Our research looks at three key areas: early language development, language decline and second language learning and teaching.
Our research on early language development examines how children learn sounds, words and sentences in their first language, and how language(s) develop and influence each other in bilingual and multilingual children.
Development does not always mean learning – it can also mean forgetting. We study language decline, such as attrition of our first language, which may be brought about through lack of use, for example as a consequence of migration.
We are experts in research on second language learning and teaching. We look at how children, adolescents and adults acquire and develop a second or additional language beyond their first language and which factors influence such development. In addition, we look at how languages can best be taught, and what impacts on the success or otherwise of language instruction in the classroom.