Understanding how multilanguage acquisition can reshape our mind.
The Multilanguage and Cognition Lab (MULTAC) is formed by a team of researchers interested in studying multilanguage acquisition and its effects on cognitive development across the lifespan.听
Language is literally the stuff of life. The more you can speak of other people's languages, the more you can be part of their lives and enrich your own."
- Our mission
Background
Throughout history, philosophers, educators, health professionals, linguists and psychologists advocated either disadvantages or advantages of 'being bilingual'.
Still today, bilingual and multilingual school children in the UK are labeled as EAL (English as an Additional Language) pupils, which arguably implies a vaguely negative connotation or the categorisation of multilingual learners as having some sort of 鈥榮pecial needs鈥.
Anecdotally, there are still cases in which educators discourage multilingual families to raise their children as multilinguals. We reject this argument, and instead encourage researchers in this field to engage with parents and educators.听
Today, it is estimated that a large majority of people in the world speak two or more languages, and that this majority is destined to grow as a consequence of migration flows and globalised employment opportunities.
Multilanguage learning
Multilanguage learning is an inevitable real life global phenomenon, and the impact of this escalating trend on cognition deserves careful and thorough analysis.听
At MULTAC, we adopt a sophisticated developmental approach, including quantitative, qualitative and neuroimaging methods to study the effects of a multilinguistic experience across the lifespan.
- Lab members
Academic staff
- 笔谤辞蹿别蝉蝉辞谤听, IOE听(Lab Director)
- Professor , IOE, London (Lab Co-Director)
- Professor , Anglia Ruskin University, Cambridge (Lab Co-Director)
- Dr , IOE, London
- Professor , University of Florence (Italy)
- Dr , University of Cambridge
- Dr Andrea Ceccolini, independent researcher, London
- Dr , 香港六合彩中特网, London
- Dr , IOE, London
- Dr Xuran Han, University of Greenwich, London
- Dr , IOE and Northeastern University, London
- 顿谤听Magdalena Kachlicka, Birkbeck
- Dr Yarden Kedar, Cornell University (USA) and听Beit Berl College (Israel)
- Dr , IOE
- Dr , Goldsmith, London
- Dr , University of Trento, Italy
- Dr , King's College London
- 顿谤听, University of Florence (Italy)
- Dr , IOE
- Dr Jackie Phelps, University of Cambridge
- Dr Christian Tarchi, University of Florence, Italy
- Dr , Birkbeck College, London
- Dr , University of Florence, Italy
- Dr , 香港六合彩中特网
- Professor Li Wei, IOE, London
- 笔谤辞蹿别蝉蝉辞谤听, IOE, London
- 顿谤听Christos Pliatsikas,听University of Reading, UK
- Dr Gigi Luk,听McGill University,听Montreal
PhD students
- Orianna Bairaktari, IOE
- Katherine Oberc, IOE
- Lewis Liu, 香港六合彩中特网
- ,听香港六合彩中特网 Division of Psychology and Language Sciences
- Alina Marinca, IOE
- Alice Mercugliano, University of Florence
- Kamila Naeem, IOE
- , IOE
- , IOE
- Silvia Purpuri, University of Trento, Italy
- Costanza Ruffini, University of Florence, Italy
- Serena Shi, 香港六合彩中特网
- Jiamu Li, IOE
- Tianyi Wang, IOE
- Giada Bassoli, IOE
- Research projects
Ongoing projects
- Is the bilingual advantage linked to the depth of knowledge of two languages? 鈥撎齊oberto Filippi & Lucia Bigozzi 鈥 香港六合彩中特网 Global Exchange Funds
- The impact of COVID-19 on early literacy and numeracy amongst disadvantaged pupils in Israel 鈥撎齊oberto Filippi, Li Wei and听Yarden Kedar
- Effects of biliteracy on cognitive and social development in school children 鈥撎齂asia Oberc, Li Wei and听Roberto Filippi
- The relationship between linguistic experience and cognitive control in adulthood 鈥撎齒uran Han, Li Wei and听Roberto Filippi
- Cognitive effects of multilanguage acquisition in ADHD children 鈥撎鼵hris Pelz, Emily Midouhas and听Roberto Filippi
Completed projects
- Raising bilingual children
- Multilanguage acquisition across the lifespan
- Early Years Oral Language and Communication: Supporting improvements in professional practice and understanding of high quality adult/child interactions in the Early Years setting to improve attainment in Key Stage 1
- Publications
2024
Filippi, R., Ceccolini, A., Perry, R.C., Thomas, M.S.C. (2024). The impact of multilingualism and socio-economic status on academic performance: Evidence from the SCAMP and the National Pupil databases. International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism.听.
