Interdisciplinary Language Acquisition Program

My research explores phonetic variability and individual differences in speech perception and production as well as plasticity and learning in both L1 adult listeners and second language learners of a variety of ages. I use primarily behavioural methods including eye-tracking.

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Contact | meghan.clayards [at] mcgill.ca

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Contact | laura.gonnerman [at] mcgill.ca

My research focuses on interfaces between language development or use, on the one hand, and social interaction or cognition, on the other, in both the neurotypical population and people on the autism spectrum. One recent theme has been to understand the massive variability in language development in autism by studying both the language environment (nurture) and learning mechanisms available to the child (nature).

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Contact | aparna.nadig [at] mcgill.ca

Research in the Polka lab focuses on the development of speech perception during infancy. The goal of this work is to understand the skills and biases that the infants bring to this task and how their speech processing changes with age and language experience to support language processing.

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Contact | linda.polka [at] mcgill.ca

My research is concerned with the development of speech production, speech perception and phonological skills and the treatment of speech sound disorders and delayed acquisition of emergent literacy. These investigations primarily involve infants and preschool aged children who may be learning one or more language. We also develop software tools for clinical applications in my lab.

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Contact | susan.rvachew [at] mcgill.ca

My research focuses on the cognitive neuroscience of language and uses primarily the technique of event-related brain potentials (ERPs) to study both first and second language acquisition.

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Contact | karsten.steinhauer [at] mcgill.ca

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Contact | elin.thordardottir [at] mcgill.ca

My research program examines how bilingualism shapes cognitive development and learning in children and adults. Using behavioral and neuroimaging methods, I approach this research program considering bilingualism as an interactional experience between an individual and her social environment. In addition to investigating the science of bilingualism, I have extended my scientific findings on bilingualism to improve educational experience for children from diverse language backgrounds.

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Contact | gigi.luk [at] mcgill.ca 

My research explores phonetic variability and individual differences in speech perception and production as well as plasticity and learning in both L1 adult listeners and second language learners of a variety of ages. I use primarily behavioural methods including eye-tracking.

Web | McGill Profile
Contact | meghan.clayards [at] mcgill.ca

My research investigates the first and second language acquisition of phonology. I examine how linguistic theory informs the developmental trajectories that learners follow and the shapes of their end-state grammars. I typically focus on patterns of behaviour that are seemingly unexpected, given the type of input to which learners are exposed.

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Contact | heather.goad [at] mcgill.ca

How do we become competent language users, learning the relevant sound and 
conceptual structures and mapping between the two? We have examined (1) 
learning of sound structures, e.g., that (for English) "fing" is a more 
likely word than "ngif"?; and (2) conceptual structures useful for 
language learning, e.g., whether infants understand that others' 
behaviours are based on goals and beliefs.

Web | MIDC Lab
Contact | kris.onishi [at] mcgill.ca

My lab conducts behavioral (e.g., eye-tracking) and, less frequently, neuroimaging (e.g., ERP, MRI) experiments to investigate questions pertinent to language acquisition, which include: (1) How do individual differences in language acquisition history, executive function, and other capacities, constrain first and second language processing? (2) How do neurodevelopmental conditions (schizophrenia, dyslexia) affect language processing?

Web | Language & Multilingualism Lab 
Contact | debra.titone [at] mcgill.ca

My research primarily investigates language learning and pedagogy in content-based instructional settings. Specific interests include cross-linguistic instructional approaches, classroom discourse, peer collaboration, and the impact of societal and classroom environments on students’ success and well-being.

Web | ResearchGate Profile | McGill Profile
Contact | susan.ballinger [at] mcgill.ca

My research interests are rooted in social justice, linguistically and culturally inclusive education and critical sociolinguistics. My work often takes place in language classrooms and in contexts of superdiversity. Some of the research topics I am interested in are: effects of plurilingual and translingual approaches on language learning; plurilingual and pluricultural competence (PPC); identity and language learning; drama/theatre in language learning; and mixed methods research.

Web | Personal Website | Plurilingual Lab
Contact | angelica.galante [at] mcgill.ca

My research focuses on the empowerment of linguistically marginalized populations, specifically immigrant-origin youth and Canadian Indigenous communities, through language acquisition and education, within a critical paradigm.

Web | BILD Profile
Contact | mela.sarkar [at] mcgill.ca

My research interests include the effectiveness of alternative forms of bilingual and immersion education for both majority and minority language students; language acquisition in pre-school children who are learning two languages simultaneously; language development in internationally-adopted children; and the language and academic development of children at-risk for language or reading impairment and other developmental disorders.

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Contact | fred.genesee [at] mcgill.ca

Roy Lyster is Professor Emeritus of Second Language Education at McGill University. His research examines content-based second language instruction and the effects of instructional interventions designed to counterbalance form-focused and content-based approaches. His research interests also include professional development and collaboration among teachers for the purpose of integrated language learning and biliteracy development.

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Contact | roy.lyster [at] mcgill.ca

My research investigates what kinds of information (syntactic, semantic, or/and pragmatic) children use when learning new words and sentence structures. More recent research investigates how English-Japanese bilinguals acquire two distinct verb argument structures and whether there are any cross-linguistic influences from one language to the other using eye-tracking measures as well as EEG measures.

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Contact | yuriko.oshima-takane [at] mcgill.ca

My research centres on the unconscious linguistic competence acquired by second language (L2) learners. I investigate the relationship between different modules of the L2 grammar, such as syntax, morphology and phonology. Using experimental methods, I seek to determine the effects of universal principles and the L1 grammar on L2 mental representations and L2 processing.

Web | Personal Website
Contact | lydia.white [at] mcgill.ca