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Ioulia Kovelman

Ioulia Kovelman

Professor - Department of Speech, Language, and Hearing

Dr. Ioulia Kovelman is a developmental cognitive neuroscientist whose research examines child language, literacy, and brain development - with particular attention to bilingual learners.

 
972-883-3134
Office: CR 1.336
Curriculum Vitae
ORCID

Currently accepting undergraduate and graduate students

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Professional Preparation

BA - Psychology
Queen's University, Canada - 2020
Postdoctoral Training - Psychological & Brain Sciences
Massachusetts Institute of Technology - 2009
PhD - Psychology
Dartmouth College - 2006

Research Areas

Bilingual brain
Research focused on how experience with multiple languages influences children's language, literacy, and brain development. 
Reading & dyslexia
Research focused on how children's minds and brains develop for learning to read and how to better support children with learning differences and dyslexia
Neurobiology of language development
Research focused on the interaction between biological and environmental factors that shape children's language development

Publications

Bilingual and monolingual brains compared - Dissertation
Can the Simple View of Reading Inform the Study of Reading Comprehension in Young Spanish Heritage Language Learners? 2025 - Journal Article
Functional connectivity fingerprints of emerging reading skill in the first months of schooling 2025 - Other
Neural processing of children’s theory of mind in a naturalistic story-listening paradigm 2025 - Journal Article
Developmental changes in phonological awareness in Chinese-English bilingual children: An fNIRS longitudinal study 2025 - Journal Article
Cross-linguistic transfer in bilingual children's phonological and morphological awareness skills: a longitudinal perspective 2025 - Journal Article
Lexical Morphology as a Source of Risk and Resilience for Learning to Read With Dyslexia: An fNIRS Investigation 2024 - Journal Article
The Neurocognition of Child Second Language Development 2023 - Book Chapter

Awards

Rising STARs - University of Texas at Dallas [2026]
Amy L. and Kirk L. Wolfe Education and Mentorship Prize - University of Michigan [2024]
John Dewey Undergraduate Education and Mentorship - University of Michigan [2023]
American Psychological Society Fellow - APS [2023]
Harrington Fellowship - University of Texas at Austin [2016]

Presentations

Cracking the Code: How a Child’s Mind and Brain Recognize Morphemes and How to Teach Morphological Awareness: IMSE Webinar
Dyslexia and the Bilingual Brain: How Dual Language Skills Enhance Reading and Cognitive Development
The Bilingual Brain Strengths in Reading Development and Dyslexia: Dr. Cárdenas-Hagan & Dr. Kovelman