Min Wang Ph.D., University of Toronto Associate Professor 3304P Benjamin Building Department of Human Development University of Maryland, College Park Tel. (301) 405-8798 Fax: (301) 405-2891 E-mail: minwang@umd.edu

      I received my Ph.D. in Applied Cognitive Science from the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education of the University of Toronto in 2000. Upon graduation I joined the Learning Research and Development Center at the University of Pittsburgh to complete my two-year post-doctoral training funded by a Fellowship from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. I became a member of the Faculty of Human Development at the University of Maryland in 2002.
      My research interests are in the area of language and reading development. Specifically, I am interested in how cross language and writing system differences impact learning to read in a first and second language. My recent work has focused on basic processes in learning to read English by Chinese children and adults and learning to read Chinese by skilled English readers. In addition to Chinese-English bilingual/biliteracy acquisition, I am also interested in studying other bilingual/biliteracy population such as Korean-English and Spanish-English speaking children and adults.
    

Areas of Student Supervision

          Language and reading acquisition;  Learning to read in a second language; Bilingual/bilteracy development 

Courses

• EDHD 425:      Language Development and Reading Acquisition (undergraduate course)
• EDHD 779T:    Basic Processes in Language and Reading Acquisition (graduate seminar)
• EDHD 779Q:   Bilingalism/Biliteracy Acquisition (graduate seminar)
  

Resent Research Projects

• Biliteracy development in Chinese and Korean children (PI, NIH/NICHD R01 grant, 2004-2008)
  
• Learning to read Chinese as a new writing system (Co-PI, Pittsburgh Science of Learning Center, NSF grant, 2004-2006)
• Learning Chinese-a tonal language (PI, Pittsburgh Science of Learning Center, NSF grant, 2005-2006)
• Chinese-English biliteracy development (National Academy of Education/Spencer Foundation post-doc fellowship, 2002-2004) 
  

Recent Publications

• Sun-Alperin, K. & Wang, M. (in press). Spanish-speaking children’s spelling errors with English vowel sounds that are represented by different graphemes in English and Spanish words. Contemporary Educational Psychology.

• Wang, M., & Cheng, C. X. (2008). Subsyllabic unit preference in young Chinese children. Applied Psycholinguistics, 29, 291-314

• Wang, M., Anderson, A., Cheng, C.X., Park, Y., & Thompson, J. (in press, 2008). General auditory processing, Chinese tone processing, English phonemic processing and English reading skill: A comparison between Chinese-English and Korean-English bilibgual children. Reading & Writing: An Interdisciplinary Journal.

• Liu, Y., Wang, M., & Perfetti, C.A. (2007). Threshold style processing of Chinese characters for adult second language learners. Memory & Cognition, 35(3), 471-480.

• Liu, Y.,  Perfetti, C.A., & Wang, M. (2006). Visual analysis and lexical access of Chinese characters by Chinese as second language readers. Special issue: Brian and Language. Language and Linguistics, 7(3), 637-657.

• Wang, M., Cheng, C.X., & Chen, S.W. (2006). Contribution of morphological awareness to Chinese-English biliteracy acquisition. Journal of Educational Psychology, 98(3), 542-553.

• Wang, M., Park, Y., & Lee, K.R. (2006). Korean-English biliteracy acquition: Cross language and orthography transfer. Journal of Educational Psycholgy, 98(1), 148-158.

• Wang, M. & Yang, C-L. (2007). Language analysis and literature review: Chinese. In K. Koda & A. Zehler (Eds.), Learning to read across languages. LEA. 

• Wang, M., Perfetti, C.A., & Liu, Y. (2005). Chinese-English biliteracy acquisition: Cross language and writing system transfer. Cognition, 97, 67-88.

• Wang, M. & Koda, K. (2005). Commonalities and differences in word identification skills among English second language learners. Language Learning, 55 (1), 73-100.
  

• Wang, M., Liu, Y., & Perfetti, C.A. (2004). The implicit and explicit learning of orthographic structure and function of a new writing system. Scientific Studies of Reading, 8(4), 357-379.

• Wang, M., Koda, K., & Perfetti, C.A. (2004). Language and writing systems are both important in learning to read: A reply to Yamada. Cognition, 93, 133-137.

• Wang, M. & Geva, E. (2003). Spelling acquisition of novel English phonemes in Chinese children. Reading and Writing: An Interdisciplinary Journal,16(4), 325-348.

• Wang, M., Koda, K., & Perfetti, C.A. (2003). Alphabetic and nonalphabetic L1 effects in English word identification: A comparison of Korean and Chinese English L2 learners. Cognition, 87, 129-149.
  

• Wang, M., Perfetti, C.A., & Liu, Y. (2003). Alphabetic readers quickly acquire orthographic structure in learning to read Chinese. Scientific Studies of Reading, 7(2), 183-207. 

• Wang, M. & Geva, E. (2003). Spelling performance of Chinese ESL children: Lexical and visual-orthographic processes. Applied  Psycholinguistics, 24(1), 1-25. 

• Brockmeier, J., Wang, M., & Olson, D. R.  (Eds.) (2002). Literacy, narrative, and culture. London: Curzon  Press. 

• Geva, E. & Wang, M. (2001). The development of basic reading skills in children: A cross-language perspective. Annual Review of Applied Linguistics, 21, 182-204. 

• Cameron, C.A. & Wang, M. (1999). Frog, Where are you? Children's narrative expression over the telephone. Discourse Processes, 28(3), 217-236. 

• Johnson, C., Beitchman, J., Yong, A., Escobar, M., Atkinson, L., Wilson, B., Brownlie, E., Douglas, L., Taback, N., Lan, I., & Wang, M. (1999). Fourteen year follow-up of children with and without speech/language impairments: Speech/language stability and outcomes. Journal of Speech-Language-Hearing Research, 42(3),744-760.