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	Announcements: Please check our wiki, for current information on upcoming meetings, projects, and other things going on at the lab. Thank you! Please click here to see past announcements. Studies in Heritage Languages and Language Processing What are the major cognitive constraints on the processing of language in real time? What makes one a fluent speaker of a language learned since birth? In our lab, we address these questions by studying how native speakers respond to the structure and meaning of their language. We also study the knowledge of language in heritage speakers—those who grew up hearing and even speaking a language other English but who are now more comfortable in English. According to recent statistics about one third of American college undergraduates are heritage speakers. This large demographic group has been virtually neglected until recently, but understanding what they know is crucial to our understanding of language acquisition in general. We use behavioral methods to study native and heritage speakers of a range of languages such as English, Russian, Korean, Mandarin, Spanish, Arabic, and Persian.
The Polinsky Lab Harvard University 2 Arrow St., Rm 426 Cambridge MA 02138 617-496-5426
Copyright © 2007 The President and Fellows of Harvard College

Announcements:

Please check our wiki, for current information on upcoming meetings, projects, and other things going on at the lab. Thank you!

Please click here to see past announcements.

Studies in Heritage Languages and Language Processing

What are the major cognitive constraints on the processing of language in real time? What makes one a fluent speaker of a language learned since birth? In our lab, we address these questions by studying how native speakers respond to the structure and meaning of their language. We also study the knowledge of language in heritage speakers—those who grew up hearing and even speaking a language other English but who are now more comfortable in English. According to recent statistics about one third of American college undergraduates are heritage speakers. This large demographic group has been virtually neglected until recently, but understanding what they know is crucial to our understanding of language acquisition in general.

We use behavioral methods to study native and heritage speakers of a range of languages such as English, Russian, Korean, Mandarin, Spanish, Arabic, and Persian.