What is speech? What is language?

When I explain to people what I do, that I focus on language and communication but that I also can help with the speech, as I have studied and taught phonology, I often need to explain the difference between speech and language. What is Speech? With speech we refer to the articulation of the sounds, the phonological skills, […]

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The advantage of being bilingual for children with ASD

I have followed the debate concerning the “bilingual advantage” concerning executive functions and hoped that this would also be tested for children with ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorders). Prof. Aparna Nadig from the School of Communication Sciences and Disorders at McGill University recently published a paper in Child Development, on her findings demonstrating that the “bilingual […]

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Myths about Bilingualism/Multilingualism

This is a short (!) overview of some common myths about bilingualism/multilingualism – I will be updating this list in May/June 2024, so, if you came across any myths you want me to include, please let me know in the comments. They are all assumptions based on old theories about bilingualism and bilinguals (and multilingualism), […]

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I wish I knew then what I know now…

by Doreen M. Cumberford Orly airport, outside of Paris, France.   A lonely, scared 22-year-old sat on a bench feeling like she had just made the biggest mistake of her life. Distraught, she barely heard the last and final call for her flight to Yaounde, Cameroon, West Africa.  She bolted into action and ran like the […]

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