I did my PhD in Psychology at McGill University (1998), and my MA and BA in Linguistics at the University of British Columbia. I did postdoctoral studies at the School of Communication Sciences and Disorders at McGill University before joining the Department of Linguistics at the University of Alberta in 2000. I am now a Full Professor in the Department of Linguistics and an Adjunct Professor in the Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders. I am the Director of the Language Acquisition Lab in the Linguistics Department and I am the current Editor of the Journal of Child Language.
I study bilingualism and second language acquisition in children with typical development and in children with developmental language and communication disorders. My primary research focus concerns children learning English as a second language from immigrant and refugee families: How these children approach native-speaker competence, what unique language development profiles they display, and the factors explaining why some individual children learn English faster than others. My research on bilingual children with developmental disorders includes investigating their linguistic profiles in development and determining what measures best differentiate bilingual children with typical development from those with language and communication disorders. One outcome of this research is a website with resources for the assessment of children in multilingual settings, CHESL Centre
My research has been supported by Alberta Innovates-Health Solutions (AIHS; formerly the Alberta Heritage Foundation for Medical Research), the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRCC), the Canadian Language and Literacy Research Network (CLLRNet), and the Alberta Centre for Child, Family, and Community Research (ACCFCR).
In the 2019-2020 academic year, I will be teaching LING 419 (Linguistics and Child Language Disorders) in the fall term and and LING 521 (Topics in Language Acquisition: Dual Language Development and Disorders) in the winter term.
Current Research Projects in the Language Acquisition Lab
Age Effects in Child Second Language Acquisition /
Alternate title: English Language and Literacy Skills of English L2 Students in Junior High: Determinants and Outcomes
Bilingual Development in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder from Newcomer Families
Successes and Challenges of Syrian Refugee Children: Language, Literacy and Wellbeing
Recent publications
Govindarajan, K., & Paradis, J. (2019). Narrative abilities of bilingual children with and without Developmental Language Disorder (SLI): Differentiation and the role of age and input factors. Journal of Communication Disorders, 77, 1-16. doi.org/10.1016/j.jcomdis.2018.10.001
Sorenson Duncan, T., & Paradis, J. (published online June 13, 2018). How does maternal education influence the linguistic environment supporting bilingual language development in child L2 learners of English? International Journal of Bilingualism. 1-16. doi.org/10.1177/1367006918768366
Paradis, J. & Govindarajan, K. (2018). Bilingualism and children with language and communication disorders. In D. Miller, F. Bayram, J. Rothman and L. Serratrice (Eds.), Bilingual language and Cognition: The state of the science across its subfields. [Sibil 54] (347-370). Amsterdam: John Benjamins.
Paradis, J., Jia, R., & Arppe, A. (2017). The acquisition of tense morphology over time by English second language children with specific language impairment: Testing the Cumulative Effects Hypothesis. Applied Psycholinguistics, 38, 881-908. doi:10.1017/S0142716416000485
Introduction to the study of the development of all aspects of language, from sounds to social interaction, from birth through adolescence. Includes a review of theories and current research as well as practice with analyses of children's language. Sections offered at an increased rate of fee assessment; refer to the Tuition and Fees page in the University Regulations sections of the Calendar. Consent of Department required. Prerequisite: LING 101 or equivalent. Note: Credit cannot be received for both CSD 211 and LING 319.
Basic issues in first language acquisition: theories, research methods, and major findings. Sections may be offered at an increased rate of fee assessment; refer to the Tuition and Fees page in the University Regulations sections of the Calendar. Prerequisite: LING 101, LING 204 and 205 recommended. Not open to students with credit in CSD 211.
Linguistic characteristics of language disorders across special populations of children. Theoretical issues in linguistic approaches to developmental language disorders. Prerequisite: LING 319; 309 recommended.