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 many more words as a monolingual child. At the ChiLDS lab, we want to know more about the abilities and social/cultural settings that help children become successful bilinguals.
- How does the child brain develop and change during learning?
- The child brain changes rapidly over development. At the ChiLDS lab, we want to know how the child brain changes when acquiring language and become language experts.
