Nathalie Czeke

Profile

A teacher, a researcher, an adventurer, a curious mind… That’s me.

In my current role as a postdoctoral researcher, I’m involved in the AHRC-DFG-funded project Reframing Multilingualism, a collaboration between the University of Leeds, University College London, and the University of Cologne. This project investigates the multilingual experiences and communicative repertoires of deaf and hard-of-hearing children growing up in migrant contexts in Germany and the UK, and seeks to develop culturally and context-sensitive methodologies for studying language development in diverse populations.

My academic career began at the University of Konstanz, where I completed a Master of Education in English (Literature and Linguistics), Politics and Economics. It is also where I developed a lasting fascination with early language acquisition and transitioned into experimental research in developmental linguistics. For many years, I have conducted research at the Baby Speech Lab (University of Konstanz, DE) and the Infant Studies Centre (University of British Columbia, CA), investigating early language development and, particularly, speech perception.

As a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Early-Stage Researcher within the Comm4CHILD Innovative Training Network, I extended this work to deaf and hard-of-hearing infants and toddlers at the University of Leeds in collaboration with the Yorkshire Auditory Implant Service. In my PhD research, I examined early access to and opportunities for communication for deaf children in playful caregiver-child interactions, specifically focusing on the period between diagnosis and intervention and its implications for family-centred support.

Research interests

In my research, I focus on language acquisition and development in the first years of life. I am interested in how children – deaf, hard-of-hearing and hearing – learn language in diverse linguistic, social and sensory environments, and how interaction shapes early communication and development.

Methodologically, I develop and apply mixed, context-sensitive approaches that capture the situated and interactive nature of language learning. My previous work at the Baby Speech Lab and the Infant Studies Centre has been based on behavioural methods (e.g. habituation and preferential looking paradigms) to investigate language acquisition, and more specifically, speech perception and early word learning. My PhD and current research, on the other hand, have combined observational approaches with multimodal video analysis (e.g. ELAN) to study caregiver-child interaction and early (multimodal) communication.

Across my research, I am committed to generating insights that not only advance theoretical understanding of early language acquisition but also have practical relevance for families and practitioners. A central goal of my work is to support family-centred early intervention by improving our understanding of how communicative opportunities emerge in everyday interactions, particularly in diverse and underrepresented contexts. By developing context-sensitive methodologies and working across disciplinary boundaries, I aim to contribute to more inclusive approaches to supporting language learning and development in all children from the earliest stages of life.

Student education

I occasionally support the Deaf Education Programme (Teacher of the Deaf Qualification) at the School of Education, University of Leeds.