Introducing Kate Davidson

I’m interested in questions at the semantic/pragmatic interface, and in particular, what we can learn about the division of language and extralinguistic factors by studying sign languages. My approach is usually a combination of traditional elicitation with experimental pragmatics. I’m also very interested in questions of language acquisition: some of my work investigates the acquisition of semantic/pragmatic phenomena in typical children, but I’m especially interested in how lack of language exposure early in life (for example, deafness without a sign language) affects later language development, and what kinds of phenomena are sensitive to this critical period for first language learning.

 

I’m a linguist by training, but I’m at Yale through the Cognitive Science program, which draws together people from a wide variety of disciplines including linguistics, philosophy, and psychology. It’s a perfect fit for my research because I can discuss semantic and pragmatic topics with philosophers who are truly engaged with issues in semantics, and then in the same day meet with developmental psychologists to discuss issues in acquisition, all while working among linguists in the department. I’m excited to add to the interdisciplinary discussion on campus, and encourage anyone to stop by my office to chat.

 

Before Yale, I spent two years as a postdoc at the University of Connecticut, studying sign language semantics and the development of bimodal (sign and speech) bilingualism in Diane Lillo-Martin’s lab. On the acquisition side, I focused on the spoken language development of deaf, native signing children who go on to receive cochlear implants: is their spoken language development better or worse for having been exposed to a sign language in the first years of life? The answer, it seems, is: better! Before that, I received my PhD in 2011 from the University of California, San Diego, advised by Ivano Caponigro and Rachel Mayberry. Most of my semantics research has been on the structure of ASL (question-answer pairs, conjunction and disjunction, scalar implicatures) but I also did a large project with David Barner on the acquisition of number words in spoken English, and am always interested in focus and intonation.

 

This fall semester I’m teaching two required courses for undergraduates majoring in Cognitive Science: the senior colloquium, and a junior seminar overview on foundational issues in Cognitive Science. In the spring semester I’m planning to teach a course on sign languages and language acquisition, discussing some unique aspects of the structure of sign languages, and what we can learn about the process of language acquisition by studying sign languages. It’s not yet listed in the course catalog, but I welcome any linguists who are interested to take the seminar!