Success and failure in second language learning (SLL). Why do some people succeed in learning a second language to very high levels and others fail miserably despite the fact that both groups may have set out with similarly positive attitudes and high levels of motivation? This research project focuses on the social contexts in which second language learning takes place. It aims to provide an insider account of what it is like to be a successful or unsuccessful L2 user. It will describe the ling ....Success and failure in second language learning (SLL). Why do some people succeed in learning a second language to very high levels and others fail miserably despite the fact that both groups may have set out with similarly positive attitudes and high levels of motivation? This research project focuses on the social contexts in which second language learning takes place. It aims to provide an insider account of what it is like to be a successful or unsuccessful L2 user. It will describe the linguistic and discursive resources language learners have access to, and the ways in which such access is structured in the communities they participate in.Read moreRead less
Children's difficulties in learning to read: Causes and consequences of poor letter-sound knowledge. This research will identify the causes and treatments of reading impairment in children. This will help the Government counter the effects of poor reading instruction in Australian schools (see the National Inquiry into the Teaching of Literacy). The outcomes will reveal how struggling readers should be taught in classrooms, and which treatments should be covered by the Reading Assistance Voucher ....Children's difficulties in learning to read: Causes and consequences of poor letter-sound knowledge. This research will identify the causes and treatments of reading impairment in children. This will help the Government counter the effects of poor reading instruction in Australian schools (see the National Inquiry into the Teaching of Literacy). The outcomes will reveal how struggling readers should be taught in classrooms, and which treatments should be covered by the Reading Assistance Voucher programme. Treating reading impairment in children will reduce the number of teenagers who attempt suicide, drop out of school, or abuse drugs to try and escape the failure that accompanies poor reading ability.Read moreRead less
The Indigenous grammar of Aboriginal English: implications for contact linguistics. This project will investigate how Australian Indigenous languages have shaped Aboriginal English, a major variety of Australian English. The project will significantly advance the knowledge base of linguistics and make a key contribution to improving the social opportunities of Indigenous Australians.
Words from the sand: A lexical analysis of early Greek papyri from Egypt. The project's central outcomes will be a more systematic knowledge of the development of one of the world's three oldest continually-recorded languages, and insight into the dynamics of lexical usage in different speech communities within a multicultural context. These outcomes will maintain Australia's prominent international role in investigating the history of the Greek language over three millennia, and offer social be ....Words from the sand: A lexical analysis of early Greek papyri from Egypt. The project's central outcomes will be a more systematic knowledge of the development of one of the world's three oldest continually-recorded languages, and insight into the dynamics of lexical usage in different speech communities within a multicultural context. These outcomes will maintain Australia's prominent international role in investigating the history of the Greek language over three millennia, and offer social benefits through study of the interaction of language and social dynamics in Diaspora speech communities and multilingual societies, addressing the National Research Priority Goal of 'Understanding our region and the world' by enhancing Australia's capacity to interpret and engage with its global environment.Read moreRead less
Speaking Hmong in diaspora: language contact, resilience, and change. The project aims to investigate the how the Hmong language survives in the diaspora, with special focus on how the language transforms itself depending on the environment it finds itself in. We focus on the structure and maintenance of Hmong within the immigrant community in North Queensland across several generations of speakers, within the context of multilingual repertoires involving Australian English and Lao. The outcomes ....Speaking Hmong in diaspora: language contact, resilience, and change. The project aims to investigate the how the Hmong language survives in the diaspora, with special focus on how the language transforms itself depending on the environment it finds itself in. We focus on the structure and maintenance of Hmong within the immigrant community in North Queensland across several generations of speakers, within the context of multilingual repertoires involving Australian English and Lao. The outcomes will reveal the processes and results of language change such as the emergence of a new blend of Green and White Hmong. The project will provide significant benefits for the maintenance of diasporic Hmong within a larger context of multilingual immigrant communities.Read moreRead less
