Module Catalogue 2024/25

Pre Requisite Comment

N/A

Co Requisite Comment

N/A

Aims

To give an overview of psychological and sociological factors affecting child development and speech and language acquisition:

• To introduce foundation concepts from cognitive and developmental psychology;
• To explore and evaluate different psychological theories relating to development;
• To understand important cognitive changes within children;
• To develop reporting skills through undertaking observational reports;
• To outline the stages and processes in the development of the child, exploring both cognitive and social factors that influence the course of development;
• To provide an introduction to children’s speech and language development;
• To provide an opportunity to observe (through pre-recorded video footage) with typically developing children and evaluate children’s language, social, cognitive and motor development through a Child Study;
• To develop awareness of developmental norms in early childhood and of methods for comparing an individual child to those norms;
• To evaluate appropriate methods for recording, transcribing and analysing children’s speech and language.

Outline Of Syllabus

Theories of development
• Nature-nurture debate
• Psychology of language
• Child Development and Speech and Language Acquisition
• Overview of stages and aspects of development, focusing on first five years of life
• Stages and sequences of first language and speech development in children from infancy through to adolescence
• Overview of bilingual language acquisition
• Development of social skills and importance of play
• Introduction to methods used to study children’s development
• Introduction to techniques to identify phonetic and phonological patterns in child speech, both typical and disordered
• Introduction to methods to transcribe and analyse spontaneous language samples
• Introduction to child language observations and related professional issues in preparation for the Child Study, which is based around observations of a young child (via pre-recorded video footage), usually made in their home

Intended Knowledge Outcomes

• Understanding of the development of cognition across early childhood.
• Appreciation of the role of genetics and the environment in typical development and in communication impairment.
• Understanding theories of development and language acquisition.
• Knowledge of the stages and processes of motor, perceptual, social and cognitive development in children and the factors which influence them.
• Appreciation of the role of play in child development.
• Understanding of the stages and processes of speech and language development and the inter-relationships among communication development and both general cognitive and social development.
• Awareness of developmental norms and methods for comparing children to such norms.

Intended Skill Outcomes

• Write well-structured academic reports, and to cite sources and reference appropriately.

• Critically evaluate psychological theories and theories of language acquisition in report formats.

• Ability to reflect on relevant concepts in social psychology and sociology, and apply these to child development scenarios.

• To capture and analyse a sample of a child’s speech and language and consider the resulting data in light of the literature on child language development.

• Comment on the developmental progress and individual characteristics of a pre-school child.

Teaching Rationale And Relationship

Knowledge outcomes are primarily addressed through lectures and guided reading/independent study.
Skills outcomes are addressed through project work via pre-recorded video footage for observation and analysis. Project work enables application of practical skills and theoretical knowledge learned in the classroom and in private study.

Assessment Rationale And Relationship

Knowledge outcomes are assessed through the child study report. Skills outcomes are promoted by setting the opportunity for formative feedback on the analysis of the child observation (via pre-recorded video footage) in semester 1 and providing timely feedback for students to apply this in their summative Child Study report. The child study report is a substantial, integrated piece of work developing both theoretical understanding and skills important in different roles, working with young children. The project work and the self-directed study required to analyse and present the video data ensure students are using both practical skills and theoretical knowledge, and are synthesising across a range of fields of enquiry and data sources.

General Notes

N/A