Main profile

Jan

Edwards

Professor, Department of Hearing and Speech Sciences

Associate Director, Maryland Language Science Center

Interests: 

Cochlear Implants, Codeswitching, Language Acquisition, Language Disorders, Language Diversity, Language Processing, Literacy, Speech Perception

Units: 

Language Science Center, Hearing and Speech Sciences

Degree(s): 

Ph.D., 1985, Speech & Hearing Science, Graduate Center, CUNY 
CCC-SLP, 1984
M.S., 1981, Linguistics, MIT
B.A., 1980, English Literature, Barnard College 

Contact: 

edwards@umd.edu

Role(s): 

Faculty, Management

Website: 

Learning to Talk

Toggle Talk

Little Listeners

Google Scholar Profile

About: 

My research aims to better understand various aspects of language development such as the interactions between vocabulary growth and phonological acquisition, cross-linguistic phonological acquisition, and the impact of dialect mismatch on academic achievement. My research focuses on both typical and atypical language development  (including the language development of children with cochlear implants or autism spectrum disorders). Although most adults take the ability to speak for granted, children who are learning language must acquire and synthesize a complex system of sounds, words, and social understanding. Doing so competently supports future language development, reading ability, and academic achievement.

Collaborators: 

 

Little Listeners
Susan Ellis Weismer, UW-Madison 
Jenny Saffran, UW-Madison

Learning to Talk
Mary Beckman, The Ohio State University
Benjamin Munson, University of Minnesota
 

Current and Former Students: 

(Ohio State and UW-Madison)

Benjamin Munson (Ph.D., 2000), University of MN

Shurita Thomas-Tate (Ph.D., 2002), Missouri State University

Asimina Syrika (Ph.D., 2009)

Hyunju Chung (Ph.D., 2010)

Tristan Mahr (Ph.D. expected, 2018)
Allison Johnson (Ph.D. expected, 2019)
Michelle Erskine (Ph.D., expected, 2019 )