Deanna Friesen

deanna.friesen@uwo.ca
87969
FEB 1113

I am a member of the Applied Psychology Arc at the Faculty of Education. My research interests include bilingual language development, reading comprehension & reading disabilities, word recognition and inclusive education.

As part of my research program, I study bilingualism and its impact on language and cognitive processing. Specifically, I am investigating how bilingualism as a life experience impacts language use: word recognition, sentence processing, speech perception and text processing. I use behavioural, eye-tracking, and neural (i.e., EEG) measures in my work.

Recent work in the lab has investigated how to support reading comprehension success in readers. To this end, we have examined effective strategy use in French immersion students, monolingual students, English Language Learners and bilingual adults. The goal is to determine characteristics that differentiate successful bilingual readers from less successful readers in order to support reading development in bilingual students who are struggling. We are currently working on approaches to increase effective strategy use.

Other work in reading comprehension is examining how readers with different abilities monitor their comprehension during reading. Questions include whether individuals with attention difficulties notice contradictory information when reading and how this impacts subsequent text comprehension.

Finally, our lab is also looking at how teachers and teacher candidates engage in inclusive education by examining their understanding of reading disabilities and how they employ psychoeducational reports to support their students.

If you are interested in my work, I would be pleased to hear from you. Please also visit my lab website at www.berrl.ca to learn more about the lab's work and current research opportunities as either a volunteer or participant.

Recent Publications

Refereed Publications

Friesen, D.C., Shory, U., & Lamoureux, C. (2023). The role of self-efficacy beliefs and inclusive education beliefs on teacher burnout. Social Sciences & Humanities Open.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssaho.2023.100599 .

Friesen, D.C., Schmidt, K., Atwal, T., & Celebre, A. (2022). Predicting reading comprehension performance with strategy use: Comparing bilingual children to their monolingual peers and to bilingual adults. Frontiers in Psychology.https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.986937

Friesen, D.C., King, C.B., & Fenesi, B. (2022). Preservice teachers' impressions of psychoeducational reports. Psychology in the Schools. https://doi.org/10.1002/pits.22826.

Friesen, D. C., Ward, O., & Archibald, L. (2022). Sentence repetition performance differences in bilingual and monolingual children. Journal of speech, language, and hearing research, 65(8), 2948–2961. https://doi.org/10.1044/2022_JSLHR-21-00596

Desroches, A.S., Friesen, D.C., Teles, M., Korade, C.A. & Forest, E.W. (2022). The dynamics of cross-language phonological activation in bilinguals: Evidence from event related potentials. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition. 1-6.

Lee, Y.., Neil, N. & Friesen, D.C. (2021). Support needs, coping, and stress among parents and caregivers of children with down syndrome. Research in Developmental Disabilities, 119. doi.org/10.1016/j.ridd.2021.104113.

Vingron, N., Gulifer, J., Whitford, V., Friesen, D.C., Jared, D., Titone, D. (2021). Cross-language syntactic activation during bilingual reading: Eye movement evidence from adjective-noun constructions. Front. Commun. 6:597701. doi.org/10.3389/fcomm.2021.597701

Archibald, L., Leggett, J., Raffalovitch, S., King, C., Friesen, D.C., & Vollebregt, M. (2021). Evidence for complementary effects of code- and knowledge-focused reading instruction. Child Language Teaching and Therapy. https://doi.org/10.1177/02656590211014246

Friesen, D.C. & Frid, B.A. (2021). Predictors of successful reading comprehension in bilingual adults: The role of strategies and language proficiency. Languages, 6, 18. doi.org/10.3390/languages6010018

Friesen, D.C., Edwards, K., & Lamoureux, C. (2021). Predictors of verbal fluency in monolingual and bilingual children: The role of English receptive vocabulary and fluid intelligence. Journal of Communication Disorders. doi.org/10.1016/j.jcomdis.2020.106074

Frid, B. & Friesen, D.C. (2021). An investigation of reading strategy patterns recruited by bilingual adults and children. Canadian Modern Language Review. (in press)

Friesen, D.C., Ward, O., Bohnet, J., Cormier, P. & Jared, D. (2020). Early activation of cross-language meaning from phonology during sentence processing. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory and Cognition, 46 (9), 1754 -1767.

Friesen, D.C., Whitford, V., Titone, D., & Jared, D. (2020). The impact of individual differences on cross-language activation of meaning by phonology. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, 23, 323-343.

Frid, B. & Friesen, D.C. (2020). Reading comprehension and strategy use in fourth and fifth grade French Immersion Students. Reading & Writing, 33 (5), 1213-1233. doi: 10.1007/s11145-019-10004-5

Tiv, M., Gonnerman, L., Whitford, V., Friesen, D., Jared, D., & Titone, D. (2019). Figuring out how verb-particle constructions are understood during L1 and L2 reading. Frontiers in Psychology. (Online).