Lexical retrieval and reading comprehension: Binding perceptual, lexical and conceptual information in on-line reading. Reading is a complex process that involves integrating sensory information extracted from text with stored memories about word meanings, syntactic structures and general knowledge. Most reading research has focused on the processing of isolated words, but normal reading requires integration processes that are not necessary to recognise single words. This research uses tasks req ....Lexical retrieval and reading comprehension: Binding perceptual, lexical and conceptual information in on-line reading. Reading is a complex process that involves integrating sensory information extracted from text with stored memories about word meanings, syntactic structures and general knowledge. Most reading research has focused on the processing of isolated words, but normal reading requires integration processes that are not necessary to recognise single words. This research uses tasks requiring sentence comprehension and measures of eye movements during reading to investigate how readers retrieve and combine information while reading to comprehend text. It will contribute to developing more comprehensive theories of normal reading that can inform methods of teaching reading and contribute to refinement of text recognition systems.Read moreRead less
Bilingualism in the bush: reconceptualising 'speech community' in immigrant family language maintenance in regional Australia. This project will investigate how immigrant families in regional Australian centres maintain their children's home language(s) in the absence of the critical mass of speakers, networks and resources found in metropolitan areas. It will establish how such families can best be supported through community and educational services to ensure that children grow up bilingual, w ....Bilingualism in the bush: reconceptualising 'speech community' in immigrant family language maintenance in regional Australia. This project will investigate how immigrant families in regional Australian centres maintain their children's home language(s) in the absence of the critical mass of speakers, networks and resources found in metropolitan areas. It will establish how such families can best be supported through community and educational services to ensure that children grow up bilingual, with the attendant benefits of improved cognitive, social and academic skills. The project will examine home practices and the interface between home and early childhood services. Outcomes will include a better understanding of successful family language planning practices in isolated regions and a reconceptualisation of 'speech community' through communications technologies.Read moreRead less
Metrolingual language practices in four urban sites: talking in the city. Metrolingualism has recently been coined as a term to describe the use of multilingual resources in urban contexts. Through detailed analysis of language use in four urban sites, this project will develop our understanding of metrolingual language practices as well as our understanding of the ways in which urban spaces are managed linguistically.
Reconciling perceptual and cognitive accounts of dyslexia: The neural rate deficit hypothesis. The proposed research will form part of a co-ordinated program to understand the causes of dyslexia, a disorder that affects a large number of children and often persists into adulthood. It complements parallel efforts to elucidate the genetic basis of dyslexia, the heterogeneity and subtypes of dyslexia, and the developmental precursors to the disorder. This research will inform early intervention and ....Reconciling perceptual and cognitive accounts of dyslexia: The neural rate deficit hypothesis. The proposed research will form part of a co-ordinated program to understand the causes of dyslexia, a disorder that affects a large number of children and often persists into adulthood. It complements parallel efforts to elucidate the genetic basis of dyslexia, the heterogeneity and subtypes of dyslexia, and the developmental precursors to the disorder. This research will inform early intervention and remediation efforts and will also assist in the understanding of the normal process of reading acquisition in children.Read moreRead less
Longitudinal twin study of literacy, language and attention. The primary practical national benefit will be in the unrivalled picture that emerges about how genetic factors interact with aspects of the familial and educational environment to determine the course of children's development in literacy and language. Policy makers in preschool and school education will be able to use the information to guide curriculum refinement and to develop policies for the early identification of children at d ....Longitudinal twin study of literacy, language and attention. The primary practical national benefit will be in the unrivalled picture that emerges about how genetic factors interact with aspects of the familial and educational environment to determine the course of children's development in literacy and language. Policy makers in preschool and school education will be able to use the information to guide curriculum refinement and to develop policies for the early identification of children at developmental risk in these domains. As an international project, the research will also promote scientific cooperation between Australia, the USA, and Scandinavia in a cutting-edge branch of human psychology, the interaction of genes and environment in psychological development.Read moreRead less