معرفی
Marie Coppola is a Professor in the Department of Psychological Sciences and Linguistics Education at the University of Connecticut. She earned her Ph.D. from the University of Rochester in 2002 and directs the Language Creation Lab. Her research investigates language acquisition, creation, and cognitive development in deaf and hearing populations, with emphases on homesign systems, numerical cognition, and sign language emergence.
Her core research examines how early language exposure shapes social and numerical cognition, using sign language emergence as a model for understanding fundamental language processes. Key domains include:
- Language creation in isolated deaf communities
- Cognitive consequences of language modality
- Development of numerical representation without linguistic input
- Grammaticalization processes in emerging sign systems
Publication analysis reveals consistent focus on sign language structure across developmental and cross-linguistic contexts, with recent work emphasizing cognitive outcomes in deaf children and sociolinguistic factors in emerging sign communities.
Awards and honors:
- Presidential Early Career Award in Science and Engineering (2019)
- UConn AAUP Excellence in Research and Creativity Award (2016)
Her NSF CAREER grant (2016-2021) supported research on language experience effects on numerical development in deaf/hard-of-hearing children. She leads the Language Creation Lab and collaborates on projects including Signs and Smiles and Student of Language and Math.
