Professional Bio

Research Interests

I am interested in the cognitive and neurocognitive processes related to language development, second language learning, and bilinguals' use of two languages. In my Bilingual and Language Development (BiLD) lab we combine neuropsychological (EEG/ERP), behavioral, and linguistic techniques to study patterns of cross-language interaction and transfer in child and adult second language learners at different levels of proficiency. We also study the neural and cognitive mechanisms involved in code-switching and in the comprehension of foreign-accented speech. Part of our neurocognitive research takes place in an RV mobile lab parked at schools, the 'brain bus'. We also use the 'brain bus' for outreach activities, e.g., science fairs of research demonstrations.

Recent Publications

* denotes student or postdoc author

Stöhr*, A., Benders, T., Van Hell, J. G., & Fikkert, P. (in press). Heritage language exposure impacts voice onset time of Dutch-German simultaneous bilingual preschoolers. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition.

Stöhr*, A., Benders, T., Van Hell, J. G., & Fikkert, P. (in press). Second language attainment and first language attrition: The case of VOT systems in immersed Dutch-German late bilinguals. Second Language Research.

Van Hell, J. G., & Abdollahi*, F. (in press). Individual variation in syntactic processing in the second language: Behavioral and electrophysiological approaches. In: E. Segers & P. van den Broek (Eds.). Developmental Perspectives in Written Language and Literacy. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.

Van Hell, J. G., Fernandez*, C., Kootstra*, G. J., Litcofsky*, K. A., & Ting*, C.Y. (in press). Electrophysiological and experimental-behavioral approaches to the study of intra-sentential code-switching. Linguistic Approaches to Bilingualism.

Poarch*, G., & Van Hell, J. G. (2018). Bilingualism and the development of executive function in children – the interplay of language and cognition. In: S. A. Wiebe and J. Karbach (Eds.), Executive function: Development across the lifespan (pp. 172-187). New York, Routledge.

Fairchild*, S., & Van Hell, J. G. (2017). Determiner-noun code-switching in Spanish-English heritage speakers. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, 20 (1), 150-161.

Grey*, S. E., Tanner*, D., & Van Hell, J. G. (2017). How right is left? Handedness modulates neural responses during morphosyntactic processing. Brain Research, 1669, 27-43.

Grey*, S. E., & Van Hell, J. G. (2017). Foreign-accented speaker identity affects neural correlates of language comprehension. Journal of Neurolinguistics, 42, 93-108.

Litcofsky*, K. A. & Van Hell, J. G. (2017). Switching direction affects switching costs: Behavioral, ERP, and time-frequency analyses of intra-sentential codeswitching. Neuropsychologia, 97, 112-139.

Takashima*, A., Bakker*, I., Van Hell, J. G., Janzen, G., & McQueen, J. M. (2017). Interaction between episodic and semantic memory networks in the acquisition and consolidation of novel spoken words. Brain and Language, 167, 44-60.

Tanner*, D., Grey*, S. E., & Van Hell, J. G. (2017). Dissociating retrieval interference and reanalysis in the P600 during sentence comprehension. Psychophysiology, 54(2), 248-259.

Litcofsky*, K.A., Tanner*, D., & Van Hell, J.G. (2016). Effect of language proficiency, use, and cognitive function on bilingual word production and comprehension. International Journal of Bilingualism, 20 (6), 666-683.

Lorimor, H., Jackson, C., Spalek, K., & Van Hell, J. G. (2016). The impact of notional number and grammatical gender on agreement with conjoined noun phrases in Dutch. Language, Cognition, and NeuroScience, 31 (5), 646-661.

Poll*, G., Miller, C. A., & Van Hell, J. G. (2016). Sentence repetition accuracy in adults with developmental language impairment: Interactions of participant capacities and sentence structures. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 59, 302-316.

Van Hell, J. G. (2016). Relative language proficiency affects language production in unimodal and bimodal bilinguals. Linguistic Approaches to Bilingualism, 6(6), 834-836.

Van Hell, J. G., Cohen*, C., & Grey*, S. (2016). Testing tolerance for lexically-specific factors in Gradient Symbolic Computation. Commentary. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, 19, 897-899.

Bakker*, I., Takashima*, A., Van Hell, J. G., Janzen, G., & McQueen, J. M. (2015). Changes in theta and beta oscillations as signatures of novel word consolidation. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 27 (7), 1286-1297.

Bakker*, I., Takashima*, A., Van Hell, J. G., Janzen, G., & McQueen, J. M. (2015). Tracking lexical consolidation with ERPs: Lexical and semantic-priming effects on N400 responses to newly learned words. Neuropsychologia, 79, 33-41.

Bultena*, S., Dijkstra, T., & Van Hell, J. G. (2015). Language switch costs in comprehension depend on language dominance: Evidence from self-paced reading. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, 18, 453-469.

Bultena*, S., Dijkstra, T., & Van Hell, J. G. (2015). Switch cost modulations in bilingual sentence processing: Evidence from shadowing. Language, Cognition, and NeuroScience, 30, 586-605.

