We are delighted to announce that DCAL, University College London, has 4 new research posts available. Two positions focus on reading development in deaf children aged 4-7 and 8-11 years, exploring the relationship between BSL, English, and reading development. The application deadline for these posts is 29th May. The other two positions are for Post-Doctoral Research Fellows examining how BSL and English are processed in the brain of deaf children using OPMs and deaf adults using fMRI. The application deadline for these posts is 9th June. For more information, please visit the DCAL website. Please spread the word and get in touch if you have questions.
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5/15/2024
Explore this unique opportunity to join UCL's prestigious Division of Psychology and Language Sciences as a Research Assistant. Engage in a Wellcome-funded, three-year project led by Prof. Mairéad MacSweeney, focusing on the role of visual communication skills in reading development among young deaf children. This fixed-term role offers a chance to register for a PhD at UCL. Knowledge of British Sign Language (BSL) is a requirement.
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7/19/2023
Meet Kearsy Cormier, the Director of the Deafness Cognition and Language Research Centre (DCAL), as she warmly welcomes you to the world of DCAL’s innovative research. DCAL boasts a multidisciplinary team of experts from fields such as linguistics, psychology, and neuroscience. They are committed to investigating how deaf individuals engage with, comprehend, and learn languages, as well as understanding the cognitive processes unique to deaf people. The research conducted at DCAL has been groundbreaking, shedding light on language processing in the brain, the influence of language variation on sign language structure, and how language is processed by both deaf children and adults. These insights are not only integral for advancing the scientific knowledge in this domain but are also invaluable in informing educational practices and clinical interventions tailored for the deaf community. Explore DCAL's website to learn more about their mission and groundbreaking discoveries.
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6/8/2023
We are pleased to announce that the Deafness Cognition and Language (DCAL) Research Centre
at University College London has an exciting opportunity for
three, one-week paid placements.
As a paid research intern,
you can learn first-hand what is involved in conducting research
in the areas of linguistics, psycholinguistics
and language development
in the context of deafness and sign language.
Alternatively, as a professional services intern,
you can see what goes on behind the scenes of a research centre
and work in our Professional Services team,
this may include but not limited to science communication,
event management
and community engagement.
You will gain valuable higher education experience in these areas.
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2/2/2023
Are you Deaf and interested in Language or Psychology Research?
Paid Research Placement Opportunities.
We are pleased to announce that the Deafness Cognition and Language (DCAL) Research Centre
at University College London has an exciting opportunity for
three, one-week paid placements.
As a paid research intern,
you can learn first-hand what is involved in conducting research
in the areas of linguistics, psycholinguistics
and language development
in the context of deafness and sign language.
Alternatively, as a professional services intern,
you can see what goes on behind the scenes of a research centre
and work in our Professional Services team,
this may include but not limited to science communication,
event management
and community engagement.
You will gain valuable higher education experience in these areas.
Intern criteria:
• Deaf
• Knowledge of British Sign Language (BSL)
• Degree (or studying/planning to study)
in linguistics, psychology
or related areas if ap
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12/7/2022
We currently have 3 exciting projects running at DCAL that investigate the relationship between language and literacy development. One study looks at language comprehension in deaf children and is one of the largest research projects that involves deaf children here at DCAL. The goals of the project are to adapt a comprehension task from American Sign Language into British Sign Language (BSL) and to explore the effects of BSL vocabulary and BSL syntax toward deaf children’s comprehension of BSL. For this study, we will need 300 deaf children between age 4 and 18 years old so if you work at a school, know of resource base schools with deaf children, or are a parent/caregiver of a deaf child, do get in touch with Patrick Rosenburg and Kate Rowley at p.rosenburg@ucl.ac.uk. For more information, see our Development Research Page: http://www.ucl.ac.uk/pals/research/deafness-cognition-and-language-dcal/research-dcal/development-research
In another study, we are investigating the relationshi
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12/2/2022
We were saddened by the passing of Frances Elton earlier this year. Frances worked at DCAL for many years. Frances had a long career in research and teaching and her work influenced a great many people. We will be holding a memorial event in honour of Frances to celebrate her life’s work. This will be on Saturday 21st January from 2pm to 5.30pm. There will be various speakers and we will be doing a premier showing of the final version of ‘Lightwave’, a film developed by Rubbena Aurengzeb-Tariq and Prof. Bencie Woll, see: https://www.rubbena.com/lightwave-trellis-2020
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12/2/2022
Our research on the deaf brain was featured on the cover of Brain, one of the most prestigious neuroscience journals.
In our new paper we found that regions of the brain that in hearing people are involved in understanding sounds have different roles in deaf people. We found that these regions in deaf people are involved in higher-order cognitive functions, which are the mental processes that allow people to learn and interact with the world. We also found that language skills, either in sign or spoken language, predict performance in cognitive tasks. This highlights the importance of early access to language for the development of cognitive skills, independently of the modality of the language. The art on the cover is by artist Rubbena Aurangzeb-Tariq. Rubbena is an artist and facilitator whose work concerns culture and deaf identity. In this work she asks ‘Why is it that given the same information, we perceive things differently?’. This collaboration is a great example of science a
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12/2/2022