Dr Merle Mahon

Senior Lecturer

Language & Cognition

Div of Psychology & Lang Sciences

Joined UCL: 3rd Jun 1985

Research summary

My research focuses on bi/multilingualism, on deaf children's spoken language development and on the role of gesture in language development. I am particularly interested in how children learn spoken English when English is an additional language at home. I am collaborating with colleagues in examining outcomes for deaf children and young people and in investigating the relationship between special educational needs, school exclusions and youth offending.

I use both qualitative and quantitative research methods (Conversation Analysis, questionnaire and interview techniques, experimental designs). Much of my work involves the collection, analysis and archiving of longitudinal video data sets.

Teaching summary

Graduate Tutor in the Language and Cognition Research Department, Division of Psychology and Language Science, Faculty of Brain Science UCL

Contributor to Module SLANG103 Management of Communication Disorders 2 Speech and Hearing. http://www.ucl.ac.uk/prospective-students/graduate/taught/degrees/speech-language-sciences-msc

Contributor to modules PALS 303 and PALS 3008 Conversation Analysis http://www.ucl.ac.uk/prospective-students/undergraduate/degrees/psychology-language-sciences-bsc

Current PhD students: Kinjal Mehta (with Dr Debi Vickers).

Coordinator of Psychology and Language Science CPD course for practitioners on intervention with bi/multilingual children (with Sunita Shah, specialist speech and language therapist, Brent Community Services).