Dr. Ligia Gomez Franco
<b>Department: </b>Educational Psychology<br><b>Research Area: </b>Vocabulary learning, Reading comprehension, Spanish-speaking children and parents, Monolingual and Bilingual environments.
Department: Educational Psychology
Research Focus: Vocabulary learning, Reading comprehension, Spanish-speaking children and parents, Monolingual and Bilingual environments.
Potential Student Project(s):
1) Exploring the language Spanish-speaking parents use when reading a story with their children. 2) Exploring vocabulary and oral comprehension levels in 3-6 year-old Spanish-speaking children. 3) Reading practices in Bolivia--understanding parent-child experiences and how parents support their children's language development. 4) Children growing up in monolingual and bilingual language environments, factors that foster multilingual success.
Attributes/skills/background sought in undergraduate:
A general interest in language development, child development, and/or interest in learning about new cultures. - - Have basic Spanish-language skills: be able to read basic words or understand simple sentences. - Native (or native-like) Spanish-speakers are encouraged to apply! - Organized, dependable and importantly--have a passion for learning and exploring innovative ideas.
Mentoring Plan:
-The student researcher will work 5 hours per week on the project. - We will meet one-on-one, for at least 1 hour per week (remotely and/or in-person). - During our meetings we will discuss plans, literature review findings, methods, and data analysis. Student will be encouraged to present a poster or paper, based on their work on the project, at the Ball State Student Symposium or at the Educational Psychology Symposium
Contact: 765-285-8503, TC 537