Our Team
Hélène Deacon, Lab Director
The goal of my research program is to investigate the skills that underlie successful reading and writing. I am interested in just how children ‘crack the code’, understanding how language is mapped onto the page, and how they become expert readers. We work with children and adults from across Canada and around the world; it is vital that we understand how children learn to read and write in English, as well as in other languages, including growing up bilingually. This knowledge is important for testing theories of reading development, as well as for developing best-practices in education. I am always grateful for partnerships with students, teachers and the educational community in our research Outside of the academic sphere, I love to spend time exploring my community and the great outdoors, especially with my family. |
Stef Hartlin, Lab Manager
I completed my BSc and MSc at Dalhousie University with a focus on developmental psychology. I have been working as a lab manager for a number of years and consider myself to be among the lucky few who truly LOVE their job. I get to earn my living helping answer questions about how the world works. How amazing is that?! Although I enjoy all aspects of research, I am really passionate about experimental design and working directly with families and children. Outside of the lab you can find me at my cabin in the Musquodoboit Valley with my husband, dogs, and chickens enjoying the great outdoors and rural living. I joined the Language & Literacy Lab (LLL) in 2019 and look forward to working with the wonderful researchers, students, and staff of the LLL as well as the amazing families who make our research possible! |
Postdoctoral Fellows
Emilie Courteau, Postdoctoral Fellow
I joined the lab in January 2022 as a Mitacs intern for a project on children’s literacy. I am completing my PhD, with a supervision at the University of Montreal and co-supervision at McGill University. My dissertation focused on grammatical and lexical-semantic processing by French-speaking adolescents with and without developmental language disorders. For my thesis, I investigated oral language comprehension at the behavioral level with linguistic tasks and at the neurocognitive level with the electroencephalography (EEG) technique. Prior to my PhD studies, I worked as a clinical speech-language pathologist and collaborated on a research project that developed an approach to promote speech-language services in the community. In my free time, I enjoy biking, cross-country skiing, and watching movies with my husband and cat. |
Sophia Giazitzidou, Postdoctoral Fellow
I joined the lab in February 2023 as a Postdoctoral Fellow. In July 2021, I received my PhD in Educational Psychology from Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. My dissertation focused on the underlying skills of oral and silent reading fluency in students with and without dyslexia. Particularly, I investigated the relations of morphological awareness and orthographic knowledge with reading fluency, exploring the mediating role of phonological awareness, vocabulary, and processing speed and how these relations differ in students with and without dyslexia. I have also worked on a research program on digital reading, examining its effect on reading comprehension employed eye-tracking technology. Furthermore, I have offered courses to post-graduate students at the University of Crete and Frederick University for learning disabilities. I have over 10 years of experience in teaching students with learning disabilities, particularly those with dyslexia. In my free time, I enjoy hiking, skiing, and traveling. |
Graduate Students
Rebecca Tucker, Clinical Psychology PhD Student
I joined the lab in 2011 as a volunteer, and never left! I completed an independent research project and my honours thesis in the lab before moving on to my graduate research. My research so far has dealt with orthographic learning in children and how they later use that learning when reading other new, related words. I’ve also looked at how we can help to support university students who have a history of reading difficulties and what social/academic aspects of their university experience may affect their decision to stay in university. Outside of the lab most of my time is spend with my son, who was the inspiration for my interest in literacy research! I also enjoy any activity that helps me recover from school/play time – reading, cooking/baking, basketball, knitting, and generally spending time with friends! |
Liz MacKay, Clinical Psychology PhD Student
I joined the lab as a volunteer in my second year of my undergraduate degree. Since that time, I have worked three summers in the lab as a Research Assistant under NSERC and IWK Summer Studentship funding. I also completed a 3001 Project and Honours Thesis in the lab. In January 2016, I started a full time Research Assistant position. In the fall of 2016, I started my PhD in Clinical Psychology. My dissertation focuses on the contribution of syntax, specifically syntactic awareness and syntactic comprehension, to reading comprehension across the elementary grades. My other research interests include how best to identify poor comprehenders and where their deficits lie, the academic abilities and personality traits of university students who self-report a history of reading difficulties, the skills that support the development of efficient access to words previously encountered, and other metalinguistic factors that contribute to reading comprehension. My clinical experience is with children who have behavioral and emotional challenges, learning difficulties, and atypical neurodevelopment (e.g., autism spectrum disorder). I also work with teenagers who have difficulties with emotional regulation, are anxious, and have challenges with substance use. |
Alex Ryken, Experimental Psychology PhD Student
I joined the lab in 2017 for my MSc in Experimental Psychology and then started the PhD program in 2019. I’m interested in the metalinguistic skills which underlie reading ability, and am especially interested in punctuation and how prosodic sensitivity (an awareness of the rhythmic components of language) contributes to early reading development. I’ve been fortunate to receive a SSHRC Doctoral Fellowship and a Nova Scotia Graduate Scholarship to support my PhD studies. I moved to Halifax from London, Ontario where I completed my Hons. BA in Psychology at Huron University College at Western University. In my spare time I love to read, travel, and explore the city. |
