CLINICAL LINGUISTICS MOD.1

This course discusses the most relevant characteristics of bilingualism, the development of
two or more languages simultaneously or sequentially, its properties, and the general
linguistic processes that derive from the linguistic contact. We will cover different types of
bilingualisms, in adult and in children, with a special emphasis on the Romance languages.
This course will also have a methodological and practical component since the students will
need to carry out original linguistic research in the form of a final project.

It is expected that, upon the successful completion of this course, the students will have the
ability to accomplish the following:
1. Knowledge and understanding
 Be able to identify and understand the recent hypotheses on bilingual language
acquisition and the factors that make an impact in its development.
 Be able to assess language acquisition data collection tests: comprehension, elicited
production, repetition, truth value judgments tasks, grammaticality judgment tasks,
etc.
 Understand the technical terminology and the main research methodologies to collect
data on language acquisition studies.
2. Applying knowledge and understanding
 Be able to apply the theoretical linguistic knowledge in order to understand
bilingualism data.
 Use the appropriate technical terminology in all stages of application, e.g. when
analysing new data or when explaining syntactic theory.
 Be able to collect new acquisition data, e.g. collect comprehension data or judgments,
production data, etc.
3. Critical Thinking
 Be able to formulate empirically and theoretically grounded hypotheses on
bilingualism data.
 Be able to critically analyze data and hypotheses in order to explain different
bilingualism contexts.
4. Communication skills
 Be able to write with sound argumentation and appropriate terminology about the
topics discussed during the course.
 Be able to describe, defend, and discuss orally the empirical project carried out.
 Be able to elaborate on one of the topics discussed during the course.
 Be able to ask questions and discuss with peers and professors in a critical and
respectful manner.
5. Learning skills:
 To develop critical thinking.
 To work in groups.
 To share information, data and hypotheses.

 To be able to look for and select bibliographical resources to study bilingual data.

Good command of linguistics and morphosyntax

1. Early Bilingualism. Common linguistic phenomena: systems separation and
crosslinguistic influence.
2. Bilingualism in adulthood. The Interface Hypothesis.
3. Asymmetric Bilingualism. Heritage languages: common properties and challenges.
4. Social Bilingualism. Minority and majority languages: linguistic processes in these
environments.
5. Language contact and its effects.

We will discuss the following articles, available on Moodle or at the library:
Benmamoun, E., Montrul, S., & Polinsky, M. (2013). Heritage languages and their speakers:
Opportunities and challenges for linguistics. Theoretical Linguistics, 39(3–4),
129–181.
Casalicchio J, Frasson A. 2018. Cambiamenti nell’uso dei soggetti clitici veneti: il ruolo del
contatto con l’italiano. In Capitoli di morfosintassi delle varietà romanze d’Italia:
teoria e dati empirici, ed. A De Angelis, A Chilà, pp. 117-133. Palermo: Centro di
studi filologici e linguistici siciliani
Grosjean, F. (2008). Studying Bilinguals. Oxford University Press.
Kupisch, Tanja & Klaschik, Ewgenia (2017): Cross-lectal influence and gender marking in
bilectal Venetan-Italian acquisition. In: Cross-linguistic Influence in Bilingualism :
In honor of Aafke Hulk / Blom, Elma et al. (Eds). Amsterdam : John Benjamins
Publishing Company, 2017. - (Studies in Bilingualism ; 52). Pp. 127-152.
Perpiñán, S. (2017). Catalan-Spanish bilingualism continuum: The expression of non-
personal Catalan clitics in the adult grammar of early bilinguals. Linguistic
Approaches to Bilingualism, 7(5), 477–513. https://doi.org/10.1075/lab.15004.per
Perpiñán, S. (2018). On Convergence, Ongoing Language Change, and Crosslinguistic
Influence in Direct Object Expression in Catalan–Spanish Bilingualism. Languages,
3(2), 14. https://doi.org/10.3390/languages3020014
Perpiñán, S. & Marín, R. (in press). Aspect in the Acquisition of the Spanish Locative
Paradigm by Italian L2 Learners. Selected papers from ‘Going Romance 31’, Utrecht.
John Benjamins.
Serratrice, L. (2013). Cross-linguistic influence in bilingual development: Determinants and
mechanisms. Linguistic Approaches to Bilingualism, 3(1), 3–25.
https://doi.org/10.1075/lab.3.1.01ser

Sorace, A. (2011). Pinning down the concept of interface in bilingualism. Linguistic
Approaches to Bilingualism, 1(1), 1–33. https://doi.org/10.1075/lab.1.1.01sor
Sorace, A., & Serratrice, L. (2009). Internal and external interfaces in bilingual language
development: Beyond structural overlap. International Journal of Bilingualism, 13(2),
195–210.

This course requires an oral poster presentation of an original project carried out in groups of
two. Also, a written abstract (conference style) of the project. This abstract needs to be
handed in before the exam. The project will consist of a small-scale empirical study that
investigates a particular linguistic phenomenon in a bilingual population of your choice. It
will be framed within the theories covered in class, and requires empirical quantitative data.
The oral presentation as well as the abstract need to include the following parts:
- Research questions and hypotheses
- Participants’ description
- Analysis and description of the linguistic stimuli
- Data analysis and presentation of the results
- Discussion of the results taking into account the linguistic theories seen in class.
- Conclusions

Given the circumstances, this course will be online. It will have weekly lessons on Zoom or
Collaborate; obligatory readings will be available on Moodle. Classes will alternate between
presentation of main theories and studies, and practical workshops on how to write an
abstract, how to organize a project, research methodologies, etc.
Individual tutoring online.
Group work.

Italian

(Remote) attendance and active participation is highly encouraged.

written and oral