Academic interests
My research interests lie in how young children acquire language(s) and what affects this acquisition. My previous research involved exploring language development in conjunction with working memory and executive function. I have more recently gotten involved in developing parental questionnaires that can be used to assess very young children's language development, especially when a child is learning more than one language.
Background
2019 - 2021 Postdoc at the University of Cape Town, Department of Linguistics
2016 - 2018 PhD in Linguistics, Stellenbosch University
2013 - 2015 MSc, European Master's in Clinical Linguistics (EMCL)
Postdoctoral Research Project
My postdoctoral project sets out to uncover how various socioeconomic status factors affect young children's language acquisition. In particular, we will be looking at young bilingual children from two different countries - Norway and South Africa. This is undertaken in collaboration with the South African CDI project and the PolkaNorski project.
Selected publications
White, M. J., Southwood, F., & Huddlestone, K. (2023). Children’s acquisition of negation in L1 Afrikaans. First Language, 43(1), 22-57. https://doi.org/10.1177/01427237221112064
Nel, J.H., Southwood, F., & White, M.J. (2023) The Comprehension and Production of Passive Constructions by Afrikaans and isiXhosa First Language Grade 1 Children, Language Acquisition. https://doi.org/10.1080/10489223.2022.2159828
Southwood, F., White, M.J., Brookes, H., Pascoe, M., Ndhambi, M., Yalala, S., Mahura, O., Mössmer, M., Oosthuizen, H., Brink, N., & Alcock, K. (2021). Sociocultural factors affecting vocabulary development in young South African children. Frontiers in Psychology, 12, 1645. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.642315
Southwood F., & White, M.J. (2021). Elicited Production of Part/Whole and General/ Specific Articles by Four- to Nine-Year-Old Afrikaans- and South African English-Speaking Monolinguals. Language Matters, 52, 71-91. https://doi.org/10.1080/10228195.2020.1825514
White, M.J. (2020). Phonological working memory and non-verbal complex working memory as predictors of future English outcomes in young ELLs. International Journal of Bilingualism. https://doi.org/10.1177/1367006920948136
Guasti, M.T., White, M.J., Bianco, G., Arosio, F., Camilleri, B., & Hasson, N. (2020). Exploring two clinical markers for DLD in monolingual Italian speakers: what can they tell us about second language learners with DLD? Clinical Linguistics and Phonetics. https://doi.org/10.1080/02699206.2020.1830303
Southwood, F., & White, M.J. (2020). Fast Mapping Skills in Typically Developing Children from Low and Mid Socioeconomic Backgrounds and Children with Language Impairment. Clinical Linguistics and Phonetics. https://doi.org/10.1080/02699206.2020.1839968
White, M.J. (2019). The development of English proficiency and working memory in 5–6 year old ELLs in their first year of formal education. International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism. DOI: 10.1080/13670050.2019.1571009
Published
Sep. 20, 2021 2:59 PM
- Last modified
May 31, 2024 12:54 PM
