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Natalie Boll-Avetisyan

@natalieboll.bsky.social

1.1K followers 500 following 97 posts

Prof @ UniPotsdam | Developmental Psycholinguist | BabyLab Potsdam | Associate Editor @ Bilingualism: Language and Cognition

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Natalie Boll-Avetisyan @natalieboll.bsky.social · Nov 17

Dear bluesky community, it is wonderful to see us growing!

A quick introduction of myself: I am Assistant Professor of Developmental Psycholinguistics based at U Potsdam, Germany.

My research focuses on infant 👶 language development, and I use experimental methods.

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Natalie Boll-Avetisyan @natalieboll.bsky.social · 6d

Since we tested them on Akan by giving a cue that indicates wors boundaries in Akan, it could be a language-specific cue they are applying. It would indeed be interesting to know if infants transfer the use of this cue to their other languages.

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Natalie Boll-Avetisyan @natalieboll.bsky.social · 6d

Good question! Akan shows the vowel harmony they used as a cue for finding words in speech, and to most infants this was the only language with vowel harmony. Only 8 of the 40 infants had minimally one more vowel harmony language in their input. % exposure to harmony language had no effect.

Natalie Boll-Avetisyan @natalieboll.bsky.social · 6d

They could do so by attending to the vowel patterns in the speech stream (Akan is a vowel harmony language requiring that vowels within a word share specific features). It did not matter whether or not Akan was among the languages they heard more often in their daily lives.

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Natalie Boll-Avetisyan @natalieboll.bsky.social · 6d

How do multilingual babies acquire their languages? In Africa, multilingualism is the norm. In our new study with 9-11 month old Ghanaian babies learning up to 5 languages simultaneously, we found that they were able to recognize words in text passages in Akan, one of their languages.

Tongue root harmony cues for speech segmentation in multilingually raised infants learning languages with and without vowel harmony in Ghana (Africa) | Bilingualism: Language and Cognition | Cambridge...

Tongue root harmony cues for speech segmentation in multilingually raised infants learning languages with and without vowel harmony in Ghana (Africa)

doi.org

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Natalie Boll-Avetisyan @natalieboll.bsky.social · 27d

Über unsere experimentelle Feldstudie mit Babys in Metro Manila! Tagalog lernende Babys unterscheiden Sprachlaute spät. 👇

Universität Potsdam @unipotsdam.bsky.social · 28d

Die Ergebnisse ihrer Forschung auf den #Philippinen veröffentlichten die Potsdamer Psycholinguistinnen Prof. @natalieboll.bsky.social und Dr. Rowena Garcia jetzt im Journal "Developmental Psychology". Mehr Infos unter: www.uni-potsdam.de/de/medieninf...

Feine Unterschiede erkennen – Neue Studie zur Sprachentwicklung bei Säuglingen im globalen Süden

Medieninformation 09-09-2025 / Nr. 080

www.uni-potsdam.de

Natalie Boll-Avetisyan @natalieboll.bsky.social · Aug 19

Ist mir egal, macht mir nichts, na und. 🙃

Reposted by Natalie Boll-Avetisyan

Amy Diehl, Ph.D. @amydiehl.bsky.social · Jul 7

In a study of professors, women got 378 new work requests over 4 weeks vs 118 for men. Women spent more time on service, advising & teaching; men on research. Orgs should track who is taking extra duties & ensure they are rewarded and distributed fairly. www.forbes.com/sites/kimels...

Being Too Helpful At Work Can Hurt Your Career—Here’s How To Say No

Women are more likely to take on behind-the-scenes duties at work—extra tasks like onboarding or event planning—and it's hurting their careers. Here's how to say no.

www.forbes.com

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Natalie Boll-Avetisyan @natalieboll.bsky.social · Jul 1

It's official: As of today, I am tenured professor at the University of Potsdam, Germany.

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Natalie Boll-Avetisyan @natalieboll.bsky.social · May 30

If you receive an invitation to review a manuscript, it will be very helpful if you hit the link to decline if you do not want to do it. Takes 5 seconds, and the editor will not wait for no reason. If you can spare another minute, please enter reviewer suggestions. BIG THANKS if you already do!

Reposted by Natalie Boll-Avetisyan

Kevin Wong 黃浩文 @kevinwongla.bsky.social · May 29

There’s more than one way to be bilingual. If you’ve ever understood your family’s language but struggled to speak it back—you’re not alone. This video challenges narrow definitions of fluency and makes space for the kind of bilingualism that often goes unrecognized.
www.youtube.com/shorts/Qk8yV...

Receptive Bilinguals Are Not Monolingual | The Bilingual Professor

YouTube video by The Bilingual Professor

www.youtube.com

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Reposted by Natalie Boll-Avetisyan

Sheina Lew-Levy @sheinalew.bsky.social · May 9

I'm THRILLED that our book is out. This book, with other 60 contributors from across the globe (!!!) is a love letter to the science we want to do, and a how-to guide for how to do it. Please read it and share it!

Open Book Publishers @openbookpublish.bsky.social · May 9

OUT NOW: A Field Guide to Cross-Cultural Research on Childhood Learning reimagines how we study kids—globally. With voices from 21 countries, this inclusive, practical guide bridges disciplines and challenges Western-centric research. buff.ly/0qk1cOs

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Reposted by Natalie Boll-Avetisyan

manvir singh @manvir.bsky.social · Apr 29

Are dance & infant-directed song human universals? Like many people, I've long thought so.

