Dr. MacLeod is a professor in Communication Sciences and Disorders at the University of Alberta.  She held a Canadian Research Chair in Bilingual Acquisition and Communication Disorders and has received major grants as a principal investigator from organizations such as CIHR, SSHRC and the US National Science Foundation to study speech and language development in bilingual children. She is also an active co-investigator on several pan-Canadian grants. Dr. MacLeod’s research has focused on the speech and language abilities of bilingual children and adults. She has developed an expertise in the study of speech and language development among children from minority language communities, including immigrant and refugee children.  Children who are immigrants or refugees benefit from language proficiency in the language(s) used at home and at school for developing strong identities, maintaining mental health, and for long term economic opportunities. Through her research, she aims to support families in maintaining their home language(s) and supporting children participate fully in their family, community, and school contexts.

Selected publications

MacLeod, A.A.N., Meziane, R. S., & Pesco, D. (2020). Supporting dual language learning: a program for preschoolers from refugee backgrounds. Canadian diversity/Canadienne Diversité.

MacLeod, A.A.N., Meziane, R. S., & Pesco, D. (2020). Language abilities of children with refugee backgrounds: Insights from case studies. Applied Psycholinguistics.

Beauchamp, M. L., Rezzonico, S., & MacLeod, A.A.N. (2020). Bilingualism in School-Aged Children with ASD: A Pilot Study. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 1-16.

MacLeod, A.A.N., Castellanos-Ryan, N., Parent, S., Jacques, S., Séguin, J.R. (2017).  Modelling vocabulary development among multilingual children prior to and following school entry. International Journal of Bilingualism and Bilingual Education.

Pesco, D., MacLeod, A.A.N., Kay-Raining Bird, E., Cleave, P., Trudeau, N., Scherba de Valenzuela, J.,Cain, J., Marinova-Todd, S.H., Colozzo, P., Stahl, H., Segers, E. & Verhoeven, L. (2016). A Multi-Site Review of Policies Affecting Opportunities for Children with Developmental Disabilities to Become Bilingual. Journal of Communication Disorders, 63 (15-31).

Faculty Page: https://www.ualberta.ca/graduate-studies/about/fgsr-office-of-the-dean/asc-dean-1.html