Linguistic Universals: a Cognitive Perspective

Seminar WiSe 2026/27; 3 or 6 ECTS

Wednesday 14:15 - 15:45

Alte Frauenklinik, Rm. 4332

Prof. Martin V. Butz, martin.butzspam prevention@uni-tuebingen.de  &  Dr. Asya Achimova, asya.achimovaspam prevention@uni-tuebingen.de 

1- Format:

• Presentations of papers by students + discussion in group, 1-2 papers each week. 

• Attendance is obligatory. You may have 1 unexcused absence.

2- When you are presenting:

1. Send your slides with the subject line “Seminar Linguistic Universals: slides” by Monday 10:00 of the week of your presentation to martin.butzspam prevention@uni-tuebingen.de  and asya.achimovaspam prevention@uni-tuebingen.de 

2. Receive feedback by Monday evening & revise slides.

3. Present slides in class (30 minutes), offer discussion questions.

4. Upload the slides to ILIAS.

5. Write a blog post for the paper (1-2 pages). Due March 1, 2027.

3- When you are not presenting:

1. Read the paper before the seminar (~10-50 pages of reading).

2. Submit at least 1 question/comment per session on the forum concerning the paper(s).

3. Participate in class discussion.

4- Some key suggestions for preparing the presentation:

• Use pictures/videos for your presentation.

• The blog posts should focus on the essence of the contents (main hypothesis / message) translated for educated general audience (think of your friends at the university).

• Pay attention to class discussion of your paper. What parts of the paper were unclear?

• What are the implications of the results? Incorporate those points into your blog post.

• You might want to take notes during or directly after the discussion of your paper.

5- File names for ILIAS uploads:

• Presentation: PXY_YourName.pdf (where XY is the paper number 01, 02,…).

• Blog posts can come as a pdf file, as a web page, or some other creative format (please discuss the format with us if you’d like to do something more creative).

6- Grading:

1. Presentation: 40% of the grade. These things define presentation quality: comprehensibility, good train of thought throughout the presentation (what is the paper trying to show and how), free speech, contact to the audience, quality of the slides (e.g., slides balanced in contents, graphics, images, proper slide titles).

2. Blog post: 40%. Write a short (1-2 pages) and precise summary of most important message of the paper and the evidence for this message, make sure your blog post has a story line. It should be accessible for educated general audience. Make sure to discuss broader implications. Cover the issues raised during class discussion.

3. Group work: 10%. Participation in group presentations and debates.

4. Forum questions: 10%.

Some more detailed suggestions to prepare a good paper presentation.