Language and Cognition

The modules of the specialisation Language and Cognition cover the areas of Psycho- and Neurolinguistics as well as Cognitive Linguistics. Furthermore students conceptualise language as a central element of human behaviour. An additional module offers Research perspectives on Cognitive Linguistics.

In the module Psycho- and Neurolinguistics, students acquire an overview of psycho- and neurolinguistic theories and research methods. Theories deal with cognitive architectures, mechanisms and statistical approaches that describe how language is acquired and processed at all levels, both in perception and production, and how language processing interacts with other cognitive domains across modalities. Experimental studies are used to teach topics in psycho- and/or neurolinguistic theories of language processing.

Language comprehension and production are strongly influenced by social factors, such as characteristics of the speakers and understanders, but also by the social environment in which the interaction takes place. At the same time, language functions as a means of expressing knowledge about social groups and can thus lead to discrimination. In the module Language and Diversity, students acquire knowledge about diversity-related language phenomena, such as gender-equal language, language functions across the lifespan, the influence of multilingual origin on language competence or the influence of accents on social categorisation.

In the module Cognitive Linguistics, students deal with cognitive-linguistic perspectives on the language system, its mental representation, its processing and, last but not least, its acquisition. In particular, the question of how general cognitive processes in interaction with specific language experience contribute to the formation of linguistic structure as well as to the reception and production of language is explored, and the interdependence of language and cognition in general - also in the sense of the hypothesis of linguistic relativity - is illuminated.

The module Language and Behaviour teaches students language as a central element of human behaviour. Students gain insights into linguistic phenomena against the background of general cognitive processes and/or in the context of individual and social action. Thematic focuses include first or second language acquisition, pragmatics and politeness theory, interactional linguistics or language ideology and politics. The object of study is verbal or non-verbal (e.g. gaze, gestures) linguistic behaviour.

In the module Research Perspectives in Cognitive Linguistics, project seminars offer students the opportunity to work independently and empirically on a topic from the research area of the seminar or from the research area of the seminar leader, thus gaining early insights into independent, scientific work. The students develop suitable research questions, the study design, the data collection/selection and analysis, and select suitable empirical research methods for this and carry out the project designed in this way on an ongoing basis.