A term paper of no less than 1500 words will be written on a Topic which you should select from a list of Language Development Hypotheses. This list is provided at the very end of this message. The Term Paper is to present a discussion based on a minimum of three articles, or books or chapters in a book (excluding the class Text, of course) that describe, and/or support and/or refute the hypothesis you have selected from the list. A minimum of three citations with references in APA format will be included at the end of the paper. An example of APA format is also provided in the Class Requirements Section of the online Class.

Also, at the end of the paper you should include a short Appendix, which will answer three questions: 1. What were the databases, if any, that you used to find each article or book; 2. What was the search strategy you used (i.e., the search words you used) in each database to find the articles; and 3. Was each article that you cited an example of Primary or Secondary research? The Term Paper will be sent to the instructor in an email, both as an attachment and, for back-up purposes, as text copied and pasted directly into the email message.

Topics:

Information Competency Exercise: LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT HYPOTHESES (TOPICS) LIST for Student Research for the Term Paper

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.