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Research

Research Overview

I am interested in language acquisition and learning across the lifespan.  My early career focused on syntax and word learning in infants and young children.  My postdoctoral work at Northwestern’s Infant and Child Development Center focused on the relationship between language and children’s understanding of the natural world.  More recently my interests have shifted to language learning in adults, including language pedagogy, models for assessing proficiency, and communication skills for teaching.

Publications

2016.  S. Waxman, X. Fu, B. Ferguson, K. Geraghty, E. Leddon, J. Liang, and M.-F. Zhao. “How early is infants’ attention to objects and actions shaped by culture?  New evidence from 24-month-olds raised in the US and China.” Frontiers in Psychology.

2013.  S. Waxman, S. Arunachalam, E. Leddon, K. Geraghty, X. Fu, H-J Song. “Nouns before verbs? Fresh insights and new cross-linguistic evidence.” Child Development Perspectives, 7(3), 155-159.

2013.  S. Arunachalam, E. Leddon, H-J Song, Y. Lee, S. Waxman. “Doing more with less: Verb-learning in Korean-acquiring 24-month-olds.” Language Acquisition, Linguistics, 20(4), 292-304.

2013.  M. Dehghani, M. Bang, D.L. Medin, A. Marin, E. Leddon, & S.R. Waxman. “Epistemologies in Text in Children’s Books: Native and Non-Native Authored Books.” International Journal of Science Education, 35(13), 2133-2151.

2012.  E. Leddon, S. Waxman, D. Medin, M. Bang, and K. Washinawatok. “One animal among many? Children’s understanding of the relation between humans and nonhuman animals.” In G.R. Hayes & M.H. Bryant (Eds.), Psychology of Culture. Hauppauge, NY: Nova Science Publishers.

2011.  E. Leddon. “Pronunciation and Fluency Instruction for International Teaching Assistants.” In J. Morrison, (Ed.), The Conference Proceedings of MIDTESOL (Midwest Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages): Gateway to Global Citizenship. St. Louis, MO: MIDTESOL.  

2011.  E. Leddon, S. Waxman, and D. Medin. “What does it mean to live and die?  A cross-linguistic analysis of parent-child conversations in English and Indonesian.” British Journal of Developmental Psychology, 29(3), 375-395.

2011.  E. Leddon, S. Arunachalam, S. Waxman, X. Fu, H. Gong, L. Wang. “Noun- and verb-learning in Mandarin-acquiring 24-month-olds.”  Proceedings of the 35th annual Boston University Conference on Language Development. Cascadilla Press: Cambridge, MA.

2011.  S. Waxman and E. Leddon. “Early word learning and conceptual development: Everything had a name, and each name gave birth to a new thought.” In U. Goswami (Ed.) The Wiley-Blackwell Handbook of Childhood Cognitive Development (pp. 180-208). Malden, MA: Wiley-Blackwell.

2008.  E. Leddon, S. Waxman, and D. Medin. “Unmasking ‘Alive:’ Children’s Appreciation of a Concept Linking All Living Things.” Journal of Cognition and Development, 9, 461-473.

2006.  E. Leddon and J. Lidz. “Reconstruction Effects in Child Grammar.” Proceedings of the 30th annual Boston University Conference on Language Development. Cascadilla Press: Cambridge, MA.

2004.  Lidz, E. McMahon (Leddon), K. Syrett, J. Viau, F. Anggoro, J. Peterson-Hicks, E. Sneed, A. Bunger, T. Flevaris, A. Graham, K. Grohne, Y. Lee, and E. Strid. “Quantifier Raising in 4-year-olds.” Proceedings of the 28th annual Boston University Conference on Language Development. Cascadilla Press: Cambridge, MA.

Presentations and Invited Talks

2019.  “Assessing Spoken English Proficiency.” Invited talk to the Council on Language Instruction at Northwestern University. March 13. 

2018.  “Pronunciation Training in the Language Learning Curriculum” (w/ Julia Moore and Jennifer Alexander). Invited talk to the Phonatics Research Group at Northwestern University. April 11. 

2012.  “Freeware and Pronunciation Instruction: An Alternative Teaching Tool” (w/ Jenna Luque). Illinois Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages – Bilingual Education Annual Convention. February 24.

2011.  “Pronunciation and Fluency Instruction for International Teaching Assistants.”  Midwest Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages Annual Convention. October 22.

2011.  “Automated Oral Proficiency Testing for International Teaching Assistants.”  Midwest Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages Annual Convention. October 22.

2011.  “Sociolinguistic Theory and Practice in the Teaching of Business English” (w/ Lisa del Torto and Judith Kaplan-Weinger). Council on Language Instruction Language Symposium. April 16.

2011.  “Sociolinguistic and Psycholinguistic Strategies for Teaching Business English (w/ Judith Kaplan-Weinger and Lisa del Torto). Illinois Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages – Bilingual Education Annual Convention. February 16.

2010.  “Noun- and Verb-Learning in Mandarin-Acquiring 24-Month-Olds” (w/ Sudha Arunachalam, Sandra Waxman, Xiaolan Fu, Han Gong, and Lamei Wang). Boston University Conference on Language Development. Nov. 5.

2010.   “Grammatical Context in Verb Learning: Evidence from Mandarin and Korean” (w/ Sudha Arunachalam, Sandra Waxman, Hyun-joo Song, Xiaolan Fu, Han Gong, Yoonha Lee, and Lamei Wang).  International Conference on Infant Studies.  March 14.

2007.   “Talking About Living Things: What Children Learn About Biological Concepts in Everyday Conversations” (w/ Sandra Waxman).  Society for Research in Child Development Biennial Meeting.  March 30.

 

  1. “When One Cue is Better Than Two: Syntactic vs. Lexical Information in Infant Verb Learning” (w/ Jeffrey Lidz, Ann Bunger, and Sandra Waxman).  Society for Research in Child Development Biennial Meeting.  March 31.

 

  1. “When One Cue is Better than Two: Syntactic vs. Lexical Information in Infant Verb Learning” (w/ Jeffrey Lidz, Ann Bunger, and Sandra Waxman). 19th Annual CUNY Sentence Processing Conference.  March 21.

 

  1. “Reconstruction Effects in Child Grammar.” (w/ Jeffrey Lidz). 30th Boston University Conference on Language Development.  November 5.

 

  1. “Suprasegmental Cues to Meaning in Child-Directed Speech.” (w /Jeffrey Lidz and Janet Pierrehumbert). 17th Annual CUNY Sentence Processing Conference. March 27.

 

  1. “Quantifier Raising in 4-year-olds,” (w/ Jeffrey Lidz, Kristen Syrett, Joshua Viau, Florencia Anggoro, Jessica Peterson-Hicks, Elisa Sneed, Ann Bunger, Taki Flevaris, Anne Graham, Kristy Grohne, Yongeun Lee, Evar Strid). 28th Boston University Conference on Language Development. November 1.