Studying Tips for Final Exam

Please send any questions about this page to Colin Phillips (colin@udel.edu) or Ted Eastwick (tbear@udel.edu).

The final exam for this course will be from 10:30-12:30 on Monday December 14th, in Smith 140 (normal classroom).

Scope of the Test

The exam is cumulative, covering material from the entire course. Therefore, a good place to start, while I'm working on this page, would be at the studying tips pages for Test 1 and for Test 2. Another useful thing to do would be to try the extra homework, even if you're not planning to hand it in for credit -- it contains exercises which will be good practice for the final.

The test is worth 25% of the course grade. There will be no make-up tests. Let us repeat this, in case you didn't catch it the first time - there will be no make-up tests.

Format

Examples of the kinds of questions that may be asked include:

• questions requiring analysis, transcription or diagramming of English language data
• questions requiring analysis of unfamiliar language data (applying methods already practiced)
• multiple-choice or true-false questions
• questions requiring brief written explanations or diagrams
• short answer questions

There are 110 points available on the exam, but you will get full marks on the test if you score 100 points, so there is an opportunity to drop some points. [This is the same format used on the earlier tests.]

Remember that we can only give you credit for answering the questions that we ask. So answer the question that is asked, and not some other question. Good efforts and near misses can also receive credit. But answers to phantom questions cannot!

Specific Suggestions

• There will be a question on syntactic ambiguity. This is something that we have discussed at length in class and in the on-line notes; it has also been practiced in homework assignments and the extra homework assignment. Be sure to take a careful look at this.
• There will be a question in which you will be asked to diagram a sentence for an unfamiliar language, using (possibly reordered) versions of the syntactic rules that you know for English.
• There will be some true/false questions: although these seem easy, these questions generally yield the lowest scores on the tests, so take good care with them!
• Look carefully at your homework assignments and the notes on the assignments provided on-line. How would you fare on these assignments if you had to do them again now?
• Take advantage of the on-line lecture notes for the course.
• If you haven't already, try out the questions on the extra homework assignment. They are useful! We can discuss your answers to these questions in the review session on Sunday afternoon/evening.
• Finally, be sure that you don't study for this by just idly staring at your notes (or anything else) and trying to memorize lots of facts! This is not an effective use of your time! Honest! For suggestions on more active ways of studying for the course tests, see the tips page for Test #1.
• Specific Information on Questions:this list adds up to more than 110 points, because there are questions which fall under two categories.
  
  1 true/false question (8 points)
  2 phonetics questions (16 points total)
  3 phonology questions (22 points total, each involving either developmental data or data from an unfamiliar language)
  2 morphology problems (12 points total)
  4 problems covering syntax, semantics and ambiguity (30 points total)
  2 problems related to aspects of language acquisition (16 points total)
  1 question on brain and language (8 points total)
  1 question on language variation (8 points total)

Resources

• The review session for the final exam is at 3pm & 7pm on Sunday December 13th, in Gore Hall 318. We will have prepared a small amount of practice material, but for the most part these sessions will be driven by what you want us to cover. Bring questions, ideas, energy, and maybe a big mug of coffee: many people found the review sessions quite useful before -- so do try to come along.
• On-line lecture notes for this class
• The LING 101 tutors will be holding a review session on Thursday December 10th, which you are welcome to attend. You should have received an email for this. [Note that this session will be for students in all of the different LING 101 classes, so some material that we have not covered may be discussed there.]
• Prof. William Idsardi's on-line study notes
• Prof. Caroline Heycock's on-line lecture slides (requires free Adobe Acrobat Reader software)
• Examples of Useful Study Activities (from the Test #2 page)
• Your friendly instructor and TA can be emailed at colin@udel.edu, or tbear@udel.edu

Some New Topics

This list covers just topics that we have discussed in class since the last in-class test. See the pages for Test #1 and Test #2 for similar lists from earlier in the semester.

Language Variation (a.k.a. Sociolinguistics)

• Variation due to to regional origin, age, ethnicity etc.
• Variation in syntax, phonology, lexical items
• Systematicity of non-prestige varieties of English
• Features of African American Vernacular English (AAVE)
• Causes of emerging dialect differences (e.g. Martha's Vineyard, Philadelphia)
• Separating education and politics in the controversy surrounding dialects in education

Language Acquisition

• Comparisons of human language and birdsong
• The problem of learning verb meanings and verb syntax (Class 18)
• Ways in which child does not just copy language input from parents
• Basic stages in language production
• Infants' knowledge of phonetics and syntax (comprehension precedes production)
• Systematicity in children's errors (note: pay attention to the Comments on homework #11, and don't just rely on the list given in Fromkin & Rodman's book)
• Overregularization in morphological development

Brain & Language

• Lateralization for language: effects of age, gender, handedness
• Broca's and Wernicke's aphasia: basic symptoms and results of more detailed experimentation
• Morphological difficulties encountered by patients with neurodegenerative diseases (Parkinson's, Alzheimer's)
• What kinds of specific linguistic properties can be measured in recordings electrical or magnetic brain activity?