Language and Literacy Lab (L3)
Directed by Jillian McCarthy, PhD and Ilsa Schwarz, PhD
The Language and Literacy Laboratory (L3) is located at the UT Conference Center. Its mission is to enhance educational, social, and vocational opportunities for individuals through the development of new assessments and interventions for spoken and/or written language disorders.
- Examining factors related to successful language and literacy skills for children, specifically those who are deaf or hard of hearing or use augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) strategies.
- Investigating and examining the vocabulary use of children and teachers, and relating this information back to language and literacy development for all children.
- Examining linguistic factors related to spelling and writing abilities of children.
- Developing assessment and interventions for spoken and written language disorders.
How do children learn new words? We are currently recruiting children, between the ages of 5 to 13 years, to help us examine how new words are learned. All children who participate will receive a free hearing and vocabulary screening. The study will take place on two different days in the L3 laboratory. If you are interested, please email Dr. Schwarz at ischwarz@uthsc.edu or Dr. McCarthy at jmccar21@uthsc.edu
At present, our lab has two federal grants with funds to support graduate students with an interest in improving language and literacy outcomes for young children. Students with a special interest in (a) working with young children who are deaf/hard of hearing (D/HH), or (b) supporting young children with complex communication needs who use augmentative or alternative communication systems (AAC), may apply for three semesters of grant-funded tuition. Grant participation provides specialty, interdisciplinary preparation in early language and literacy assessments and interventions as well as focused practicum opportunities with the target populations. Grant involvement does not add any time to the academic program of study. For more information, please contact Dr. Ilsa Schwarz at ischwarz@uthsc.edu or Dr. Jillian McCarthy at jmccar21@uthsc.edu.
Volunteering in L3 is a great way to become familiar with the lab setting, as well as to get hands-on experience with research involving language and literacy development and disorders. Volunteers may contribute to the lab in many ways, including but not limited to: stimulus development, data collection, data processing, and clerical work. If you are interested, please email Dr. Schwarz at ischwarz@uthsc.edu or Dr. McCarthy at jmccar21@uthsc.edu.