The University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Mark S. Seidenberg will deliver the talk “How Language Variation Contributes to Reading Difficulties and Achievement Gaps” as part of the Educational Neuroscience Speaker Series at Vanderbilt’s Peabody College of education and human development.
The event takes place at noon April 6 in Hobbs Hall, Room 105, and will be hosted by Peabody’s James R. Booth, Patricia and Rodes Hart Professor of Psychology and Human Development. The event is sponsored by the Vanderbilt Brain Institute and Vanderbilt Kennedy Center.
Seidenberg is the Vilas Professor and Donald O. Hebb Professor in the Department of Psychology at UWM. He will discuss strategies for reducing the risk of reading failure. Research shows that children’s progress in learning to read is affected by characteristics of the child, home, community and school. While much attention has been focused on variability in the amount and complexity of language used in the home, Seidenberg will highlight the need to look closely at linguistic differences between the language used in the home and in school.
The event is free and open to the public. RSVP is encouraged as seating is limited.