Infant Language Development Professors and Supervisors in Norway

Luca OnnisView profile

Professor

University of OsloNorway

Luca Onnis is a Professor at the University of Oslo , affiliated with the Center for Multilingualism in Society across the Lifespan. His research focuses on the distributional hypothesis , exploring how statistical structures in language shape acquisition and processing across the lifespan, with applications to bilingualism, cognitive science, and computational modeling. Education: M.A. in Translation Studies, University of Bologna, Italy Ph.D. in Psychology, University of Warwick, UK His research integrates cognitive science , linguistics , and computational modeling to investigate: the role of statistical learning in language acquisition, caregiver speech adaptation, cross-linguistic differences, and social influences on language evolution. Recent studies examine syntactic priming, orthography-phonology consistency, and predictive mechanisms in language processing. His publications span journals like Cognitive Science , Bilingualism: Language and Cognition , and Cognition , reflecting interdisciplinary work with collaborations at MPI for Psycholinguistics , Cornell University , and Nanyang Technological University . Grants: European Research Council (ERC) U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) Singapore National Research Foundation He has founded and directed research laboratories, including the Centre for Second Language Research at the University of Hawaii and the Lifespan Research Centre at NTU Singapore. Currently, he serves as associate editor for the Journal of Cultural Cognitive Science .

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Therese Westreng BorglandView profile

Lecturer

Østfold University CollegeNorway

Therese Westreng Borgland is a College Lecturer in the Department of Pedagogy, ICT and Learning at Østfold University College, specializing in early childhood education for children aged 0-3 years. Based at the Halden campus (Office C2-038), she teaches Child Development, Play and Learning 2 (BULL2) and Early Childhood Education Specialization within the kindergarten teacher training program, serving as BULL2 course coordinator for 2025/2026. She is also affiliated with the Regional Scheme for Competence Development in Kindergartens (REKOMP), facilitating university-kindergarten partnerships. Her educational background includes a Master's degree in Kindergarten Pedagogy and Early Childhood Science (0-3 years, 2016-2020) and Preschool Teacher Training (1996-2000). Professional experience spans kindergarten roles: Assistant (1994-1999), Educational Leader (2002-2008), and Director (2008-2020) prior to her current lecturing position. Borgland's research critically examines diversity, inclusion, gender, and power structures in early childhood settings, with emphasis on norm-critical pedagogy and ethical practices for the youngest children. Her work deconstructs concepts of 'normality' while exploring language development through innovative theoretical lenses including posthumanism and political philosophy. She actively investigates how pedagogical documentation can challenge exclusionary practices in kindergartens. Recent publications (2023-2025) demonstrate concentrated focus on language co-creation with toddlers, normativity in early childhood, and critical applications of philosophical frameworks (Arendt, Haraway). Her collaborative work with kindergarten practitioners reveals strong trends in mobile documentation practices, ethical decision-making in uncertain contexts, and composting metaphors for language development – all centering on inclusive approaches for children 0-3 years. Scientific awards: None documented in source materials. While specific advising relationships and grant details aren't specified, Borgland's REKOMP affiliation indicates active mentorship of kindergarten practitioners through competence development programs. Her role in the toddler-focused teacher training program suggests supervision of student teachers' practical placements, though formal PhD/Master's advisees aren't listed. She contributes to the 'Toddler Science (0-3 years)' research group, examining infant-toddler pedagogy through norm-critical and ethical frameworks. Current work emphasizes practitioner-researcher collaborations in kindergartens, particularly through REKOMP's university-practice partnerships aimed at transforming early childhood education through critical reflection.

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Jannike ØyenView profile

Associate Professor

University of BergenNorway

Jannike Øyen is an Associate Professor in the Department of Clinical Medicine at the University of Bergen, Norway. Her research spans nutritional science with a focus on bone health, cardiovascular epidemiology, and maternal-child nutrition. She works at the intersection of food composition, dietary interventions, and clinical outcomes. Her research interests center on the relationship between dietary patterns and health outcomes. Dr. Øyen has led numerous randomized controlled trials examining the effects of seafood consumption on biomarkers, child development, and metabolic health. Her work particularly emphasizes the role of marine nutrients like omega-3 fatty acids, iodine, and selenium in human health across the lifespan. She investigates how specific dietary components influence bone mineral density, cardiovascular risk factors, and developmental outcomes in children. Analysis of her recent publications reveals a strong focus on nutritional epidemiology and intervention studies. Her research consistently examines the health impacts of seafood consumption, with particular attention to vulnerable populations including pregnant women and children. The work combines clinical trials with biomarker analysis to establish causal relationships between diet and health outcomes. Dr. Øyen has supervised doctoral research, including Katina Dingtorp Handeland's 2017 thesis on fatty fish intake in adolescents. Her collaborative work extends across multiple Norwegian institutions, particularly involving the Hordaland Health Study cohort. She has received research funding from the Research Council of Norway (reference 222648) for her work on child nutrition. She leads or participates in several major research initiatives including the FINS-KIDS (Fish Intervention Studies in Norwegian Schoolchildren) and FINS-TEENS studies, which examine the effects of fatty fish consumption on cognitive performance and mental health in children and adolescents. These projects involve collaboration between the University of Bergen, the Institute of Marine Research, and clinical departments at Haukeland University Hospital.

