Learning outcomes

The course aims to provide the students with an introduction to the morpho-syntax of natural languages within the Principles and Parameters model of the generative grammar framework. Besides a formal approach, the contents are approached from the perspective of first language acquisition, in terms of both typical and atypical language development (specific language disorders and developmental dyslexia). The course therefore proposes to set some fundamental epistemological bases also for the “Language Learning” module. At the end of the course, the student: 1. knows the basic concepts in the morpho-syntax of natural languages and is able to analyze the combinatorial and movement rules at the basis of the derivation of syntactic structures; 2. knows how to apply the acquired knowledge for the purposes of: • recognizing, describing and analyzing some syntactic phenomena autonomously, with particular reference to the English and Italian languages; • representing the structure of phrases and sentences with tree diagrams; • analyzing phenomena of head and phrasal movement. 3. is able to use and evaluate independently the technical literature of the scientific field; 4. is able to re-elaborate the acquired theoretical knowledge and to apply it, even autonomously and/or critically, to the domains of typical and atypical language development and, more generally, in other domains of the present Master's Degree Program and in a possible continuation of the post-graduate studies.