Rutgers Lab for Developmental Language Studies

Laboratory for Developmental Language Studies

Meet our lab members (2012-2013)


	Dr. Kristen Syrett (Director) Dr. Syrett is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Linguistics, with a co-appointment in the Rutgers Center for Cognitive Science (RuCCS). She earned her Ph.D. in Linguistics from Northwestern University in 2007, with specializations in Language and Cognition and in Cognitive Science. She also has an M.Ed. and AMI Montessori certification. Before joining the faculty at Rutgers, Dr. Syrett was an NIH post-doctoral fellow at RuCCS. She devotes her time outside of research to her two young children, her yoga practice, and a newfound interest in spinning.

	Georgia Simon (Lab Manager) Georgia graduated from Rutgers University in 2011 with high honors in Linguistics. This is her second year as Lab Manager. Georgia first joined the lab as a research assistant for Dr. Syrett, when she helped get the ‘prosody, scope, and information structure’ project off the ground. She was an integral part of all aspects of that project through last year, and has presented the research at conferences in the field. Her research interests include prosody's contribution to meaning, and the phonetics-pragmatics interface. Outside the lab, Georgia enjoys singing - with Voorhees Choir in New Brunswick and the Canticum Novum Singers in New York City - or knitting for family and friends. This fall, she is undertaking independent research on irony, and applying to graduate programs in Linguistics.

	Anthony Arias-Amaya Anthony is a sophomore from Fairview, New Jersey majoring in Linguistics with a double minor in French and Russian. He is also getting a certification of English-Spanish translation. His research interests include language acquisition and bilingualism. After graduating, he plans on going to Spain through the Spanish governments "Cultural Ambassadors" program. In his free time, he loves to play tennis and the piano. Anthony is a member of the New Brunswick Bilingual Children project.

	Hannah Baker Hannah is a senior majoring in Cognitive Science and Spanish, with a minor in Linguistics. Her research interests include language acquisition, second language acquisition and bilingualism. She is currently working on her Interdisciplinary Honors Thesis that examines the epistemic effect of Spanish modal indefinites under the direction of Dr. Kristen Syrett and Dr. Liliana Sánchez. She is also part of the bilingual project. This year she is applying to graduate school programs in Theoretical Linguistics. Outside of the lab, Hannah loves to swim and is treasurer of the Rutgers Club Swim Team.

	Stephanie Buco Stephanie is a senior, triple majoring in Linguistics, Psychology, and Cognitive Science, with a minor in Education. Her research interests include psycholinguistics and language acquisition. She is the director of the Rutgers Student Volunteer Council and a co-site leader for one of the Rutgers Alternative Break trip. Stephanie will be applying to graduate school in Speech Pathology this year. Stephanie is a part of the ‘number semantics’ project.

	Christina Germak Christina is a junior double majoring in Psychology and Spanish, with a minor in Music. Her research interests include psycholinguistics, language acquisition, and bilingualism, in particular the cognitive benefits that come with fluency in two or more languages and the attitudes that bilingual speakers have towards each one of their languages. Outside of academics, Christina is involved with the Rutgers Catholic Student Association, sings with the University Choir, and serves as a Tutor Coordinator, Peer Mentor, and Honors Ambassador for the School of Arts and Sciences Honors Program. Before applying to graduate school, she would like to teach English abroad for a year. Christina is part of the New Brunswick Bilingual Children project.

	Shannon Gravatt Shannon is a junior double majoring in Linguistics and Psychology. She is interested in how young children acquire language and how they learn to effectively communicate meaning. Outside of school, she works as a bookkeeper for small businesses. She has two cats who are like children to her. She enjoys vintage clothing, vintage music, and scowering flea markets for unusual finds. She and her husband spend the summers hiking and camping out west. She plans to attend graduate school for Speech Pathology.

	Ariana Kalkstein Ariana is a senior from Cherry Hill, NJ. She is double majoring in Psychology and Linguistics, with a double minor in Hebrew and Cognitive Ccience. Her research interests include infant and child development, language acquisition and speech pathology. She plans to attend graduate school to become a speech pathologist, specializing in young children. Ariana is currently a second grade Kulanu teacher at Anshe Emeth Memorial Temple, and an active member of Rutgers Performing Dance Company. She has worked with children for the past 8 years and is very excited to be working in the lab.

	Siobhan McLaughlin Siobhan is a junior from South River, NJ, who is majoring in Psychology, with a minor in Linguistics and Cognitive Science. Her research interests include psycholinguistics, language acquisition, and developmental disabilities (such as autism spectrum disorders). She is vice-president of the Rutgers Reach Out and Read program and works with special needs children at the Daisy Recreation Center in East Brunswick, NJ. Outside of school, she enjoys baking and trying out new recipes. After graduation, she plans to attend graduate school for Speech Pathology.

Graduate students
	Anne Lingwall Anne is a first year Ph.D student in Bilingualism and SLA in the Department of Spanish and Portuguese at Rutgers. She holds a B.A. in Multidisciplinary Science and Spanish (with honors) from the University of Iowa and her M.A. in Hispanic Linguistics from the University of Florida. Her research interests include child bilingualism as well as heritage speaker acquisition and current theories driving adult second language acquisition. Most recently, she has worked on research centering around the question of there being a "minimum" in terms of age for child L2 acquisition as well as modality alternations in Heritage Speaker Spanish. Anne has been affiliated with the Linguistic Development Lab at UF and the SLA Lab at U of Iowa. Outside of school and research, she enjoys cooking and baking, traveling, and spending time with friends and family.

	Silvia Perez-Cortes Silvia is a first year Ph.D. student in Bilingualism and Second Language Acquisition in the Department of Spanish and Portuguese. She comes to Rutgers with a BA in Spanish Philology from the University of Barcelona, Spain, and an MA in Hispanic Linguistics from UMass-Amherst. She has research interests in bilingualism, second language acquisition and heritage linguistics, and is particularly interested in language transfer in different levels of linguistic analysis. Her most recent work focuses on the acquisition of certain semantic properties by Spanish heritage speakers and second language learners whose L1 aspectual feature configuration differs from that of the L2s. Silvia is an avid reader who loves travelling and learning about new cultures.

2011-2012 Alumni

Collaborators and Friends of the lab
Faculty
	Julien Musolino Associate Professor, Psychology, RuCCS Director, Rutgers Psycholinguistics Laboratory

	Viviane Déprez Professor, Linguistics Director, Comparative and Experimental Syntax Laboratory

	Liliana Sanchez Professor, Department of Spanish and Portuguese Studies Director, Bilingualism and Second Language Acquisition Laboratory

	Jennifer Austin Associate Professor and Chair, Department of Spanish and Portuguese Studies Rutgers University, Newark

	Shigeto Kawahara Assistant Professor, Linguistics, RuCCS Director, Rutgers Phonetics Laboratory

	Rochel Gelman Professor, Psychology, RuCCS Director, Cognitive Development and Learning Laboratory