Lab Affiliation: Behavioural Science Institute, Radboud University Nijmegen

Research Interests:

Second language learning and bilingualism/multilingualism.

Foci: lexical and morphological/syntactic processing and development, as well as cross-language interaction, transfer, and code-switching, in second language learners at different levels of proficiency.

Language development in children with a typical or atypical language development (children who are deaf, children with dyslexia, with SLI, and bilingual children from an ethnic minority background)

Foci: development of literacy and morphology/syntax.

Research Opportunities:

The Language Development Lab is a new lab in the Psychology and Linguistics Departments, and focuses on language development at middle childhood and beyond. Topics we study include: how child speakers of different languages learn to use more complex grammatical structures; cognitive processes related to second language learning and second language processing in children and adults; how second and native language knowledge interacts in language perception and production, in beginning and proficient bilinguals. We use experimental, neurocognitive (ERPs), and linguistic research techniques.

There are many opportunities for research for students interested in particular languages (e.g., Spanish, German, Chinese, American Sign Language), but you don’t have to speak a second language yourself. We seek students who are curious, enthusiastic, and responsible, and who seek training in experimental and neurocognitive research related to language processing.

Method of compensation: Independent study (Psychology 494 or Linguistics 496) or work study positions are available for undergraduate students who are eligible. Please contact me at jgv3@psu.edu if you are interested.

Recent Publications:

van Beijsterveldt, L. M., & van Hell, J. G. (in press). Evaluative expression in deaf children’s written narratives. International Journal of Language and Communication Disorders.

van Hell, J. G., & Tokowicz, N. (in press). Event-related brain potentials and second language learning: Syntactic processing in late L2 learners at different L2 proficiency levels. Second Language Research.

Kootstra, G. J., van Hell, J. G., & Dijkstra, T. (2009). Two speakers, one dialogue: An interactive alignment perspective on codeswitching in bilingual speakers. In: L. Isurin, D. Winford, & K. de Bot (Eds.), Multidisciplinary approaches to code switching (pp. 129-159). Amsterdam / Philadelphia: John Benjamins.

van Beijsterveldt, L. M., & van Hell, J. G. (2009). Structural priming of adjective-noun structures in hearing and deaf children. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 104 (2), 179-196.

van Hell, J. G., & Witteman, M. J. (2009). The neurocognition of switching between languages: A review of electrophysiological studies. In: L. Isurin, D. Winford, & K. de Bot (Eds.), Multidisciplinary approaches to code switching (pp. 53-84). Amsterdam / Philadelphia: John Benjamins.

van Hell, J. G. & de Groot, A. M. B. (2008). Sentence context affects lexical decision and word translation. Acta Psychologica, 128, 431-451.

van Hell, J. G., Verhoeven, L., & van Beijsterveldt, L. M. (2008). Pause time patterns in writing narrative and expository texts by children and adults. Discourse Processes, 45, 406-427.

Verhoeven, L. & van Hell, J. G. (2008). From knowledge representation to writing text: A developmental perspective. Discourse Processes, 45, 387-405.

Bosman, A. M. T., van Hell, J. G., & Verhoeven, L. (2006). Learning the spelling of strange words in Dutch benefits from regularized reading. Journal of Educational Psychology, 98, 879-890.

de Groot, A. M. B., & van Hell, J. G. (2005). The learning of foreign language vocabulary. In: J. F. Kroll & A. M. B. de Groot (Eds.), Handbook of bilingualism: Psycholinguistic approaches (pp. 9-29). Oxford: Oxford University Press.

van Hell, J. G., Verhoeven, L., Tak, M., & van Oosterhout, M. (2005). To take a stance: A developmental study on the use of pronouns and passives in spoken and written texts in different genres. Journal of Pragmatics, 37, 239-273.

Dijkstra, T., & van Hell, J. G. (2003). Testing the Language Mode hypothesis using trilinguals. International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism, 6, 2-16.

van Hell, J. G., Bosman, A. M. T., & Bartelings, M. (2003). Visual dictation improves the spelling performance of three groups of Dutch children with spelling disabilities. Learning Disability Quarterly, 26, 239-255.

van Hell, J. G., Bosman, A. M. T., Wiggers, I., & Stoit, J. (2003). Children's cultural background knowledge and story telling performance. International Journal of Bilingualism, 7, 283-303.

Ragnarsdóttir, H., Aparici, M., Cahana-Amitay, D., van Hell, J. G., & Vigué-Simon, A. (2002). Verbal structure and content in written discourse: Expository and narrative texts. Written Language and Literacy, 5, 95-126.

Ravid, D., van Hell, J. G., Rosado, E., & Zamora, A. (2002). Subject NP patterning in the development of text production: Speech and writing. Written Language and Literacy, 5, 69-93.

Tokowicz, N., Kroll, J. F., de Groot, A. M. B., & van Hell, J. G. (2002). Number of translation norms for Dutch-English translation pairs: A new tool for examining language production. Behavior Research Methods, Instruments, and Computers, 34, 435-451.

van Hell, J. G. (2002). Bilingual word recognition beyond orthography: On meaning, linguistic context, and individual differences. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, 5, 209-212.

van Hell, J. G. & Dijkstra, T. (2002). Foreign language knowledge can influence native language performance in exclusively native contexts. Psychonomic Bulletin and Review, 9, 780-789.