معرفی
Professor Danielle Matthews is a Professor of Psychology at the University of Sheffield's School of Psychology and an academic at the Interdisciplinary Centre of the Social Sciences (ICOSS). Her research focuses on how children learn language, particularly pragmatic development (e.g., communicative repair, referential adaptation) and the impact of deafness and socio-economic factors on language acquisition. She has pioneered interventions to support communication in deaf infants and families from disadvantaged backgrounds, collaborating with organizations like the BBC’s Tiny Happy People initiative.
- Research Interests: Pragmatic abilities in communication, language development in deaf children, socio-economic influences on language, and word learning mechanisms.
- Grants: Nuffield Foundation, BBC Education, Leverhulme Trust, and UKRI GCRF grants for projects on language interventions and communication development.
- Teaching: Undergraduate courses on Developmental Psychology and Pragmatic Development; postgraduate supervision and ethics training.
Her work emphasizes practical interventions, such as video-based communication strategies for parents of deaf infants and randomized controlled trials to improve caregiver responsiveness. She has also explored how conversational experience shapes pragmatic skills and mitigates disparities linked to hearing loss or socio-economic status.
Recent studies include investigations into the cognitive underpinnings of conversational skills in autistic children and the long-term mental health implications of early language delays. Her research bridges theory and practice, aiming to inform educational and clinical practices globally.
