Paula Menyuk (1929 - 2020) was an American linguist known for her research in language development and disorders. She is one of the founders of the Boston University Conference on Language Development. At the time of her death, she was

Professor Emerita ''Emeritus/Emerita'' () is an honorary title granted to someone who retirement, retires from a position of distinction, most commonly an academic faculty position, but is allowed to continue using the previous title, as in "professor emeritus". ...

Boston University Boston University (BU) is a Private university, private research university in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. BU was founded in 1839 by a group of Boston Methodism, Methodists with its original campus in Newbury (town), Vermont, Newbur ...

Biography

Menyuk was born in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

and attended

Hunter College High School Hunter College High School is a public academic magnet secondary school located in the Carnegie Hill section of the Upper East Side of Manhattan. It is administered and funded by Hunter College of the City University of New York (CUNY) and no t ...

. She received her Bachelor of Science in Speech Sciences from

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private university, private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a Nondenominational ...

in 1951. She worked as a chief language therapist at

Massachusetts General Hospital Massachusetts General Hospital (Mass General or MGH) is a teaching hospital located in the West End neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts. It is the original and largest clinical education and research facility of Harvard Medical School/Harvar ...

before pursuing her Masters of Education in Speech and Hearing from Boston University. Menyuk continued on to receive her Doctor of Education in Psycholinguistics from Boston University in 1961. She completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the

Massachusetts Institute of Technology The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a Private university, private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Established in 1861, MIT has played a significant role in the development of many areas of moder ...

, where she studied with

Noam Chomsky Avram Noam Chomsky (born December 7, 1928) is an American professor and public intellectual known for his work in linguistics, political activism, and social criticism. Sometimes called "the father of modern linguistics", Chomsky is also a ...

, before returning to Boston University for the rest of her academic career. Menyuk rose as a leading expert in child language development and disorders and eventually obtained the rank of Professor Emerita in the Developmental Studies and Applied Linguistics program at Boston University. Menyuk retired from Boston University in 1998. Menyuk's research was supported by the

National Institutes of Health The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is the primary agency of the United States government responsible for biomedical and public health research. It was founded in 1887 and is part of the United States Department of Health and Human Service ...

, the

U.S. Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is one of the six United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Tracing its origins to 1 ...

, and the

U.S. Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of the United Stat ...

. Outside of scholarly work Menyuk had a passion for safe environmental implementation.

Research

Menyuk's research focused on the linguistic behavior of children and adolescents, covering topics such as the development of

spoken language A spoken language is a form of communication produced through articulate sounds or, in some cases, through manual gestures, as opposed to written language. Oral or vocal languages are those produced using the vocal tract, whereas sign languages ar ...

, prosody,

metalinguistic awareness Metalinguistic awareness, also known as metalinguistic ability, refers to the ability to consciously reflect on the nature of language and to use metalanguage to describe it. The concept of metalinguistic awareness is helpful in explaining the ex ...

, and

reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of symbols, often specifically those of a written language, by means of Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifacete ...

. Other work examined language development in children specifically impacted by

otitis media Otitis media is a group of Inflammation, inflammatory diseases of the middle ear. One of the two main types is acute otitis media (AOM), an infection of rapid onset that usually presents with ear pain. In young children this may result in pullin ...

. Menyuk's research has been described as aligning with

Chomsky Avram Noam Chomsky (born December 7, 1928) is an American professor and public intellectual known for his work in linguistics, political activism, and social criticism. Sometimes called "the father of modern linguistics", Chomsky is also a ...

's theoretical perspective and centered around explaining how the faculty of language matures during childhood.

Honors and recognition

Menyuk was a

Fulbright Fellow The Fulbright Program, including the Fulbright–Hays Program, is one of several United States cultural exchange programs with the goal of improving intercultural relations, cultural diplomacy, and intercultural competence between the people o ...

in 1971 and in 1989. Menyuk received the Honors of the Association award from the

American Speech-Language-Hearing Association American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...

and earned the rank of Fellow within the organization. Boston University created the annual Paula Menyuk award in her honor to support graduate students attending the annual Boston University Conference on Language Development (BUCLD).

Selected publications

Books

* Menyuk, P. (1969). ''Sentences children use''. MIT Press. * Menyuk, P. (1971). ''The acquisition and development of language''. Prentice Hall. * Menyuk, P. (1977). ''Language and maturation''. MIT Press. * Menyuk, P. (1988). ''Language development: Knowledge and use''. Addison Wesley Publishing Company. * Menyuk, P., & Brisk, M. (2005). ''Language development and education: Children with varying language experiences''. Springer. * Menyuk, P., Liebergott, J. W., & Schultz, M. C. (2014). ''Early language development in full-term and premature infants''. Psychology Press.

Articles

* Menyuk, P. (1964). Comparison of grammar of children with functionally deviant and normal speech. ''Journal of Speech and Hearing Research'', ''7''(2), 109-121. * Menyuk, P. & Chesnick, M. (1997). Metalinguistic skills, oral language knowledge and reading. ''Topics in Language Disorder, 17'', 75-87. * Menyuk, P., Chesnick, M., Liebergott, J. W., Korngold, B., D'Agostino, R., & Belanger, A. (1991). Predicting reading problems in at-risk children. ''Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research'', ''34''(4), 893-903. * Menyuk, P., Liebergott, J., Schultz, M.. Chesnick, M., Ferrier, L. (1991). Patterns of early lexical and cognitive development in premature and full term infants. ''Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 34''(1), 88-94. * Teele, D., Klein, J., Chase, C., Menyuk, P. & Rosner, B. (1990). Otitis media in infancy and development of intellectual ability, school achievement, speech and language at age seven years. ''Journal of Infectious Diseases, 162'', 685-694.

References

External links

BUCLD Paula Menyuk Award
{{DEFAULTSORT:Menyuk, Paula 1929 births 2020 deaths Speech and language pathology Language acquisition American women academics Boston University faculty Boston University alumni New York University alumni American women linguists Academics from New York City