Language Acquisition and Visual Attention Lab

New paper alert!

Our research team is working to understand how deaf children acquire new signs. Children learning words need to connect "word to wold," meaning they need to make a connection between the words in their input and the objects and events in their world. For children learning ASL, where both language input and objects are perceived through vision, word learning can only happen if children look in the right place at the right time. Over the last few years we have tested over 60 deaf children learning ASL and found that they are remarkably good at deciding when and where to shift their gaze to learn new ASL signs. And they can do this before their second birthday if they are exposed to language early. A huge thank you to all the families who participated in the study, making this work possible!

You can check out the paper here:
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/desc.13166

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Meet Elana! Elana is a recent graduate of the EdM in Deaf Education program and has been with the LAVA Lab since 2019.

[Image description: First image is of a white woman with long brown hair. She is wearing a patterned blue sleeveless shirt with sunglasses on her head and smiling at the camera. Overlapping text on a translucent bar says: ‘Meet Elana: Lab Manager’. Second image is split with narrower yellow column on the left with text that says: ‘Get to know Elana Pontecorvo. EdM in Deaf Education '21, and wider darker gray column on the right with text that says: Hometown: Berkeley, California. Research interests: Sign language acquisition and supporting early language acquisition for deaf kids. Fun Facts. Love of languages: She has studied 7 languages, 5 spoken and 2 signed. (But today she could only have a conversation in 2 of them!). Travel bug: She loves to travel and explore both nature and cities in the US and abroad.]

Meet Michael! He is a PhD student here at Boston University. In addition to his studies and research, he's part of the team behind the amazing ASL educational resources at Hands Land. Check out them out on facebook or at http://handsland.podia.com/

[Image description: First image is of Michael, a white male with short hair and a beard. He is wearing a light blue button up collared shirt with a gray jacket and standing in front of bookshelves. Overlapping text on a translucent bar above the gray, cloudy sky says: ‘Meet Michael: PhD student and Research Assistant’.
Second image is split with narrower yellow column on the left with text that says: ‘Get to know Michael Higgins. 1st year PhD student in Language and Literacy, and wider darker gray column on the right with text that says: Hometown: Seattle, Washington. Research interests: Language development and literacy in deaf children. Fun Facts: He is a 3-time Deaflympian in soccer. As a pastime, he enjoys fly fishing.’]