Current Team

Dr. Becky Chen

Becky (Xi) Chen is a Professor in the Department of Applied Psychology & Human Development at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, University of Toronto, Canada. She is co-editor-in-chief for Annals of Dyslexia. Her research specializes in reading development and difficulties in bilingual children. In recent years, most of the studies conducted in her Multilingualism & Literacy Lab involves children in French immersion programs, including both English-French bilinguals as well as trilingual children who speak a minority language at home.

Zein Abuosbeh

PhD Student, Developmental Psychology & Education

 Zein is a PhD student in the Multilingualism and Literacy Lab. Her research focuses on the relationship between oral language skills and reading comprehension among French Immersion students. She is also conducting research on the narrative and discourse skills of Syrian refugee children in Arabic and English. Zein is especially interested in using her research to help create evidence based resources for multilingual learning environments.  

Angela Capani

PhD Student, School & Clinical Child Psychology

Angela is a second-year doctoral student in the School & Clinical Child Psychology (SCCP) Program. She is currently involved in the Successes and Challenges of Syrian Refugee Children in Canada project, which seeks to evaluate the language and literacy skills of Syrian refugee children. In particular, Angela’s research explores the relationship between bilingualism, biliteracy development and social-emotional functioning.

Michelle Huo

PhD Candidate, Developmental Psychology & Education

Michelle is a fourth-year doctoral student in the Developmental Psychology & Education program. Michelle is currently involved in the International Bilingual Education (IBE) project. Her PhD dissertation focuses on using dynamic assessment tools to predict at-risk status in reading among children enrolled in French Immersion. She is also interested in examining the interaction between reading fluency and oral language skills among language-diverse students.

Krystina Raymond

PhD Candidate, Developmental Psychology & Education

Krystina is currently pursuing a PhD in Developmental Psychology & Education at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (OISE). She has been teaching as a bilingual French/English special education teacher at the New Frontiers School Board. Her present research examines the effects of phonological awareness interventions on French immersion at-risk kindergarten students. Krystina continues to be devoted to issues supporting bi/multilingual education, culturally responsive anti-bias practices and disseminating knowledge to support struggling readers.

Sharry Shakory

PhD Candidate, School & Clinical Child Psychology

Sharry is a PhD candidate in the School & Clinical Child Psychology (SCCP) program. She received her MA in the SCCP program in 2017. Sharry’s current research is focused on the early identification of French immersion children at-risk for reading difficulties in French and English, as well as the relation between reading difficulties and social-emotional functioning. Her clinical training has focused on comprehensive psychological assessment of cognitive, academic, and socioemotional functioning and evidence-based interventions (primarily CBT and DBT). Clinical populations of interest include children and youth with neurodevelopmental disorders, culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds, complex trauma, high-risk behaviors, and psychosomatic presentations.   

Steve (Songtao) Wang

PhD Student, Developmental Psychology & Education

Steve (Songtao) is a doctoral student in the Developmental Psychology & Education program at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (OISE). His research interests include quantitative methods in education, meta-analysis, experimental designs and analysis, structural equation modelling, and language assessment and testing. He is also an active member and proposal reviewer of AERA and NCME.

Emma Wontorra

PhD Student, Developmental Psychology & Education

Emma is a doctoral student in Developmental Psychology & Education at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (OISE). She is pursuing her PhD through the Flexi-mode program. She is also working as a core French teacher for the Simcoe County District School Board. Her research interests are in the area of French language development.

Roksana (Roxy) Dobrin-De Grâce

2^nd Year PhD Student, Research Adviser

Roksana (Roxy) Dobrin-De Grâce is a second-year PhD student in the psychological science stream at Ryerson University in the Early Childhood Cognition Lab. She has been working with the Multilingualism & Literacy Lab since 2020 for her practicum requirement, and has stayed on to continue working with Diana Burchell on the International Bilingual Education (IBE). Roxy’s own research focuses on cross-cultural differences in the development of politeness norms as well as selective social learning preferences in children.