The Bilingual Learner: Language, Literacy, and Brain Development

When

Thursday March 16, 2017: 7:00pm to 8:30pm  Add to Calendar /   Add to Google Calendar

Where

Downtown Library: Multi-Purpose Room

Description

The rise in global migration has resulted in ever-growing numbers of bilingual and multilingual speakers as well as a growing number of bilingual children.

We marvel at the ease with which young children master new languages. We also fear that learning more than one language may delay children’s language acquisition. Parents, teachers, and clinicians often ask: Are bilingual infants delayed in learning to speak? Are bilingual children delayed in learning to read? Do bilinguals confuse their two languages?

This lecture will address common myths of bilingual children’s language and literacy acquisition. Implications of bilingualism on cognitive and brain development as well as best strategies for learning languages for both children and adults will also be discussed.

Ioulia Kovelman, Ph.D. is currently Assistant Professor of Psychology at the University of Michigan and Research Assistant Professor at the U-M Center for Human Growth and Development. Dr. Kovelman’s research interests are in language and reading development in monolingual and bilingual infants, children, and adults. At CHGD, she is co-director of the Brain Imaging Laboratory and conducts research on bilingual language and reading acquisition

This talk is part of the "Exploring the Mind" series and is cosponsored by the University of Michigan Department of Psychology.