Child Language and Speech Studies Lab
About Us
How do children master language so quickly and seemingly effortlessly, while adults often struggle for years to simply learn to order a meal in a new language? In Dr. Elizabeth Johnson’s Child Language and Speech Studies (CLASS) Lab at the University of Toronto Mississauga (UTM), we examine the perceptual, cognitive, and social factors that contribute to children’s rapid mastery of human language. Our approach is inherently interdisciplinary, bringing together insights and methodologies from developmental psychology, various branches of linguistics, and the speech sciences. Importantly, much of our research is inspired by the linguistic diversity in the community surrounding UTM.
Latest Lab News
Welcome to our newest PhD candidate Jade Fok from the University of Hong Kong. Her research focuses on language acquisition in early childhood bilinguals and the neural precesses underlying language development.
September 2024
We're excited to announce that the CLASS lab has been awarded a new SSHRC IDG Grant entitled "Understanding the link between reading readiness and phonological development."
June 2024
We are excited to announce that Sophia & Wardah have been awarded University of Toronto Excellence awards to continue their research in the lab this summer!
May 2024
Congrats to Alexandra & Sophia for winning 1st place at the psychology undergraduate Thesis Talk competition and to Maripaz, Emily & Wardah for winning 1st & 3rd place at the Psychology Research Day poster competition!
April 2024
New paper published in Cognitive Science: "The icing on the cake. Or is it frosting? The influence of group membership on children's lexical choices."
February 2024
Have you ever wondered how well infants can tell apart unfamiliar voices? If so, listen to PhD student Madeleine Yu discuss her research on this topic on the Across Acoustics Podcast.
January 2024
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Congratulations to Josie Davies and Ana Porto on winning 2nd place at the Student Research Symposium on Multilinguism for their poster "Does the Accent of the Experimenter Influence Children's Language Biases?"
December 2023
CCT 4110 University of Toronto Mississauga,
3359 Mississauga Road, Mississauga ON L5L 1C6
905-569-3659