Winter Storm Daily Digest - 01.07.2013

Shota Momma (LING), (Working Memory and Sentence Production) reports that the group first had a overview on some prominent models of Working Memory and language production, and then discussed some empirical phenomena in which two systems apparently interact. They chose to look further into the grammatical encoding stage.
Yuichi Suzuki (SLA) reports that the Critical Period in Second Language Acquisition group surveyed critical period effects in L2 and the "less is more" hypothesis, then discussed ways to address implicit learning in linguistically relevant areas such as artificial grammars.
Dustin Chacon (LING) and the Theories of Language Variation and Acqusition SIG reviewed the logical problem of language acquisition, the genesis of Parametric Theory in generative linguistics, and how these two topics can relate variation and acquisition. Next meeting, they will discuss specific parameters, how parametric structure can aid the child, and discuss potential projects.

Events for Tuesday: 1/8/13

1. Language Analysis Workshop
This interdisciplinary workshop is an exciting addition to Winter Storm this year. This session will introduce linguistic fieldwork, and explain the goals of the workshop.

2. Lunch Talk: Rebecca Silverman, University of Maryland, College of Education

Reading comprehension is an essential skill for students at the transition from learning to read to reading to learn in the upper elementary grades. Many students struggle in reading comprehension, including students from low income and English language learning backgrounds.Findings from a two-year research project suggest that linguistic awareness skills such as semantic, syntactic, and morphological awareness contribute to reading comprehension. Thus, these skills could be considered as malleable factors for intervention to support struggling students in upper elementary school.

3. Professional Development Senior graduate students and an IGERT graduate discuss how to pursue a career in language science.

4. R sessions Scott Jackson (CASL) offers instruction in mixed effects models. Please refer to the website for precise scheduling and location information. If there is any information you would like included in a future Winter Storm daily digest, please forward this information to the WS Committee (igert-winterstorm@umd.edu). Winter Storm 2013 committee