Our Research At the ChiLDS Lab, we are interested in three main questions: How do children learn language so quickly? Infants and young children learn language effortlessly. As soon as they are born, babies can distinguish a familiar language. Over time, they begin acquiring the stepping stones that will allow them to become fluent speakers of their language. At the ChiLDS lab, we want to know how these abilities vary across children, and how their social and cultural environments help them learn language. How do bilinguals learn language? Bilinguals spend less time in each of their languages, and have to learn twice as many words as a monolingual child. Bilingual learners vary in when, how and how well they acquire each of their languages. At the ChiLDS lab, we want to know more about the abilities and social/cultural settings that help children become successful bilinguals. How does your child’s brain develop and change during learning? Children’s brain change rapidly over their development. At the ChiLDS lab, we want to know how your child’s brain changes when listening to language as they learn new words and become language experts.
