Principal Investigator

Duane is from Las Vegas, NV. He is interested in the cognitive processes that underlie language production, comprehension, and reading.

Lecturer

Michelle was born in Queens, NY to immigrant parents. In 2017, she completed her linguistics PhD work with Dr. Edith Kaan at the University of Florida, where she also obtained a Second Language Acquisition and Teaching certificate. Michelle’s current research interests include eliciting spontaneous and naturalistic prosody in a lab setting, characterizing website texts using NLP tools, and examining the impact of digital reading exposure on grammatical processing and language preferences. Her work is inspired by her experiences in linguistically diverse environments as a language learner, a heritage speaker, and an English instructor.

Post-Doctoral Researcher

Van's home base is St. Louis, MO but he grew up in the Philippines. He got his PhD in cognitive psychology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. His interests include formalizing the nature of individual differences in word recognition and reading using computational models and behavioral studies; the interaction of language experience, oculomotor constraints, and cognitive processes in reading; methodology and measurement in psycholinguistics; and extending research on reading in psycholinguistics to research on reading in education.

Post-Doctoral Researcher

Delin received her first PhD degree in Anthropology from École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales (EHESS) in France in 2021. Later, she got her second PhD degree in Linguistics from the University of Florida in 2023. Her research focuses on the correlation between prosody and pragmatic functions conveyed by discourse markers (DMs). Her research employs both observational and sociolinguistic interview data. By using computational modeling and corpus data, she investigates how both linguistic environments and social factors contribute to the use of sociopragmatic variables (DMs) by both L1 and L2 speakers of French and English.

PhD Student and Researcher

Ebony Pearson is a PhD candidate studying how dialect variation shapes real-time speech perception. Using eye-tracking and behavioral experiments, she examines how listeners handle phonetic ambiguity, adapt to unfamiliar accents, and use social cues during comprehension.

She is also an intern at SRI International, where she works on detecting and reducing bias in speech and language AI systems to improve system performance across diverse speakers.

Project Coordinator

Sarah graduated from Carleton College in 2025 with a B.A. in Linguistics and French. Their main research interests are at the intersection of variationist sociolinguistics and second language acquisition. Sarah is also passionate about language teaching and education abroad, and they have a budding interest in the ways generative AI use impacts language development. Outside the lab, Sarah enjoys crossword puzzles, spending time with their cats, and making great coffee. 

Graduate Research Assistant

Xi is a masters student from the Cognitive Psychology in Context Program. Her research interests include bilingualism, language acquisition and sentence processing. Outside of schoolwork, she enjoys traveling and listening to music.

Outreach Coordinator and Graduate Research Assistant

Steven graduated from Vanderbilt in 2025 with a B.S. in Human and Organizational Development and is currently a graduate student in the Leadership and Organizational Performance program. Passionate about language acquisition and bilingualism, he combines his interests with his role as the lab’s outreach coordinator. In this role, Steven recruits participants for research studies and manages the lab’s social media presence, bridging the gap between research and the community.

Graduate Research Assistant

Alex graduated from Vanderbilt in 2024 with a B.S is Cognitive Studies, and is currently a first-year student in the Quantitative Methods M.Ed program. His interests include language development and education, as well as assessment and testing in psycholinguistics.

Graduate Research Assistant

SSophia is a Master's in Data Science student with a background in Cognitive Studies and Neuroscience. She is interested in dyslexia and computational linguistics. Outside of the lab, she enjoys fiber arts and climbing.

Graduate Research Assistant

Alara is a master’s student in Data Science at Vanderbilt University. Her research focuses on natural language processing, computational linguistics, and bilingualism. Outside of the lab, she enjoys practicing yoga and traveling.

Graduate Research Assistant

Eva is pursuing a M. Ed. in Human Development Counseling in both school & clinical mental health counseling. As a heritage speaker of Spanish and with experience in TEFL, she is interested in bilingualism, language acquisition, and language processing. Outside of the lab, she enjoys reading, baking, pottery making, and most of all, traveling.

Undergraduate Research Assistant

Arnav is a freshman pursuing a double major in cognitive studies and neuroscience with a minor in history. He is interested in language processing and sensory memory in the brain. Outside of that he loves a good movie and board game.

Undergraduate Research Assistant

Wendy is a junior majoring in Child Studies and Cognitive Studies. Her research interests include bilingual learners’ language acquisition across social networks, cognitive flexibility, and language processing. She is fluent in her hometown dialect from China and identifies as bilingual, with her personal experiences as an immigrant strongly shaping her academic interests.

Undergraduate Research Assistant

Jordan is a Senior majoring in Cognitive Studies. She is passionate about understanding the human mind as it relates to the intricate world of film and media. She hopes to pursue a career in Entertainment law, where she can seamlessly blend her cognitive science expertise with a keen eye for dissecting the filmic apparatus and shaping impactful policies around film.

Undergraduate Research Assistant

Jessica is a junior majoring in cognitive studies and language sciences. She is interested in bilingualism and language processing. Outside of schoolwork, she loves to watch horror movies and listen to music.

Undergraduate Research Assistant

Amy is a junior studying Cognitive Studies and Language Sciences. Her research interests include bilingualism, speech disorders, and language processing. Outside of the lab, she enjoys playing instruments, swimming, and traveling.

Undergraduate Research Assistant

Mihika is sophomore majoring in Cognitive Studies and minoring in Gender and Sexuality Studies. Her research interests include sociolinguistics, psycholinguistics, and the cognitive components of language. Outside of the lab, She enjoys watching films/TV, making jewelry, and traveling.

Undergraduate Research Assistant

Anzi is a freshman that intends to major in Cognitive Studies and Philosophy with a minor in Data Science. Her education experience all over the world has inspired her interests in bilingualism, social cognition, and cultural-linguistic influences on mental disorders. She aspires to pursue a career in research and therapy. Outside of work, Anzi is a passionate gamer who also enjoys a good novel while listening the songs from her growing CD collection.

Undergraduate Research Assistant

Harry is a first year studying Cognitive Studies and Computer Science with a minor in Scientific Computing. His research interests include natural language processing, bilingualism, computational linguistics... and instant ramen recipes.

Undergraduate Research Assistant

Kesney is a sophomore majoring in Computer Science, Cognitive Studies, and Applied Mathematics, with a minor in Data Science. His interests lie in socio-computational cognitive science and sociolinguistics.

Undergraduate Research Assistant

Athena is a junior pursuing a major in Neuroscience and a minor in Medicine, Health, and Society. Her research interests include bilingualism, language development, and language attrition. Outside of the lab, she enjoys reading, journaling, and Greek dancing.

Doriana proudly served as lab manager of the Communication and Language Lab. She transitioned to an exciting new role at Vanderbilt.

Ansley Potter is starting an exciting career in industry.

Ariel is now an assistant professor at Macalester College.

Brett is now an Associate Professor at the University of Utah Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders.

Wei Lai is now a language engineer with Amazon Web Services.

Sarah is now an NRC Research Psychologist at the Wright-Patterson Air Force Base. Want to know more about the work she’s doing and her dog? Visit https://my.vanderbilt.edu/sabibyk/.

Jenna is now a psychology Ph.D. graduate student at the University of California - Davis.

Andrés Buxo-Lugo is now an assistant professor at the University at Buffalo in the Department of Psychology.

Siva is now a student in the Stanford Linguistics Graduate Program.