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Ioulia Kovelman

Ioulia Kovelman

Nelle C Johnston Chair in Communications Disorders in Children
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 and at-risk learners such as those with dyslexia.

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

Currently accepting undergraduate and graduate students

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Professional Preparation

Postdoctoral Training - Psychological & Brain Sciences
Massachusetts Institute of Technology - 2009
PhD - Psychology
Dartmouth College - 2006
BA - Psychology
Queen's University, Canada - 2000

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
Similarities in lexical predictive processing in children with and without dyslexia 2026 - Other
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
Developmental changes in phonological awareness in Chinese-English bilingual children: An fNIRS longitudinal study 2025 - Journal Article
Neural processing of children’s theory of mind in a naturalistic story-listening paradigm 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

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]

Appointments

Sponsored Faculty Affiliate
University of Michigan, Department of Psychology [–Present]

Projects

The Bilingual Brain
The project examines how learning and using two languages shapes children’s emerging language abilities and the developing language systems of the brain. We are particularly interested in understanding the neurobiology of bilingualism in Spanish-English bilingual children, including those with typical development and those with language-learning impairments.
The Reading Brain & Dyslexia
The project examines how children’s minds and brains change as they learn to read, with the goal of better understanding and supporting children who struggle with reading. This cross-cultural, cross-linguistic study includes monolingual and bilingual children learning to read in English, Chinese, and Spanish, with and without dyslexia.

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

News Articles

Literacy & Dyslexia Revealed through Bilingual Brain Development
Benefits of Bilingual Education for Kids
Benefits of Bilingual Education for Kids