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Erlend Nuland ValenView profile

Research Fellow

University of AgderNorway

Erlend Nuland Valen serves as a Research Fellow and Scientific Advisor at the University of Agder's Faculty of Health and Sport Sciences, with dual 50% appointments in the Priority Research Centre for Life Course Nutrition. His work centers on digital interventions to improve preconception and early-life nutrition, notably through the PREPARED project and myfood24 digital food diary platform. Valen holds a Bachelor's degree in public health with sports specialization and a Master's in public health science, both from the University of Agder. His educational background directly informs his applied research in population nutrition. His research interests focus on maternal and child nutrition, infant/childhood dietary patterns, and innovative dietary assessment methods. He actively develops digital tools like myfood24 for Norwegian populations and investigates preconception nutrition through the PREPARED intervention, emphasizing user-centered design and implementation science. Valen's 2020-2024 publications reveal consistent themes: adapting digital nutrition tools for Norwegian contexts (myfood24), examining preconception diet quality, analyzing student nutritional behaviors, and implementing community-based early-life nutrition programs. His work bridges technical development (questionnaire automation, TSD administration) with clinical nutrition research. As a core member of the Priority Research Centre for Life Course Nutrition, Valen contributes to the PREPARED and Nutrition Now projects while maintaining technical infrastructure as Nettskjema and TSD administrator. His outreach includes the StudentKost study presented at Kostforum 2020.

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Luis Eduardo MunozView profile

Research Fellow

University of OsloNorway

Luis Eduardo Munoz serves as a Research Fellow in the Department of Health, Developmental and Personality Psychology at the University of Oslo's Faculty of Social Sciences, where his work centers on early language acquisition and cognitive development in children. His educational background includes a PhD in Psychology (2022), MPhil in Psychology (2019-2021), and HBSc Specialist in Psychology (2015-2018) from the University of Toronto, all completed at the University of Oslo except the undergraduate degree. Munoz investigates critical intersections of language perception and production, bilingual development, and neural correlates using eye-tracking and EEG methodologies. He actively promotes open science practices and specializes in teaching statistical methods and R programming across developmental, cognitive, and social psychology domains. His 2022-2024 publications reveal consistent focus on infant language acquisition mechanisms, including multi-lab studies on speech preferences, pacifier use impacts, and pandemic-era vocabulary development, demonstrating interdisciplinary approaches combining developmental psychology with advanced neuroimaging techniques. He contributes to the BabyLing research project and Experimental Linguistics group while conducting workshops like 'Lost in the Code?' to advance computational literacy and open science implementation among researchers.

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Anne Marie ØinesView profile

Senior Lecturer

University of South-Eastern NorwayNorway

Anne Marie Øines is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Language and Literature at the University of South-Eastern Norway (USN), Faculty of Humanities, Sports and Educational Sciences, based at Campus Vestfold. She plays a significant role in teacher education programs, serving as course leader and teacher in primary school teacher training (grades 1-7) and in the knowledge area 'Language, Text and Mathematics' for kindergarten teacher education. Dr. Øines is actively involved in several research groups focusing on early childhood education: Children's transition from kindergarten to school and early childhood education Literature and Literature Didactics Classroom Research - Quality in Education She is also the responsible person for the Picture Book Festival, demonstrating her commitment to promoting children's literature. Her research interests center on children's literature, with particular expertise in: Picture books and their role in early literacy development Multimodal literacy in educational contexts Language development and stimulation for young children Nonfiction literature for children Literature didactics in teacher education Dr. Øines has published extensively on how children engage with literature, particularly examining picture book selection practices in kindergartens and how children understand complex topics through illustrated texts. Dr. Øines has presented her research at numerous international conferences, including multiple appearances at the European Early Childhood Education Research Association (EECERA) conferences. Her work often focuses on practical applications for educators, with publications addressing questions like 'What is good for children to read?' and examining changes in reading practices through projects like the reading aloud initiative. Her educational background includes a Cand. philol degree with a major in Nordic (1994), and more recently completed PhD courses in pedagogical competence development (2019) and research methodology (2018), reflecting her ongoing scholarly development in educational research.

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