Reading and Language Lab

Welcome to the Reading and Language lab at Washington University!

Our research deals with the cognitive and linguistic skills that are involved in learning to read and write. For example, we study how children use their phonological knowledge and their knowledge of letter names to try to make sense of writing systems of English and other languages. Other studies examine the cognitive processes used by skilled readers and spellers, with an eye toward testing and developing models that may account for these processes. We are also analyzing the patterns in the English writing system itself, showing that the system is not as unprincipled as often believed. Much of our research deals with normally progressing children, but some studies examine the special issues faced by dyslexic children and by deaf children.

last revised 2006-07-12 by Suzanne Schechtman