Language Learning Lab at Boston College

02/19/2019

Meet one of our research assistants here at the Language Learning Lab at Boston College: Jaq Pyle. He is a junior majoring in Computer Science B.A. Here's what he had to say about his work in the lab:

"I’m currently working on the VerbCorner team, which is concerned with collecting data about the meanings of verbs in different contexts in order to gain more information about the relationship between syntax and semantics. For example, we might ask our online participants whether a sentence implies the production of sound or contact between two objects. We’re always looking for ways to make our data collection more efficient, so I’m currently researching ways that we could build an automated VerbCorner participant. Just like a human participant, this automated participant would provide judgments about the meanings of verbs in different contexts. I’m currently researching and prototyping different types of neural networks for this purpose, and if I’m successful it would allow us to streamline our data collection by verifying or challenging the judgments we get from our human participants. This project is challenging because it is more complex than anything I’ve done in my previous work at Boston College and it requires knowledge of some difficult mathematical concepts, but it has been rewarding and educational so far – in fact, I like it so much that I’m hoping to turn it into a senior thesis project next year. I’m so grateful that I get to work on it in the presence of the smart and motivated members of the Language Learning Lab!"

11/16/2018

10/05/2018

Here's to a great kick-off to our fall semester. The Boston College Language Learning Lab is excited to continue making progress! Check out our Instagram for more updates and team member introductions.

10/04/2018

09/25/2018

Thanks to Camille Phaneuf for the graphic design wizardry!

08/17/2018

Good science, great people!

Thanks to all of our summer interns for making these last three months amazing!

08/03/2018

The summer is flying by! Check out our August Testing Schedule!

07/27/2018

We have two exciting opportunities! If you are interested in working with kids and child development, apply to be a member of our kid testing team! If you are interested in web development, apply to be a member of our data science team!
-------------------
Kid Testing:
The Language Learning Lab, led by Prof. Joshua Hartshorne, welcomes applications for school-year research assistants who are interested in language acquisition, linguistics, computational models of cognition, or all of the above.

The lab’s research considers all aspects of language learning, but recent research is focused on three interrelated problems: bootstrapping language acquisition, language and common sense, and critical periods. The lab employs varied methodology, including judgment studies, eye-tracking, and ERPs. However, we are particularly interested in emerging methods, which allow us to test tens or even hundreds of thousands of children and adults over the Internet.

Research Assistant duties depend on interest and skill set, but may include study design, participant recruitment, and data analysis. RAs should be highly motivated and curious. Both students with an interest in computer science or math and those with an interest in psychology research are encouraged to apply. Students who speak multiple languages are especially encouraged to apply. Please contact [email protected] for any questions.
-------------------
Data Science:
Know how to do web development? Interested in contributing to open-source software for science? The Language Learning Lab at Boston College is looking for a research assistant with web development experience to contribute to a project aimed at developing an innovative platform for conducting massive online studies. The position begins at the start of the Fall 2018 semester and will require a commitment of 10 hrs/week throughout the term.

Required skills:
• Knowledge of JavaScript
• Experience with HTML/CSS
Preferred skills:
• Experience with React.js, and other JavaScript libraries
• Experience with front-end and/or back-end web development
Additional useful skills:
• Knowledge of Python

The research assistant will be actively involved in the development of the platform, and will gain experience developing various features of web applications. The research assistant will also learn about and gain experience conducting massive online studies.

Thank you for your interest in joining the Language Learning Lab at Boston College! Please fill out the application below.

07/27/2018

Check out our newest blog post written by one of our High School Interns on his experience at L3!

I did an internship last year inputting sports statistics for six hours a day.

07/20/2018

Our research assistant Juliani will be presenting the preliminary work for her thesis on July 26th! Stop by Gasson 100 at 1:40 pm to learn more.

07/13/2018

Another week, another study completed! We have finished collecting data for our iPad study that looked at Give/Get verbs. Again, we'd like to thank everyone who participated in our experiment and helped us reach our goal!

While we have completed two studies, we are always running more! Check out our lab calendar to see where we will be testing the rest of the month. If those days don't work for you, head over to https://gameswithwords.org/quizzes and play some fun games.

07/06/2018

We have finally finished data collection for our Chase/Flee study! We'd like to thank everyone who participated in our puppet experiment and helped us reach our goal. We are super excited to analyze the data and share our results with everyone!

We are still running our iPad studies and our foraging study in Artesani Park and Boston Common! Look out for our Kid Testers who will be wearing our new red L3 shirts.