But in a new paper in Current Biology, Kim Hill & I report that the Northern Aché (Paraguay) lacked both behaviors, likely losing them after cultural collapse.

Open-access link: www.cell.com/current-biol...

Loss of dance and infant-directed song among the Northern Aché

Singh and Hill report no evidence of dance or infant-directed song among the Northern Aché of Paraguay, based on 122 months of fieldwork. Their findings challenge claims of these behaviors’ universali...

www.cell.com

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Reposted by Natalie Boll-Avetisyan

Sue Fletcher-Watson @suereviews.bsky.social · Apr 21

At @journalautism.bsky.social we are recruiting!

Thanks to a massive increase in submissions over recent years, we are dramatically expanding our team to appoint FIVE new editors!

See details of the role and how to apply here, by May 23rd.

journals.sagepub.com/pb-assets/PD...

journals.sagepub.com

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Reposted by Natalie Boll-Avetisyan

Barack Obama @barackobama.bsky.social · Apr 15

Harvard has set an example for other higher-ed institutions - rejecting an unlawful and ham-handed attempt to stifle academic freedom, while taking steps to make sure students can benefit from an environment of intellectual inquiry, rigorous debate and mutual respect. Let’s hope others follow suit.

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Reposted by Natalie Boll-Avetisyan

Kathy Hirsh-Pasek @kathyhirshpasek.bsky.social · Mar 26

Decided to speak out on the state of our union. Just published in the Philadelphia Inquirer eedition.inquirer.com/infinity/art...

Coming home to a foreign land

eedition.inquirer.com

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Reposted by Natalie Boll-Avetisyan

Marc van Oostendorp @fonolog.bsky.social · Mar 27

Interview met de Zwitserse media.

www.thunertagblatt.ch/gendern-holl...

Debatte übers Gendern: Warum die Holländer die weibliche Form abgeschafft haben

Während im Deutschen hitzig über geschlechtergerechte Sprache gestritten wird, sieht man das in den Niederlanden entspannt – und setzt bewusst auf das generische Maskulinum.

www.thunertagblatt.ch

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Reposted by Natalie Boll-Avetisyan

Rhodri Cusack @rhodricusack.bsky.social · Mar 26

Join us as an Associate Professor in Developmental Psychology. my.corehr.com/pls/trrecrui...

my.corehr.com

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Reposted by Natalie Boll-Avetisyan

Tim Behrens @behrenstimb.bsky.social · Mar 25

Science is under threat in the US. @elife.bsky.social have commissioned a series of articles discussing the implications and what we can do. The first three articles are now live. More to follow:
elifesciences.org/articles/106...
elifesciences.org/articles/106...
elifesciences.org/articles/106...

Science Under Threat in the United States: How scientists and institutions should respond

Individual researchers and university leaders need to make the case for science to their elected representatives and to the public at large.

elifesciences.org

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Reposted by Natalie Boll-Avetisyan

Tim Behrens @behrenstimb.bsky.social · Mar 26

The next two articles in our Science under threat series offer personal accounts from the perspective of undergraduates and patients.
elifesciences.org/articles/106...
elifesciences.org/articles/106...

The homepage for the collection is here:
elifesciences.org/collections/...

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Natalie Boll-Avetisyan @natalieboll.bsky.social · Mar 25

And I love the name and the intention of that CITI institute. I bet if you go for it, there will be donors!

Natalie Boll-Avetisyan @natalieboll.bsky.social · Mar 25

I tested some babies in the last two weeks, which I rarely do these days, and I have to say that these cuties really cheer up your mood. But I am sure cats will do that, too!

Natalie Boll-Avetisyan @natalieboll.bsky.social · Mar 25

Maybe we can start out by replicating the experiment with our own cats. 😀

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Natalie Boll-Avetisyan @natalieboll.bsky.social · Mar 25

@katievonholzen.bsky.social I immediately thought of you when I read about this word learning study with cats. Top of things: pupil dilations you can see with your own eye, and decent effects! You should open a cat lab! www.science.org/content/arti...

Cats beat babies at word-association game

Study suggests our feline friends are listening to us more than we think

www.science.org

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Reposted by Natalie Boll-Avetisyan

Prof Sam Illingworth @samillingworth.com · Mar 21

🗣️ Want to learn a new language? Skip the subtitles!

A study found adults tuned into a new language's rhythm after just 5 minutes - but written text disrupted this ability.

🔗 www.cambridge.org/core/journal...

#SciComm 🧪 #LanguageLearning

Tuning in to the prosody of a novel language is easier without orthography | Bilingualism: Language and Cognition | Cambridge Core

Tuning in to the prosody of a novel language is easier without orthography

www.cambridge.org

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Reposted by Natalie Boll-Avetisyan

Kelton Minor @keltonminor.bsky.social · Mar 18

There are days in life that shake you.

I’m shattered 💔 to share that I just found out that the US Government terminated my 2024 NIH Director’s Early Independence Award (~$2 million), threatening my long-promised assistant professor job at Columbia University
& academic career... 1/🧵

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