Background: Upper elementary grade students encounter increasingly complex texts with abundant morphologically complex words. Despite the positive effects of morphology-based vocabulary instruction, emergent bilinguals with limited word reading skills may need additional support. Methods: This study investigated the effects of morphological…

In two visual world eye-tracking experiments, this dissertation examines the role of literacy on predictive processing during spoken language comprehension. Previous studies have shown that comprehenders can use morphosyntactic cues available in the input to generate predictions about upcoming information. Recent key findings also suggest that…

The current diagnostic criteria for the autism spectrum disorder (ASD) include the possibility to specify concomitant language difficulties. Purpose: Our main aim was to explore whether children with ASD-Level 1 (ASD-L1) present difficulties in the acquisition of structural language, as little work has been done in this regard so far. As a…

This paper investigates crosslingual content scoring, a scenario where scoring models trained on learner data in one language are applied to data in a different language. We analyze data in five different languages (Chinese, English, French, German and Spanish) collected for three prompts of the established English ASAP content scoring dataset. We…

Critical thinking stands out as one of the most important cognitive abilities needed for effective adaptation to a knowledge-based society in the 21st century. Despite its significance, there remains a lack of consensus regarding the conceptual and methodological frameworks for measuring it. This study aimed to design and validate a comprehensive…

The state of Delaware has a Dual Language Immersion program serving students from different backgrounds and varying socioeconomic statuses with a wide range of diverse needs. The state has ever-increasing difficulty finding qualified teachers who also speak the target language of the program, in this case, Spanish. As a result, districts within…

While the challenges that educators faced during the COVID-19 pandemic are widely acknowledged, there is little scholarship that highlights the positive lessons. This manuscript documents the experiences of an individual dual language bilingual education elementary teacher that was a part of a longitudinal qualitative study of United States…

What started as a social media based movement, the viral hashtag #blackgirlmagic has transcended into a way of being, and seeing Black girls and women. The essence and prevalence of #blackgirlmagic continues to defy all odds and perceptions in sports, society, and other social spaces where Black girls have been rendered invisible, including in the…

Multitiered systems of support hold promise for dual language learners when culturally and linguistically responsive practices guide instruction. We modeled growth on Spanish and English early literacy skills and examined the role of language exposure and use at the individual and classroom instruction level in a group of 313…

Purpose: This study examined the influences of bilingualism and developmental language disorder (DLD) on nonverbal processing speed. DLD is associated with slower processing speed, but the extent to which slowing extends to bilingual populations is not established. The possible presence of bilingual cognitive effects could also lead to faster…

By 12 months of age, infants exhibit behavioral sensitivity to sound symbolism (e.g. sound-shape correspondences) when they hear universally sound symbolic pseudowords (e.g. "bouba," "kiki"). Here, we investigated whether infant's sensitivity to sound-shape correspondences is affected when they hear language-specific sound…

This study evaluates the Dual Language Program (DLP) implemented at a Title I public school in Baltimore City during the 2019-2020 and 2020-2021 school years. Building on previous research, the DLP's implementation, sustainability, and effects on students' learning outcomes were examined. Utilizing a mixed-methods approach, the study's second…

This study explores the effects of participation in short-term summer study abroad (SA) programmes in Spain on second language (L2) learners' attitudes towards Spanish. Both quantitative and qualitative findings indicate that participants' international experience improved their attitudes with regard to L2 learning. More importantly, participant…

Migrant communities settle and appropriate spaces in their new home through deterritorialisation and reterritorialisation processes, which involve the reconceptualisation of the language and symbols of the homeland and those spoken and used in the diaspora. The public sphere is one of the most distinguishable places where this contextual relation…

This study aimed to investigate the roles of transcription skills and oral language abilities in predicting writing quality and productivity among Spanish-speaking kindergarten children (N = 159). Using Structural Equation Modeling (SEM), the study examined associations between these foundational skills and writing outcomes. The model demonstrated…