Dijkstra, T., van Hell, J. G., & Brenders*, P. (2015). Sentence context effects in bilingual word recognition: Cognate status, sentence language, and semantic constraint. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, 18, 597-613.

Poarch*, G. J., Van Hell, J. G., & Kroll, J. F. (2015). Accessing word meaning in beginning second language learners: Lexical or conceptual mediation? Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, 18 (3), 357-371.

Poll*, G. H., Miller, C. A., & van Hell, J. G. (2015). Evidence of compensatory processing in adults with Specific Language Impairment: Testing the predictions of the procedural deficit hypothesis. Journal of Communication Disorders, 53, 84-102.

Sanjeevan*, T., Rosenbaum, D. A., Miller, C., van Hell, J. G., Weiss, D., & Mainela-Arnold, E. (2015). Motor issues in specific language impairment: a window into the underlying impairment. Current Developmental Disorders Reports, 2 (3), 228-236.

Van Hell, J.G, Litcofsky*, K. A., Ting*, C. Y. (2015). Sentential code-switching: cognitive and neural approaches. In J. W. Schwieter (Ed.), The Cambridge Handbook of Bilingual Processing (pp 459-482). Cambridge University Press.

Bakker*, I., Takashima*, A., van Hell, J. G., Janzen, G., & McQueen, J. M. (2014). Competition from unseen or unheard novel words: Lexical consolidation across modalities. Journal of Memory and Language, 73, 116-130.

Boor-Klip*, H. J., Cillessen, A. H. N., & Van Hell, J. G. (2014). Predictors of social understanding in high ability children. Gifted Child Quarterly, 58, 259-271.

Bultena*, S., Dijkstra, T., & Van Hell, J. G. (2014). Cognate effects in sentence context depend on word class, L2 proficiency, and task. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 67 (6), 1214-1241.

Poarch*, G., & Van Hell, J. G. (2014). Cross-language activation in same-script and different-script trilinguals. International Journal of Bilingualism, 18(6), 693-716.

Starreveld, P. A., De Groot, A. M. B., Rossmark*, B. M. M., & Van Hell, J. G. (2014). Parallel language activation during word processing in bilinguals: Evidence from word production in sentence context. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, 17, 258-276.

Takashima*, A., Bakker*, I., Van Hell, J. G., Janzen, G., & McQueen, J. (2014). Richness of information about novel words determines how episodic and semantic memory networks interact during lexicalization. NeuroImage, 84, 265–278.

Tanner*, D. & Van Hell, J. G. (2014). ERPs reveal individual differences in morphosyntactic processing. Neuropsychologia, 56, 289-301.

van Hell, J. G., & Poarch*, G. J. (2014). How much bilingual experience is needed to affect executive control? Applied Psycholinguistics, 35, 925-928.

Bultena*, S., Dijkstra, T., & Van Hell, J. G. (2013). Cognate and word class ambiguity effects in noun and verb processing. Language and Cognitive Processes, 28 (9), 1350-1377.

Van Hell, J. G. & Poarch*, G. J. (2013). Lexical and conceptual representations in second language acquisition. In C.A. Chapelle (Ed.), The Encyclopedia of Applied Linguistics.

Van Hell, J. G., & Kroll, J. F. (2013). Using electrophysiological measures to track the mapping of words to concepts in the bilingual brain: a focus on translation. In J. Altarriba & L. Isurin (Eds.), Memory, Language, and Bilingualism: Theoretical and Applied Approaches (pp. 126-160). New York: Cambridge University Press.

Hoogeveen*, L., Van Hell, J. G., & Verhoeven, L. (2012). Social-emotional characteristics of gifted accelerated and non-accelerated students in the Netherlands: Social and emotional characteristics and behavior. British Journal of Educational Psychology, 82 (4), 585-605.

Poarch*, G., & Van Hell, J. G. (2012). Executive functions and inhibitory control in multilingual children: Evidence from second language learners, bilinguals, and trilinguals. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 113, 535-551.

Kootstra*, G. J., Van Hell, J. G., & Dijkstra, T. (2012). Priming of code-switches in sentences: The role of lexical repetition, cognates, and language proficiency. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, 15 (4), 797-819.

Poarch*, G. J. & Van Hell, J. G. (2012). Cross-language activation in children’s speech production: Evidence from second language learners, bilinguals, and trilinguals. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 111 (3), 419-438.

Schwartz, A. I. & Van Hell, J. G. (2012). Bilingual visual word recognition in sentence context. In J. Adelman (Ed.), Visual Word Recognition (pp. 131-150). Hove, England: Psychology Press.

Van Beijsterveldt*, L. M., & Van Hell, J. G. (2012). The development of deaf writers’ tense marking in narrative and expository text: a bimodal bilingual perspective. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, 15, 128-144.

Van Hell, J. G., & Tanner*, D. (2012). Second language proficiency and cross-language lexical activation. Language Learning, 62,148-171.