My research investigates the intersection of language, cognitive, and social development in children. How is language comprehension shaped by past experiences? How do early processes influence later outcomes? Anyone who has tried their hand at a second language knows the sheer complexity of this task. Moreover, the way we talk (e.g., words, accents) provide reliable signals of our past interactions. I apply these insights to examine how children from varying backgrounds (e.g., SES, dual language learners, cochlear-implant users) develop distinct strategies for comprehending sentences. This work challenges traditional notions of shared linguistic processes, and moves beyond long-standing divisions between basic vs. applied research. After all, language abilities are useful when they enable children to effectively communicate across contexts. Likewise, improved models of how they do so enables better interventions for addressing challenges due to experience variation (e.g., school settings).

My primary tool for investigating these questions is the eye-tracking while listening paradigm. This method assesses comprehension in both literate and illiterate populations (e.g., your typical 5-year-old) and yields fine-grained measures of interpretations as they occur. However, beyond simply providing a more sensitive index of language ability, this approach reveals the architectural properties that support a learner’s capacity to learn and understand language. Through this lens, my research pursues two primary goals. First, it seeks to spell out the computational demands learners face with encountering spoken utterances and specifies the challenges posed by variations in the accessibility, reliability, and timing of input. Second, it seeks to understand the resources that different learners are equipped with to overcome these demands, by way of their language experience, hearing abilities, and general cognitive capacities. By isolating conditions that support successful and unsuccessful language comprehension, we gain a better understanding of the causes of variable outcomes and how to address them in academic settings.