST BE COMPLETED WITH FULL CREDIT IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF
THE 2000 WORD WRITING REQUIREMENT SET BY THE UNIVERSITY FOR THIS CLASS. FAILURE TO DO SO MAY RESULT IN A SIGNIFICANT DROP
IN THE FINAL COURSE GRADE!
·
Please submit your paper as an attachment to an
email message; And as a backup, again by cutting and pasting it directly
into the same email
message.
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