1. Analysis of a Non-Native Phonological System

For this project, you need to find an informant who is a non-native speaker/learner of English. Focus on a specific aspect of his/her non-native speech in English. For instance, you might want to describe and discuss any correspondences that your informant exhibits between the vowels/consonants in his/her native language and English. How is the speaker's English phonological system affected by his/her native language phonology? Do you see any L1 influence in the informants' production of consonant clusters and stress patterns? You may need to research and discuss certain phonological properties of the learner's native language first, so that you can detect and interpret any patterns in the non-native speech that you are examining accordingly. 

2. Analysis of a Child's Phonology
You need to tape-record a play session (or multiple play sessions) with a child who is young enough to have not yet acquired an adult-like phonology, but old enough to be producing things that are identifiable as specific words. Using phonetic symbols, make a transcription of the child's utterances. Describe any patterns you find in the way the child's production of words differ from adult pronunciations. Using distinctive features and phonological rules, try to account for representations that the child is forming.

3. The Phonology of Language X
Describe the phonological properties of a language other than English. Illustrate and discuss at least five phonological processes that do not occur in English. Your paper should also contain a brief overview of the consonantal and vowel inventory of the language using distinctive features.

4. Do talking parrots have phonology?
Read and summarize scientific research about Alex, a Congo African grey parrot, which is claimed to understand and produce a number of English words. Find as much as you can about what has been researched with regard to Alex's phonological competence. You may find the Alex Foundation's webpage, as well as Dr. Pepperberg's homepage to be useful to start your search. Focus on Alex's words and morphology and derive any implications for Alex's phonological competence. In your paper, discuss the main questions that phonologists raise in answering what it is that humans know when they know a language, specifically focusing on phonological competence. In addition to this, discuss how phonological contrasts are derived and represented in the mind. Based on your discussion and your research about Alex, discuss whether Alex has a phonological system. If you argue that Alex does not have a phonological system, discuss what it is that he is missing. If you do not support one view over the other, write about different ways in which we can test Alex's phonolgical abilities. This is an argumentation paper, in which you might go into philosophical issues. 

more to come...

Content: There are no clear-cut guidelines for this. Just like in any other scientific work, your paper should have an introduction, a part that states and compares different ideas on the topic, or develops an alternative analysis or approach towards the question. You also need a part where you state your conclusions.

In the introduction, state clearly and in specific terms what the paper is about. This will generally be more effective if you explain how the paper aims to answer some specific question or set of questions.

The second part of the paper, which will be the bulk of the work, may vary from the kind of topic you choose. You might want to talk to me about that. 

Typically, you need to show me that you understand what work has been done in this area in the past, and where your paper fits with regard to this work. The explanation of the background should be focused on the goals of your paper, and it should not be an exhaustive description of everything that has been done in the area. 

Note: Although the projects are intended for group work (up to 3 people in one group), you have the option of working individually. But, you have to let me know if you do so.