Friesen, D.C., & Cunning, D. (2018). Making explicit pre-service teachers’ implicit beliefs about inclusive education. The International Journal of Inclusive Education, 1-15 (Online).

Friesen, D.C., & Haigh, C. A. (2018). Cross-language associative priming in influenced by language proficiency and executive control. The Canadian Journal of Experimental Psychology, 72, 264-276.

Friesen, D.C., & Haigh, C.A. (2018). How strategy instruction can improve second language reading comprehension: A Review. The Reading Matrix, 18, 1-18.

Berkes, M., Friesen, D. C. & Bialystok, E. (2018). Cultural context as a biasing factor for language activation in bilinguals. Language, Cognition and Neuroscience, 33, 1032-1048.

Grundy, J.G., Chung-Fat-Yim, A., Friesen, D. C., Mak, L. & Bialystok, E. (2017). Sequential Congruency Effects Reveal Differences in Disengagement of Attention for Monolingual and Bilingual Young Adults. Cognition.

Friesen, D. C., Oh, J. & Bialystok, E. (2016). Phonologically-mediated meaning activation in monolinguals and bilinguals: Evidence from homophone effects in ERP. Linguistic Approaches to Bilingualism, 6, 262-289.

Friesen, D. C., Chung-Fat-Yim, A., & Bialystok, E (2016). Lexical selection differences between monolingual and bilingual listeners. Brain & Language, 152, 1-13.

Friesen, D.C., Luo, L., Luk, G. & Bialystok, E. (2015). Proficiency and control in verbal fluency performance across the lifespan for monolinguals and bilinguals. Language, Cognition and Neuroscience, 30, 238-250.

Friesen, D. C., Latman, V., Calvo, A., & Bialystok, E. (2015). Attention during visual search: The benefit of bilingualism. The International Journal of Bilingualism, 19, 693-702.

Friesen, D. C., Jared, D., & Haigh, C.A. (2014). Phonological processing dynamics in bilingual word naming. Canadian Journal of Experimental Psychology, 68, 179-193.

Friesen, D. C., & Bialystok, E. (2012). Metalinguistic ability in bilingual children: The role of executive control. Rivista di Psicolinguistica Applicata/Journal of Applied Psycholinguistics, 12, 47- 56.

Friesen, D. C., & Joanisse, M. F. (2012). Homophone effects in deaf readers: Evidence from lexical decision. Reading and Writing: An Interdisciplinary Journal, 25, 375-388.

Friesen, D. C., & Jared, D. (2012). Cross-language phonologically-mediated activation of meaning: Evidence from category verification. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, 15, 145-156.

Moreno, S., Friesen, D. C., & Bialystok, E. (2011). Effect of music training on promoting preliteracy skills: Preliminary causal evidence. Music Perception, 29, 165-172.

Friesen, D. C., & Jared, D. (2007). Cross-language message- and word-level transfer effects in bilingual text processing. Memory & Cognition, 35, 1540-1554.

Book Chapter

Friesen, D.C., & Bialystok, E. (2013). Control and representation in bilingualism: Implications for pedagogy. In J. Schwieter (Ed.), Innovative research and practices in second language acquisition and bilingualism. (pp. 223 – 240). Amsterdam: John Benjamins.

Conference Proceedings

Jared, D., Haigh, C., & Friesen, D. (2008). Cross-language phonological activation in bilingual word naming. In V. C. Mueller-Gathercole (Ed.), Proceedings of the International Conference on Models of Interaction in Bilinguals. Bangor, Wales: ESRC Centre for Research on Bilingualism in Theory & Practice at Bangor University.

Conference Presentations

Friesen, D. C., Edwards, K., & Lamoureux, C. (2020, November). Predictorsof verbal fluency in monolingual and bilingual children: The role of English
receptive vocabulary and fluid intelligence. Poster presented at 61st Annual Psychonomics Conference. Online Format.

Friesen, D.C., Edwards, K., Celebre, A., Atwal, T., Amico, C., & Lau, T.Z. (2020, June). Reading strategy use predicts comprehension success in
native English readers and English language learners in elementary school. Talk presented at Canadian Society for Studies in Education Annual
Conference, London ON. Cancelled due to Covid.

Friesen, D.C., Ward, O., Bohnet, J., Cormier, P. & Jared, D. (2019, November). Early activation of cross-language meaning from phonology
during sentence processing. Poster presented at the 60th Annual Psychonomics Conference, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.

