Communication Disorders (CmDis)
(Administered by the Department of Psychology)
The following courses are part of the Speech Communication program. For more information
refer to that section. CmDis 170, 275, 286, 371, 471.
Courses Primarily for Undergraduate Students
CmDis 170. Speech Improvement for
Nonnative Speakers
(2-0) Cr. 2. For nonnative speakers of English only. Development of effective English
vowel and consonant productions, accommodation processes that occur in context,
intelligibility in conversational English, and appropriate stress patterns. Offered on a
satisfactory-fail grading basis only.
CmDis 275. Introduction to
Communication Disorders (Same as Ling 275.)
(3-0) Cr. 3. Survey of nature, causes, and types of major communication disorders
including phonological, adult and child language, voice, cleft palate, fluency, and
hearing disorders.
CmDis 286. Basic Sign Language (Same as Ling
286.)
(3-0) Cr. 3. Development of basic skills in the use and understanding of signed English, a
modification of American Sign Language. Overview of the types, causes and consequences of
hearing impairment, deaf culture and the education of hearing-impaired children.
CmDis 371. Phonetics and Phonology
(Same as Ling 371.)
(3-0) Cr. 3. Prereq: 275 or Engl 219. Analysis of speech through study of individual
sounds, their variations, and relationships in context; English phonology; practice in
auditory discrimination and transcription of sounds of American English; description of
speech sounds in terms of their production, transmission, and perception.
CmDis 471. Language Development
(Same as Ling 471.)
(3-0) Cr. 3. Prereq: 275 or Psych 230 or Engl 219. Definition of components of language.
Overview of theories and developmental processes related to each component of linguistic
skill (semantics, lexicon, syntax, morphology, phonology, pragmatics). Overview of
normative information available for infants, children, adolescents, and adults. Attention
to metalinguistic skills and the complementary nonlinguistic and paralinguistic skills.
Nonmajor graduate credit.