Final Call: RSVP for the EFL Annual Meeting (June 4-5, 2025 | Edmonton, AB)

We’re excited to welcome you to the upcoming EFL Annual Meeting, taking place June 4–5, 2025 at the Alberta Machine Intelligence Institute (AMII) in Edmonton! If you haven’t already, please complete the RSVP form:

RSVP here: https://ubc.ca1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_5AoAQGMLEuFG0v4

The form includes dietary questions and a quick check-in about the optional group dinner on June 4.

Program Highlights:

• Keynotes from Dr. Beata Beigman Klebanov (ETS, Princeton) and Dr. Sandra Wiebe (University of Alberta)
• Panel on the role of AI in education (Day 1) and a panel on working with partners (Day 2)
• Presentations from trainees and researchers across the grant team
• Poster session, theme updates, and time to connect
• Optional social dinner (June 4)

Trainee Day (June 3):A full-day event just for trainees, with research methods training, career sessions, flash talks, and more. RSVP for this event is also included in the form.

RSVP here: https://ubc.ca1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_bfiG0Is432kKS9M (Trainees only)

The full program will be shared soon and uploaded to the EFL website once finalized.

We’re looking forward to seeing you in Edmonton!

Membership News

• 2025 Carol Connor Mid-Career Award Winner: Hélène Deacon

Please join us in congratulating Dr. Hélène Deacon, Co-Lead of the Literacy Theme, on receiving the Carol Connor Mid-Career Award!

This award honors a researcher in the field of scientific studies of reading, who is currently active in reearch, and has a distinguished record over a substantial period. It was established to celebrate the memory and legacy of Carol Connor, who was a consistently active and impactful member and President-elect of the Society for the Scientific Study of Reading.

We’re thrilled to see Hélène’s impactful contributions recognized with this well-deserved honour.

Check out Dr. Deacon's papers and research impact.

• Guofang Li named an AERA Fellow for 2025

Congratulations to Dr. Guofang Li, Co-Lead of the Language Background & Culture theme, on being named an American Educational Research Association (AERA) Fellow for 2025. 

This award recognizes her outstanding contributions to education research and her impact on the field. The AERA Fellow Program honours educational researchers with substantial accomplishments, reflecting the Association's commitment to excellence in research. The program also aims to inspire the next generation of scholars by recognizing sustained contributions to the field, embrace the interdisciplinary nature of education research and acknowledge the breadth of scholarship that enriches the field.

We’re also thrilled to share that her SSHRC Insight Grant has been awarded funding for the next five years. A fantastic recognition of her impactful work!

Click here to learn more about Dr. Li's work.

• Special Issue Honouring Janet Werker's Landmark Study

We’re excited to share that the Special Issue on Speech Perception: 40 years after Werker and Tees (1984) has now been published in Infant Behavior and Development. Forty years on, Werker and Tees (1984) remains one of the journal’s most cited articles. This special issue pays tribute to that influential work with:

• A reflective piece from Janet Werker on the past four decades of discovery
• 11 new articles on infant speech perception
• A forward-looking commentary by Leher Singh

Read the full issue on ScienceDirect.

New Publication

Hedlin, E., Estling, L., Wong, J., Demmans Epp, C., & Viberg, O. (2025). Got it! Prompting readability using ChatGPT to enhance academic texts for diverse learning needs. In Proceedings of the 15th International Learning Analytics and Knowledge Conference (LAK '25) (pp. 115–125). Association for Computing Machinery. https://doi.org/10.1145/3706468.3706483
(Presented at the 15th International Learning Analytics and Knowledge Conference)

For Your Interest

Harte, H., Nath, A., Vaishnavi, S. N., & Deoni, S. C. L. (2024). Associations between early vocabulary and brain structure in young children. Child Development. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1111/cdev.14196

Leadership Updates

We’re excited to welcome two new members to the EFL Advisory Board:

Nina J. Shukla
Nina is a licensed Speech-Language Pathologist and Director of Health and Early Years Initiatives at the Canadian Children’s Literacy Foundation. With over 15 years of experience across healthcare, education, and community sectors, she leads a national health-based literacy initiative that has reached over 44,000 families across Canada. She brings practical insight and strategic leadership, with a focus on evidence-based approaches, systems-level change, and culturally grounded, multilingual resources for diverse communities.

Vandna Joshi
Vandna is Director of Social Entrepreneurship at DIVERSEcity Community Resources Society, where she oversees employment, language, and self-employment programs, along with the organization’s social enterprises. With more than 16 years in the nonprofit sector, she’s known for her compassionate leadership and commitment to inclusive workplace culture. She is passionate about promoting financial independence and access to opportunity for racialized women and underserved communities.