Friesen, D.C., & Frid, B. (2019, June). Strategy use predicts reading comprehension success in bilingual adults and children. Paper presented at
the 12th International Symposium of Bilingualism, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.

Friesen, D.C., & Frid, B. (2019, June). How L2 reading strategies predict L1 reading comprehension in bilingual children and adults. Invited paper
presented at the 29th annual Canadian Society for Brain, Behaviour & Cognitive Science, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada.

Frid, B., & Friesen, D. C. (2019, June). Strategy Use Predicts Reading Comprehension Success in French Immersion Students. Paper presented at
the Canadian Society for Studies in Education Annual Conference, Vancouver, BC.

Friesen, D. C., Schmidt, K., Edwards, K., & Celebre, A. (2019, April). Reading comprehension and strategy use in English language learners and
English monolinguals in elementary school. Paper presented at 103rd annual American Education Research Association, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

Frid, B., & Friesen, D.C. (2018, November). Reading comprehension and strategy use in fourth and fifth grade French immersion students. Poster
presented at the 59th annual Psychonomics Conference, New Orleans, United States.

Jared, D., Friesen, D., Whitford, V. Ward, O., & Titone, D. (2018, September). Cross-language activation of meaning by phonology in sentence reading. The 11 ^thInternational Conference on the Mental Lexicon, Edmonton, AB.

Friesen, D.C., & Haigh, C.A. (2018, July). The impact of language proficiency and executive control ability on cross-language semantic priming. Talk presented at the 26th annual Canadian Society for Brain, Behaviour and Cognitive Science Conference, St. John’s. NL.

Jared, D., Friesen, D.C., Whitford, V., Ward, O. & Titone, D. (2018, July). The impact of individual differences on cross-language activation of meaning by phonology. Talk presented at the 26th annual Canadian Society for Brain, Behaviour and Cognitive Science Conference, St. John’s. NL.

Titone, D., Palma, P., Gullifer, J., Vingron, N., Whitford, V., Friesen, D.C., & Jared, D. (2018, July). The impact of current non-L1 usage and L2 age of acquisition on executive control in the Simon task among bilingual adults. Talk presented at the 26th annual Canadian Society for Brain, Behaviour and Cognitive Science Conference, St. John’s. NL.

Vingron, N., Palma, P., Gullifer, J., Whitford, V., Friesen, D.C., Jared, D., & Titone, D. (2018, July). Individual differences in executive control and language background modulate cross-language syntactic activation during bilingual reading. Poster presented at the 26th annual Canadian Society for Brain, Behaviour and Cognitive Science Conference, St. John’s. NL.

Friesen, D. C. & Cunning, D. (2018, June). Increasing students’ habits of heart, mind and hand through assessment for/as learning. Poster presented at the 38 ^th Annual Conference of the Society for Teaching and Learning in Higher Education, Sherbrooke Quebec.

Liu, Y.Y., Vingron, N., Palma, N., Whitford, V., Friesen, D.C., Jared, D. & Titone, D. (May, 2018). Eye-tracking Shows Limited Evidence of Cross-Language Syntactic Activation for Direct-Object Constructions during Natural Reading. Poster presented at the CRBLM Scientific Day. Université du Québec à Montreal, QC, Canada.

Friesen, D.C., & Haigh, C.A. (2017, November). Cross-language associative priming is influenced by language proficiency and executive control. Poster presented at the 58 ^th annual Psychonomics Conference, Vancouver, Canada.

Desroches, A.S., Friesen, D. C., Teles, M.J, & Korade, C.A. (2017, November). Bilinguals automatically access their second language when processing in their first language. Poster presented at the 58th annual Psychonomics Conference, Vancouver, Canada.

Tiv, M., Gonnerman, L., Whitford, V., Friesen, D.C., Jared, D., & Titone, D. (2017, August). Using eye tracking to “figure out” how verb-particle constructions are understood during L1 and L2 reading. Poster presented at 19th annual European Conference on Eye Movements, Wuppertal, Germany.

Vingron, N., Gullifer, J., Whitford, V., Friesen, D.C, Jared, D., & Titone, D. (2017, August). Using eye movements to investigate cross-language syntactic activation during natural reading. Poster presented at 19th annual European Conference on Eye Movements, Wuppertal, Germany.

Friesen, D. C., Frid, B.A., & Haug, K. (2017, July). Reading comprehension and strategy use in bilingual pre-service teachers, Society for the Scientific Study of Reading, Halifax, Nova Scotia.

Vingron, N., Gulifer, J., Whitford, V., Friesen, D.C., Jared, D., & Titone, D. (2017, June). Cross-language syntactic activation during natural reading: Eye movement evidence from adjective-noun constructions. Talk presented at 27th annual meeting of Canadian Society for Brain, Behaviour and Cognitive Science, Regina, Saskatchewan.