Purpuri, S., Vasta, N., Filippi, R., Treccani, B., Li W. and Mulatti, C. (2024). The Foreign Language Effect on Core Knowledge Confusion, Superstition and Conspiracy. The role of semantic acquisition in second language learning. International Journal of Bilingualism
Creed, E., Filippi, R., Holliman, A.J. (2024). Teaching bilingually: Unlocking the academic and cognitive potentials 鈥撎齌eachers' insight. Education Sciences.
Purpuri, S., Mulatti, C., Filippi, R., Treccani, B. (2024). Inside the Kaleidoscope: unravelling the 鈥渇eeling different鈥 experience of bicultural bilinguals. Frontiers in Psychology
Han, X., Li, W., Filippi, R. (2024). Modulating bilingual language production and cognitive control: how bilingual language experience matters. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition
听2023
Lerner, I., Guijarro-Fuentes, P., Filippi, R., Li, F., Schwieter, J.W. (2023). New Ideas in Language Sciences: Language Acquisition
Purpuri, S., Vasta, N., Filippi, R., Li W. and Mulatti, C. (2023). Does language shape the way we think? A review of the Foreign Language Effect across domains. International Journal of Bilingualism
Purpuri, S., Vasta, N., Li W., Filippi, R., Mulatti, C. (2023). The Foreign Language Effect on Tolerance of Ambiguity. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition
2022
Filippi, R., Bright, P. . Ampersand, 100097.
Han, X., Li, W., Filippi, R., (2022). . International Journal of Bilingualism, doi.org/10.1177/13670069221102011.
Filippi, R., Ceccolini, A., Booth, E., Shen, C., Thomas, M.S.C., Toledano, M.B. & Dumontheil, I. International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism.
Han, X., Li, W., Filippi, R., (2022). . Bilingualism: Language & Cognition, doi.org/10.1017/S1366728922000244.
Mercure, E., Bright, P., Quiroz, I., Filippi, R. (2022). Effect of infant bilingualism on audiovisual integration in a McGurk task. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology.
Mercure, E., Bright, P., Quiroz, I., Filippi, R. (2022). . Journal of Experimental Child Psychology.
2021
Filippi, R., Bright, P., (2021). Cognitive Reserve and Language Experience: Frontiers in Psychology.
Filippi, R., Ceccolini, A., Bright, P., (2021). . Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology.
2020
Filippi, R., Ceccolini, A., Periche-Tomas, E., Bright, P., (2020). . Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 1747021820931096.
Filippi, R., Periche Tomas, E., Papageorgiou, A., & Bright, P. (2020). PloS one, 15(4), e0231288.
Filippi, R., Ceccolini, A., Periche-Tomas, E., Papageorgiou, A., Bright, P. (2020). . Cognition.
Phelps, J., Filippi, R. (2020). The multilingual world: building a bridge between science and education. Educational neuroscience volume on lifespan, individual differences, and enhancing cognition. Denis Mareschal, Iroise Dumontheil and Michael Thomas. Psychology Press (Taylor & Francis).
Filippi, R., Periche-Tomas, E., Papageorgiou, A., Bairaktari, O., Bright, P. (2020). . The Oxford Handbook of Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience (Oxford University Press).
2019
Ouzia, J., Bright, P., Filippi, R. (2019). . Behavioural Sciences.
Bright, P., Filippi, R (2019). . Frontiers in Psychology,听doi/10.3389/fpsyg.2019.01346
Filippi, R., D鈥橲ouza, D. & Bright, P. (2019). . Contemporary Studies in Bilingualism and Multilingualism (Masayo Yamamoto Eds). Sage Publications
Bright, P., Ouzia, J., Filippi, R. (2019). . In John W. Schwieter (Ed.) The Handbook of the Neuroscience of Multilingualism. Wiley-Blackwell
2018
Filippi, R., D'Souza, D., & Bright, P. (2018). International Journal of Bilingualism, 1鈥13
Filippi, R. (2018). First Language, 38, 669-671. doi:10.1177/0142723718802034
Papageorgiou, A., Bright, P., Periche Tomas, E., & Filippi, R. (2018). Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 1鈥10 doi:10.1177/1747021818796475
Mercure, E., Quiroz, I., Goldberg, L., Bowden-Howl, H., Coulson, K., Gliga, T.,听Macsweeney, M. (2018). Frontiers in Psychology, 9 ARTN 1943. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2018.01943
D'Souza, D., & Filippi, R. (2018). First Language. 37, 518鈥529. doi:10.1177/0142723717720038
Naeem, K., Filippi, R., Periche-Tomas, E., Papageorgiou, A., & Bright, P. (2018). Frontiers in Psychology, 9, ARTN 1818. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2018.01818
2017
D'Souza, D. & Filippi, R. (2017). . First Language Acquisition.
