Welcome to the Language Acquisition Research Lab at Washington University!
Cindy Brantmeier is the principal investigator in the Language Research Laboratory at Washington University, St. Louis. Her experimental research addresses questions about reading and testing across languages and cultures.
Professor Brantmeier is the Director of Applied Linguistics, which includes the Phd and undergraduate minor. She was the recipient of Washington University’s 2012 Emerson Excellence in Teaching Award, and has been a five time winner for outstanding graduate student mentoring. Professor Brantmeier was the 2019 Merle E Simmons Distinguished Alumna for Department of Spanish and Portuguese, Indiana University, and she is Distinguished Visiting Professor of Applied Linguistics, School of Foreign Languages. Northeast Normal University, Changchun, China. May 2016 – 2021. From 2015 to 2020, Dr. Brantmeier served as Co-Editor of Reading in a Foreign Language, a leading journal housed at the University of Hawaii.
Cindy Brantmeier
Professor, Applied Linguistics & Global Studies
Director and Adviser of Applied Linguistics
Faculty Fellow of International Research, Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research – School of Medicine and Danforth Campus
Faculty Scholar, Institute for Public Health
Email: cbrantme@wustl.edu
Office: 248 McMillan
PhD – Applied Linguistics (interdisciplinary PhD program in Applied Linguistics is not currently accepting applications to the PhD).
Graduate students in Applied Linguistics study the theory and research related to language acquisition and use. Students conduct experimental, quantitative research across languages in order to examine what we know about language, how it is learned, and how it is used – whether in the laboratory, healthcare setting, or the classroom. Language of investigation is not limited to English and may include any target language. Students specifically engage in experimental research that informs theory and includes topics such reading across languages and cultures, language testing, and language research methodology. Recent students completing the PhD in Applied Linguistics at Wash U have received tenure track offers at the United States Airforce Academy, University of Montana, and the US Defense Language Institute.
At the Institute for Public Health, Dr. Brantmeier partners with scholars across disciplines at international and domestic sites to examine language use in the services provided in the management of linguistically diverse patients. Her research on healthy literacy involves both the context in which health literacy demands are made and the skills that people, both health care professionals and patients, bring to the situation.
Dr. Brantmeier’s research on language acquisition and use is interdisciplinary, drawing on research and theory from applied linguistics, social psychology, and public health. Findings provide implications for linguistically and culturally rich populations around the world.
