Author Archives: Multilingual Families Lab

New Paper: Language abilities of children with refugee backgrounds: Insights from case studies

This work grew from our community-based program to support the home and school languages of children who are refugees. These 3 case studies provide an important perspective on the oral language abilities of three young children who were born in Syria and moved to Canada with their families as refugees. We spoke to parents aboutContinue reading “New Paper: Language abilities of children with refugee backgrounds: Insights from case studies”

A vision of excellence through equity, diversity, and inclusion

In recent years, I have been making more explicit links between my research, social justice, and action based research.  With a background in linguistics and anthropology, I moved to the field of communication sciences and disorders in my master’s, PhD, and then as a professor.  My work has been motivated by both the search forContinue reading “A vision of excellence through equity, diversity, and inclusion”

Don’t forget about play!

Play is important for children’s development – it helps them make sense of their world and promotes resiliency. During the pandemic, it’s important to keep children engaged in play by making time for play, creating a space, and finding ways to maintain friendships. Kids can bring the pandemic into play: curb-side delivery (instead of playingContinue reading “Don’t forget about play!”

Stay well

Helping children communicate their emotions is a particular challenge for parents during COVID-19, especially when we are lock down. We pulled together resources online and found that we can help children practice naming, responding, and expressing their feelings. That we can help our kids by staying calm and showing empathy. Experts also point to the importance of regular schedules and routines – even when everything else is upside down.