Perla Gámez
Associate Professor, Ph.D.
Education
PhD, Developmental Psychology, University of Chicago
MA, Developmental Psychology, University of Chicago
BA, Psychology, University of Illinois at Chicago
Research Interests
Research Website: https://loyolabilingual.weebly.com/
Dr. Perla B. Gámez leads a program of research focused on language and literacy development, particularly in children from homes in which English is not the primary language (commonly referred to as Dual Language Learners; English Language Learners). Employing both naturalistic observation and experimental methods, her work examines how children's linguistic environments and experiences, at different developmental time points, help promote their language learning. Her current research investigates how variations in the features of language that children are exposed to in and out of school (e.g., classrooms, homes, museums) impact their language and literacy skills during preschool through adolescence. Her work has been funded by grants from the National Institutes of Heatlth, National Science Foundation, and William T. Grant Foundation. Dr. Gámez’s teaching and mentoring of undergraduate and graduate students has earned her the Edwin T. and Vivijeanne F. Sujack Award for Teaching Excellence at Loyola University.
Courses Taught
PSYC 273 Developmental Psychology
PSYC 307 Psychology of Language
PSYC 540 Psychology of Language Development
Publications/Research Listings
Gámez, P.B. & González, D. (in press). A comparison of narrative skill in Spanish-English bilinguals and their functionally-monolingual Spanish and English-only peers. International Journal of Bilingualism.
Gámez, P.B., González, D. & Urbin, L.M. (2017). Shared book reading and English Language Learners’ narrative production and comprehension. Reading Research Quarterly, 52(3), 275-290.
Gámez, P.B., Neugebauer, S., Coyne, M., McCoach, B. & Ware, S. (2017). Linguistic and social cues for vocabulary learning in Dual Language Learners and their English-only peers. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 40, 25-37.
Hilvert, E., Davidson, D., & Gámez, P.B. (2016). Examination of script and non-script based narrative retellings in children with Autism Spectrum Disorders. Research in Autism Spectrum Disorders, 29, 79-92.
Gámez, P.B. & Lesaux, N. K., & Rizzo, A.A. (2016). Narrative production skills of Language Minority learners and their English-only classmates in early adolescence. Applied Psycholinguistics, 37(4), 933-961.
Mancilla-Martinez, J., Gámez, P.B., Vagh, S. B. Lesaux, N.K. (2016). Productive vocabulary assessment for Spanish-English bilingual toddlers and preschoolers: A validation study of parent reports. Language, Speech, and Hearing Services in Schools, 47(1):1-15.
Gámez, P.B. & Shimpi, P.M. (2016). Structural priming in Spanish as evidence of implicit learning. Journal of Child Language, 43(1), 207-233.
Gámez, P. B. (2015). Classroom-based English exposure and English Language Learners’ expressive language skills. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 31(2), 135-146.
Gámez, P.B. & Vasilyeva, M. (2015). Increasing second language learners’ production and comprehension of developmentally-advanced syntactic forms. Language Learning & Development, 11(2), 128-151.
Vasilyeva, M. & Gámez, P.B. (2015). Exploring Interactions between semantic and syntactic processes: The role of animacy in syntactic priming. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 138, 15-30.
Gámez, P.B. & Lesaux, N.K. (2015). Early-adolescents’ reading comprehension and the stability of the middle school classroom-language environment. Developmental Psychology, 51(4), 447-458.
Gámez, P. B., & Levine, S. C. (2013). Oral language skills of Spanish-speaking English language learners: The impact of high-quality native language exposure. Applied Psycholinguistics, 34(04), 673.
Gámez, P. B., & Lesaux, N. K. (Jul-Aug 2012). The relation between exposure to sophisticated and complex language and early-adolescent English-only and language minority learners' vocabulary. Child Development, 83(4), 1316-1331.
Gámez, P. B., Shimpi, P. M., Waterfall, H. R., & Huttenlocher, J. (Mar 2009). Priming a perspective in Spanish monolingual children: The use of syntactic alternatives. Journal of Child Language, 36(2), 269-290.
Shimpi, P. M., Gámez, P. B., Huttenlocher, J., & Vasilyeva, M. (Nov 2007). Syntactic priming in 3- and 4-year-old children: Evidence for abstract representations of transitive and dative forms. Developmental Psychology, 43(6), 1334-1346.