Paula Menyuk
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Paula Menyuk | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1929 New York City |
| Died | October 4, 2020 (aged 90–91) |
| Spouse | Norman Menyuk |
| Academic background | |
| Alma mater | Boston University |
| Academic work | |
| Institutions | School of Education, Boston University |
Paula Menyuk (1929 - 2020)[1] 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.[2] At the time of her death, she was Professor Emerita at Boston University.[3]
Menyuk was born in New York City and attended Hunter College High School.[4] She received her Bachelor of Science in Speech Sciences from New York University in 1951. She worked as a chief language therapist at Massachusetts General Hospital[5] before pursuing her Masters of Education in Speech and Hearing from Boston University.[4] Menyuk continued on to receive her Doctor of Education in Psycholinguistics from Boston University in 1961.[4] She completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where she studied with Noam Chomsky,[1] before returning to Boston University for the rest of her academic career.[6]
Menyuk rose as a leading expert in child language development and disorders[7] and eventually obtained the rank of Professor Emerita in the Developmental Studies and Applied Linguistics program at Boston University.[3] Menyuk retired from Boston University in 1998.[8]
Menyuk's research was supported by the National Institutes of Health, the U.S. Air Force, and the U.S. Army.[9]
Outside of scholarly work Menyuk had a passion for safe environmental implementation.[10]
Research
Menyuk's research focused on the linguistic behavior of children and adolescents, covering topics such as the development of spoken language, prosody, metalinguistic awareness, and reading.[11][12] Other work examined language development in children specifically impacted by otitis media.[13] Menyuk's research has been described as aligning with Chomsky's theoretical perspective and centered around explaining how the faculty of language matures during childhood.[14][15][16]
Honors and recognition
Menyuk was a Fulbright Fellow in 1971[17] and in 1989.[18] Menyuk received the Honors of the Association award from the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association[19] and earned the rank of Fellow within the organization. [20]
Boston University created the annual Paula Menyuk award[21] in her honor to support students attending the annual Boston University Conference on Language Development (BUCLD).
