Our lab is dedicated to researching the ways we learn language across modalities and how language experience impacts cognitive development.
We are the Gallaudet University Multimodality, Acquisition and Cognition (MAC) Lab, directed by Dr. Deanna Gagne. Our lab studies language acquisition and use across individuals with varied modality experiences, including visual (sign, gesture, written), tactile, and spoken/auditory.
Gagne, D. L., & Broadway, H. (2026). From Contact to Conversation: Protactile Language, Modality, and Community. Annual Review of Linguistics, 12, 81–97. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-linguistics-011724-121536
Coppola, M., Flaherty, M., Gagne, D., Gagne, K., Kocab, A., Martin, A., Morales Blanco, D., Morales Ruíz, I., Pyers, J., & Senghas, A. (2025). Convergence and Emergence: How Nicaraguan Signing Has Been Shaped by Transmission, Acquisition, and Interaction. Sign Language Studies, 26(1), 69–103. DOI: 10.1353/sls.2025.a981200
We are a research laboratory focused on advancing the understanding and development of language.