Friesen, D.C., Jared, D., Whitford, V. & Titone, D. (2016, November). Phonologically-mediated meaning activation during bilingual sentence processing. Poster presented at the 57th annual Psychonomics Conference, Boston, Massachusetts.

Chung-Fat-Yim, A., Friesen, D. C., Timmer, K., & Bialystok, E. (2014, July). Electrophysiological differences between monolinguals and bilinguals on the Flanker task. Poster presented at the 24th annual Canadian Society for Brain, Behaviour, and Cognitive Science, Toronto, Canada.

Chung-Fat-Yim, A., Friesen, D. C. & Bialystok, E. (2013, November). Lexical resolution from semantic competitors in monolinguals and bilinguals. Poster presented at the 54th annual Psychonomics Conference, Toronto, Canada

Bialystok, E. & Friesen, D. C. (2013, May). Neuroplasticity in bilinguals: Evidence from verbal and nonverbal control. Keynote presented at the International workshop on Bilingualism and Cognitive Control, Krakow, Poland.

Friesen, D. C., & Bialystok, E. (2012, November). Investigating the bilingual advantage in a verbal conflict task. Poster presented at the 53rd annual Psychonomics Conference, Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Friesen, D. C., & Bialystok, E. (2012, July). Phonologically-mediated semantic activation in bilingual and monolingual readers. Poster presented at the 19th annual Society for the Scientific Study of Reading Meeting, Montréal, Québec.

Friesen, D. C., Rakoczy, M., & Bialystok, E. (2011, November). Resolution of lexical competition in monolingual and bilingual listeners. Poster presented at the 52nd annual Psychonomics Conference, Seattle, Washington.

Friesen, D. C., & Jared, D. (2009, November). Cross-language activation of meaning in bilinguals. Poster presented at the 50th annual Psychonomics Conference, Boston, Massachusetts.

Friesen, D. C., & Jared, D. (2009, June). Semantic activation in bilingual word recognition: Evidence from translation and semantic priming. Poster presented at the Contextualizing Bilingualism Conference, Halifax, Nova Scotia.

Friesen, D. C., & Jared, D. (2009, March). Bilingual semantic activation during sentence processing. Paper presented at the Western Interdisciplinary Student Symposium on Language Research, London, Ontario.

Friesen, D. C., & Jared, D. (2008, October). Semantic activation in bilingual word recognition: Evidence from interlingual homophones. Poster presented at the Models of Interaction in Bilinguals Conference, Bangor, Wales.

Jared, D., Friesen, D. C., & Haigh, C.A. (2008, October). Cross-language phonological activation in bilingual word naming. Paper presented at the Models of Interaction in Bilinguals Conference, Bangor, Wales.

Friesen, D. C., & Jared, D. (2008, June). Exploring the role of semantics in bilingual word recognition: Evidence from interlingual homophones. Poster presented at the 18th annual Canadian Society for Brain, Behaviour and Cognitive Science Conference, London. ON.

Friesen, D. C., Rosser, V., Jared, D. (2007, June). The role of semantics in bilingual word recognition: Evidence from Interlingual homographs and cognates. Paper presented at the 6th annual Canadian Language and Literacy Network Conference, Calgary, AB.

Friesen, D. C., Joanisse, M. F., & Maxwell, K. (2006, June). Homophone effects in deaf readers: Do deaf adults use phonology during silent reading? Poster presented at the 5th annual Canadian Language and Literacy Network Conference, Charlottetown, PEI. - Poster Award

Friesen, D. C. & Jared, D. (2005, November). Factors influencing cross-language word transfer in bilingual text processing. Poster presented at the 46th annual Psychonomics Conference, Toronto, Ontario.

Friesen, D. C. & Jared, D. (2004, November). Cross-language transfer of word- and text-level information in fluent reading. Poster presented at 45th annual Psychonomics Conference, Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Friesen, D. C. & Chovez-McKinnon, C. (2002, April). Etiology of Deafness and its Relation to Intelligence and Social-Emotional Adjustment in School-Aged Deaf Children from a Residential School. Invited Talk at Robarts School for the Deaf, London, ON.

Faculty / Staff Search

Department / Unit Search

Dr. Deanna Friesen, PhD

Associate Professor & Chair of Applied Psychology - Applied Psychology

Dr. Deanna Friesen, PhD

Associate Professor & Chair of Applied Psychology - Applied Psychology

Recent Publications

Refereed Publications

Book Chapter

Conference Proceedings

Conference Presentations

Teaching and Supervision

Courses Taught

Supervision