Child Language Lab

Welcome to the Child Language Lab! We're so glad you're here. 

We are a research lab in the Linguistics Department at the University of Pennsylvania. We study how children learn languages. We’re especially interested in why children seem to be better at language learning than adults are. We want to find out whether there is something different about the way children learn or the way their brains are organized that makes language learning come naturally to them.


Visit our For families page to learn more about participating in a research study with your child. 

Current studies

Check out the studies we are currently running in the lab! For more information, visit our For families page.

Help Zooma Learn an Alien Language!

What Happens: In this study, your child will play a game on the computer. They listen to an alien, Zooma, say sentences in a new language. They will then rate how well Zooma speaks in her new language!

Compensation: Eligible participants will receive a $10 Amazon gift card within one week of participating in the study.