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
Independent study of a particular sub-area of linguistics. Normally offered as a reading course and directed research practicum through special prior arrangement. Prerequisite: Consent of Instructor.
Fall Term 2021Research relating to a student's honors project in linguistics. Normally offered as a research practicum through special prior arrangement. Note: Required for and restricted to BA Honors students in Linguistics in their final year.
Fall Term 2021Directed Honors thesis. Prerequisites: LING 402 and 501 and consent of Department. Note: Required for and restricted to BA Honors students in Linguistics in their final year.
Winter Term 2022A study of recent developments in particular areas of linguistic research. Prerequisite: consent of Department. Formerly LING 443.
Winter Term 2022Major theories and issues in second language acquisition and bilingualism research. (Course is cross-listed with MLCS 620). Credit will only be granted for one of LING 620 or MLCS 620. Prerequisite: Consent of Department.
Winter Term 2022Major theories and issues in past and present second language acquisition research. Course is cross-listed as LING 620. Credit will only be granted for MLCS 620 or LING 620. Prerequisite: LING 101 or equivalent and consent of Department.
Winter Term 2022