2016
Folke, T., Ouzia, J., Bright, P., De Martino, B. & Filippi, R. (2016).. Cognition, 150, 119鈥132
Kerrigan, L., Thomas, M.S.C., Bright, P., & Filippi, R. (2016). . Bilingualism: Language & Cognition, 1鈥112015
Filippi, R., Morris, J., Richardson, F., Bright, P., Thomas, M.S.C, Karmiloff-Smith, A., and Marian, V. (2015). . Bilingualism: Language & Cognition, 18(03), 490鈥501.
Filippi, R. (2015). Antecollis: case report. Reactions, 1573, 182鈥17.2014
Filippi, R., Rasetti, M., Lenzi, M., Bright, P. (2014). . Oxford Medical Case Report, 2014(1), 8鈥10
2013
Filippi, R., Karaminis, T., Thomas, M.S.C. (2013). Bilingual language switching in production: empirical and computational studies. Bilingualism: Language & Cognition, 17, 294鈥315
2012
Filippi, R., Leech, R., Thomas, M.S.C., Green, D.W., and Dick, F.,听(2012). . Bilingualism: Language & Cognition, 15(04), 858鈥872
2011
Filippi, R., Richardson, F., Dick, F., Leech, R., Green, D.W., Thomas, M.S.C., and Price, C.J.听(2011). . Journal of Neuroscience, 31(29): 10732鈥10740
2009
Richardson, F., Thomas, M.S.C, F., Filippi, R., Harth, H., and Price, C.J. (2009). Contrasting effects on vocabulary knowledge on temporal and parietal brain structures across lifespan. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 83, 109鈥113.
- Public engagement听
- 鈥撎鼳 Knowledge Exchange Seminar Series 2022-2023
- Growing Up bilingual How may we use our understanding to help bilingual children towards optimum development?听鈥撎齌alk by Dr Roberto Filippi. Sponsored by the British Psychological Society | 23 June 2022.
- 鈥撎齂eynote lecture by Dr Roberto Filippi. Communication & Language Acquisition Studies in Typical & Atypical populations (CLASTA) conference, University of Florence in Italy |听13鈥15 May 2022.
- 听鈥撎齌alk by Dr Roberto Filippi. Sponsored by the British Psychological Society |听25 February 2022.
- Multilingualism: an investment in our children鈥檚 future. Bloomsbury Festival.听By Dr Roberto Filippi听|听2024.
- The impact of Multilingualism and Socio-Economic Status on Academic Performance in the UK 鈥 Psyched in Education Celebration. By Dr Roberto Filippi听|听2024.
- The bilingual brain. Invited talk at the Kensington Wade School. By Dr Roberto Filippi听|听2024.
- Multilingual Question Time. Panel meeting with parents and educators of multilingual children 鈥 The Tapscott Learning Trust. Filippi, R., De Houwer, A., Chow, B听|听2024.
- The impact of multilingualism on brain and behaviour. Key note lecture at the University of Warsaw, Poland. By Dr Roberto Filippi听|听2024.
- The impact of multilingual upbringing on brain and behaviour. Key note lecture at the University Centre of Maghnia, Algeria.听By Dr Roberto Filippi听|听2024.
- Tra lingue e menti: l'Impatto del multilinguismo sulla crescita cognitiva e l鈥檈voluzione della mente attraverso l'arco della vita. Key note lecture at the University of Florence, Italy.听By Dr Roberto Filippi听|听2024.
Conferences
听鈥撎鼶r Xuran Han
Dr Xuran Han presented her latest research co-authored with Professor Li Wei and Professor Roberto Filippi on how bilingual language use experience affects adults' spontaneous language production behaviours and their domain-general cognitive control.听
The study highlighted the importance of language use experience in modulating bilinguals鈥 deployments of cognitive control in language processing. By shedding light on the adaptation of cognitive and behavioural responses to individual's language use and experience, the outcome of this research furthers scientific understanding on the cognitive mechanisms underlying language processing, and consequently assist the improvement in language and cognition assessments, as well as in clinical language therapy.听
听
" To learn a language is to have one more window from which to look at the world."
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