معرفی
Kathleen McCarthy is a Professor in Child Language Acquisition at Queen Mary University of London (QMUL), affiliated with the School of Languages, Linguistics and Film and the Department of Linguistics. She directs the QMUL Language Acquisition Lab and holds roles in civic engagement including QMUL's Civic Delivery Group and the Tower Hamlets Women’s Commission.
Dr. McCarthy holds a PhD from University College London (UCL). Her research focuses on multilingual children's early language development in urban environments, particularly in diaspora communities (e.g., Sylheti, Somali) and the acquisition of multicultural speech varieties like Multicultural London English. Methodologically, she combines longitudinal studies with behavioral and EEG techniques to explore phonetic/phonological development and its ties to literacy.
Current projects include:
- Quantifying phonetic input and speech processing in multilingual infants (2025-2029)
- Early language and literacy acquisition in new arrival/new to English children (2025-2028)
- Generations of London English (2023-2026)
Her work bridges academia and practice through collaborations with London schools, local governments, and families. Notable contributions include studies on heritage language maintenance, bilingual phonology, and accent perception in children.
Teaching responsibilities include courses on Language Acquisition, Phonetics, Acoustic Analysis, and Research Methods at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels.
