Examining language from A to Z
McGill launches language acquisition program
As language continues to be a source of debate across Canada, the subject is also proving to be fertile ground for research at McGill. Indeed, the University just launched a new PhD-level Language Acquisition Program (LAP) this fall, where students and professors are investigating various aspects of language learning: from sign language to multilingualism.
The only program of its kind in North America, the LAP will build on McGills prior and considerable expertise in language acquisition. According to a recent survey by the Boston University Conference on Language Development (BUCLD), McGill is the No. 1 presenter of language acquisition research in North America. Last November, the BUCLD revealed that McGill presented 160 studies on language acquisition over the past 25 years - surpassing the number of studies from other universities including Stanford, MIT and Harvard.
Although the LAP is new to McGill, the University earned its top research spot through the many years of prolific research conducted by professors from Communication Sciences and Disorders, Linguistics, Psychology and Second Language Education. It is these same professors who now teach LAP courses, hereby offering a multidisciplinary approach to every topic covered.
"No other university across North America provides such a wide breadth of research on language acquisition as McGill," says Fred Genesee, LAP director. Some faculty research interests include language acquisition in pre-school, school-age and adult learners; oral and sign language learning; monolingual, bilingual and multilingual acquisition; instructed versus naturalistic language learning and normal and impaired language development. LAP researchers are also exploring the social, cognitive, linguistic, neural and psychological dimension of language acquisition. The following is a highlight of five LAP professors and their research interests:
- mcrago [at] po-box.mcgill.ca (Martha Crago,) a Communication Science and Disorders professor, is studying the acquisition of various languages by normal, impaired and dual language learners. She can be reached at 514-398-3175
- genesee [at] ego.psych.mcgill.ca (Fred Genesee), LAP director and a Psychology professor, is examining the language development of children who acquire two or more languages - at the same time - during their pre-school years: 514-398-6022
- lyster [at] education.mcgill.ca (Roy Lyster), a Second Language Professor, is investigating second language acquisition in schools and the effects of instruction and corrective feedback on language development in immersion and other classroom settings: 514-398-5942
- Linguisitcs Professor lwhite [at] po-box.mcgill.ca (Lydia White) is examining the unconscious linguistic knowledge of second language learners and Universal Grammar: 514-398-4143
- Psychology Professor pettito [at] hebb.psych.mcgill.ca (Laura Ann Pettito) is investigating the cognitive or neural basis for milestones in very young children and brain mechanisms that support early bilingualism in both oral and sign language acquisition: 514-398-6140/6143