Mariam Elgendi, Clinical Psychology PhD Student
I joined the Language and Literacy Lab during my third year of undergraduate studies, initially as a research assistant (supported by NSERC funding for two summers), and later pursued an honors thesis within the same lab. Following this, I began my PhD in Clinical Psychology in September 2020, continuing my research endeavors within the lab. Currently, my research interests include investigating the impact of COVID-19-mandated homeschooling on parent and child mental health, exploring mental health and substance use patterns among university students with a history of reading difficulties, and assessing the contribution of syntactic skills to reading comprehension across the elementary years. Clinically, I have acquired experience working with children, adolescents, young adults, and families dealing with various behavioral and emotional challenges, including learning disorders, ADHD, mood and anxiety disorders, trauma, substance use, and eating disorders. |
Katherine Hoferek, Clinical Psychology PhD Student
I joined the lab in 2023 for my PhD in Clinical Psychology. I completed my BA (Hons) degree at Carleton University, where I double majored in psychology and linguistics. My thesis focused on how young multilingual adults exposed to English or French post-puberty produce language. I am interested in working on projects involving how digital literacy and syntactic skills impact reading comprehension in children. In my spare time, I love to kayak, go to the gym, hike, and be by the water. |
Research Staff
Lauren Gallant, Research Assistant
I joined the Language and Literacy Lab as a research assistant in November 2023. After completing my BSc in Psychology (Hons) at Mount Allison University, I was eager to gain new research experience. I was thrilled to have the opportunity to contribute to such an exciting and meaningful field of research. As a research assistant, I get to perform a wide range of tasks, including communicating with families and schools, completing reading activities with children, and data management. In my spare time, I enjoy thrift shopping, listening to music, going for walks in nature, and spending time with family and friends! |
Emily Taylor, Research Assistant
I started at the Language and Literacy Lab in 2020 as a volunteer and gained experience in the lab through my roles as an independent research student, USRA, honours student, and research assistant. I completed my BSc in Neuroscience (Hons) with a minor in Sociology and Social Anthropology at Dalhousie in 2022. After exploring other work and academic areas, I have rejoined the lab as a research assistant and will be helping with measure creation, piloting tasks, and data analysis. Some of my other interests are crocheting, pottery, playing piano, reading, and spending time with my friends, family and pets. |
Erin MacDougall, Research Assistant
I am a second-year undergraduate student at Dalhousie majoring in psychology and minoring in sociology. I joined the Language & Literacy lab as a research assistant in January 2024. I love to learn, and I am excited to embrace the opportunity to do so in a research setting. In this role, I am eager to expand my understanding of language development and contribute to ongoing research. During my free time I enjoy reading, spending time with my friends and family, and playing with my cat. |
Volunteers
Abby Morris
I joined the Language and Literacy Lab in September 2023 as a volunteer. I am currently in my third year of my BSC majoring in psychology and biology. My current research interests are child development and psychopathology. I am looking forward to expanding my knowledge in these subject areas as well as supporting some amazing research currently happening at the LLL lab. Outside of school, I enjoy hiking, baking, reading, and spending time with friends and family. |
Maya Yousri
I am joining the language and literacy lab as a volunteer in February 2024. I am currently a in my second year at Dalhousie, doing a Bachelor of Arts in psychology. My current interests include language, social development and child psychopathology. I am very excited to be involved in research and further my experience and understanding in the field. Outside of academics, I enjoy music and theatre, and I am part of an a capella choir on campus. I also enjoy sports and participate in intramural hockey. |
Aliya Dogan
I will be entering my 4th year at Dalhousie in the Fall, majoring in Psychology. I joined the lab in April of 2024 as a volunteer and am eager to learn more about linguistics and childhood language/reading development. Currently, the project I am working on includes finding the Greek unit frequencies for Greek monographs and digraphs. My current interests are child development and psycholinguistics. Outside of school I enjoy crocheting, spending time with family, hiking, and baking. |
Research Associates
Tamara Sorenson Duncan, Research Associate
I am Assistant Professor of Linguistics at Carleton University. I completed a post-doctoral fellowship in the Language and Literacy Lab with funding support from the IWK and Donald Hill Family Fellowships. I continue to collaborate with the Language and Literacy Lab on a number of projects. My research investigates language and literacy development in diverse populations, focusing especially on children who are at risk for academic difficulty. To date, this work has included children from immigrant and refugee backgrounds, children with developmental language disorder and children with autism spectrum disorder. |
Bradley Bergey, Research Associate
I joined the lab in January 2014 as a postdoctoral fellow, moving from my hometown of Philadelphia, where I received my PhD in Educational Psychology from Temple University. I am now Assistant Professor, in Secondary Education & Youth Services at Queens College, at the City University of New York, but am also continuing the research I was working on in the lab. My research interests include student motivation and self-regulated learning. My work on the Partnership for Student Success project taps my interests in how motivation and learning strategies relate to success, achievement, and well-being in university students who face unique academic challenges. |