Getting the "Pig" Picture

January 30, 2015
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If you ever thought of Linguistics courses as book-intense and not "hands on," you were wrong!

Reminiscent of a high school biology lab, Dr. Marion Caldecott led her LING 330 students through the exploration of speech physiology by way of dissected pig larynges. In addition to a tongue-to-lung specimen, students observed six different larynges. Each larynx was dissected to reveal different cartilages and muscles and could be manipulated to simulate sound production movements.

This in-depth exercise gave students the opportunity to experience the anatomy of a real-life larynx and to visualize the orientation of the various anatomical parts and how they interact. Dr. Caldecott and the LING 330 students enjoyed this departure from the lecture and textbook format and valued this very "hands on" activity!