Stack of books next to computer

Reading, Engagement and Diversity Lab (READ)

READ Lab Logo

Welcome to the READ (Reading, Engagement and Diversity) lab! We study literacy development in linguistically diverse students from a cognitive and motivational perspective. From a cognitive perspective we focus on how linguistically diverse students’ literacy development is affected by language and domain- general cognitive variables such as Executive Function (EF) skills. From a motivation perspective we study how variables that affect reading engagement in the general population (such as autonomy support or self-efficacy) exert their influence in the reading development of students who speak more than one language. By linguistically diverse students, we refer to students who are Dual Language Learners (DLLs) or English Learners (ELs) in the United States, and students who learn a second language in other parts of the world (particularly where Spanish is the societal language). We focus on literacy development as much as on reading instruction from kindergarten through adolescence.

We are fascinated to learn how bilingual children engage their sophisticated minds in reading tasks!

Please click here for our website: http://blog.umd.edu/diversereaderslab/

Team photo of READ