Johanne Paradis

Dr. Johanne Paradis is a Professor and Associate Chair (Graduate Studies) in the Department of Linguistics at the University of Alberta. She directs the Bilingual Acquisition Lab of Alberta and the Child English Second Language (CHESL) Centre. Her research focuses on bilingual and second language acquisition in children, including heritage language development, bilingualism in children with communication disorders, and morphosyntactic and narrative skill acquisition. She investigates factors such as age of arrival, language environment, parental input, and socioemotional wellbeing influencing language development in diverse populations, including refugee children and those with developmental disorders.

Her work emphasizes the interplay between language input, cognitive factors, and sociocultural contexts. Key contributions include longitudinal studies on Arabic and Mandarin heritage language development, analyses of narrative profiles in bilingual children with autism spectrum disorder, and advocacy for equitable assessment practices in bilingual populations. Dr. Paradis also explores how adversity and socioemotional challenges affect language acquisition in first-generation refugees. Her interdisciplinary approach bridges linguistics, psychology, and education to address real-world challenges in bilingual education and clinical practice.

Her research spans theoretical and applied domains, with a focus on underrepresented language pairs and populations. She has contributed to understanding individual differences in bilingual development, particularly in children with special needs, and has published extensively on methodological challenges in studying understudied languages. Dr. Paradis collaborates internationally, including work in Canada and the Netherlands, to advance knowledge on bilingualism's cognitive and social dimensions.