Speaker: Prof Esther Geva
Title: Language and Literacy Skills in Typically and Non-Typically Developing ESL Children: Developmental and Underlying Cognitive Processes
Date: 5 Feb 2014, 12pm
Venue: AS4/02-08 (Psychology Department Meeting Room)
Abstract:
Much of my research on L2 reading development has been guided by general questions such as: Are models of reading based on monolingual readers applicable to L2 students? Is proficiency in the L2 essential for reading in L2? How do reading and language skills in the native language relate to L2 reading skills? Do language and orthographic typology matter in understanding L2 reading development? Is it possible to identify reading disabilities in L2 learners even when they are not fluent in the L2? I will address some of these fundamental questions in relation to Canadian children who are L2 learners, and discuss the implications of research involving L2 children and youth conducted in my lab in Toronto.
About the Speaker:
Esther Geva studied in Israel, the US and Canada. She is Professor in the Department of Applied Psychology and Human Development at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (OISE), University of Toronto. Her research, publications, and teaching focus on (a) developmental issues and best practices concerning language and literacy skills in children from various immigrant and minority backgrounds, including children who immigrate from non-literate countries, (b) language and literacy skills in normally developing learners and learners with learning difficulties and (c) cross-cultural perspectives on children’s psychological problems. She has published numerous articles and chapters in these areas, presented her work internationally, and served on numerous advisory, policy, and review committees in the US and Canada concerned with research on literacy development in minority children. Springer is about to publish the book “Psychological Assessment of Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Children and Adolescents: A Guidebook for School and Clinical Psychologists”, she coauthored with J. Wiener.
