Associate Professor, Department of Speech and Hearing Sciences
(812) 855-4161
raanders@indiana.edu

• B.A., Oberlin College, Communications, 1980
• M.S., University of Puerto Rico, Medical Sciences Campus, Speech-Language Pathology, 1982
• Ph.D., Northwestern University, Speech-Language Pathology, 1987

• 2006: Faculty award, Committee on Multicultural Understanding, Indiana University.
• 1996: Teaching Excellence Recognition Award (TERA), Department of Speech and Hearing Sciences, Indiana University.
• 1996: Distinguished alumnus for the Program in Speech and Language Pathology, College of Allied Health Professions, University of Puerto Rico, Medical Sciences Campus.

I conduct research in the areas of typical and atypical language development in Spanish-speaking children and in children from dual language backgrounds. Although I am interested in studying dual language learners in general, most of my research centers on Spanish-English speaking children who have learned English sequentially. My research centers on describing the grammatical skills of Spanish speaking children with specific language impairment (SLI). I have included in my research are children from varied sociolinguistc backgrounds, including both monolingual and bilingual speakers, and typical and atypical learners. In this way, the impact of child-internal and child-external factors on grammatical skill can be ascertained. It is my goal that this research program will result in informing us about language acquisition processes in children. In addition, practical and applied aspects of the field, specifically those pertaining to best practices in the assessment and treatment of children from dual language backgrounds are also addressed. I direct the Bilingual Language Development lab in the Department of Speech and Hearing Sciences.

I teach in the areas of child second language acquisition/disorders, social factors related to communication disorders, language diversity, and atypical language development and disorders.

Anderson, R. T., & Souto, S. (2005) Article in use in Spanish-speaking children with specific language impairment. Applied Psycholinguistics, 26, 621-647.

Anderson, R. T. (2004). Phonological skills of young children acquiring English as a second language via preschool immersion. Clinical Linguistics and Phonetics, 18, 183-210.

Anderson, R. T. (2001). Lexical morphology and verb use in child first language loss: A preliminary case study investigation. International Journal of Bilingualism, 5, 377-401.

Anderson, R. (2001). Learning an inflectional morpheme in Spanish by children with typical language skills and children with specific language impairment (SLI). International Journal of Language and Communication Disorders, 36, 1-19.

Gutiérrez-Clellen, V. F., Restrepo, A., Bedore, L., Peña, E., and Anderson, R. (2000). Language sample analysis in Spanish-speaking children: Methodological considerations. Language, Speech, and Hearing Services in Schools, 31, 88-98.

Anderson, R. (1998). The development of grammatical case distinctions in the use of personal pronouns in Spanish-speaking preschoolers. Journal of Speech, Language and Hearing Research, 41, 394-406.