Dr Eirini Sanoudaki ‘s research examines language in monolingual and bilingual speakers, focusing on children with developmental conditions such as Down syndrome. She collaborates with the Down's syndrome Association and other external partners on projects studying language and cognitive skills in typical and atypical development. She has published extensively in this field.

She pioneered research on language development in neurodiverse Welsh-English bilingual children, and has attracted UKRI funding for projects in this field.

She is Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy, Director of Postgraduate Research and Director of Welsh Language Matters in the School of Arts, Culture and Language. She also leads the Linguistics and Bilingualism Pathway for the ESRC Welsh Graduate School for the Social Sciences (WGSSS).

Eirini is passionate about bilingualism, and about encouraging the learning and use of Welsh. In 2021, she won a national  award for the use of Welsh in the workplace.

Eirini is also the head of the Bangor University Child Bilingualism Lab.

2021-2025 ESRC Wales DTP doctoral grant (Principal supervisor)

Project: ‘Language Development  in Welsh-English bilingual children with  Down syndrome and autism’

Collaboration with Down's Syndrome Association

Postgraduate Researcher (PhD Bilingualism) 

2018 ESRC/Wales DTP small grant: Collaboration (CoI and PhD Supervisor).

Public engagement project: ‘Bilingualism in children with Down syndrome: workshops for families’

Collaboration with Down's Syndrome Association

PI: Rebecca Ward

2017 ESRC Impact Acceleration Account Major Award: PhD Student Community Outreach Fellowship. (PI and Project Lead).

Project: ‘Childhood Bilingualism in Complementary Schools.’

Fellow: Athanasia Papastergiou

2016 Welsh Crucible grant. (CoI and Bangor Lead).  Duration 9 months

Project: ‘Humour in Welsh-English Bilinguals’

PI Gil Greengross (Aberystwyth), CoI Manon Jones (School of Psychology, Bangor).

2016-2019 ESRC Wales DTP doctoral grant (Principal supervisor)

Second supervisor: Enlli Thomas.

Project: ‘Profiling language abilities in Welsh-English bilinguals with Down syndrome’

Postgraduate Researcher (PhD Bilingualism): Rebecca Ward  

2009-2010 Postdoctoral research grant, Greek State Scholarship Foundation (IKY)

Project: ‘The acquisition of pronominal reference in Greek-speaking children with Down  syndrome’.

Advisor: Spyridoula Varlokosta

PhD Supervision

Charlotte Cooper. Investigating the Language Learning Experiences of People with Multiple Neurodivergent Conditions. PhD ESRC studentship in Bilingualism. Start date October 2024.

Jazmine Beauchamp. Consonant Development in typically developing Welsh-English bilingual children. PhD ESRC studentship in Bilingualism. Start date October 2023.

Laura Maguire. Neurogenerative Models of Alzheimer's Disease in Bilinguals. MA+PhD ESRC studentship in Bilingualism.  Start date October 2022.

Maryam Awawdeh. Reading skills of Arabic-English bilingual children with developmental language disorder (DLD).  PhD ESRC studentship in Bilingualism. Start date October 2022.

Gareth Caulfield. Immersion Education and Bilingualism: Exploring Perceptions, Expectations and Effective Delivery. PhD ESRC studentship in Bilingualism. Start date October 2022.

Jago Williams. Bilingual development in children with a dual diagnosis of ASD and Down syndrome. MA+PhD ESRC studentship in Bilingualism. Start date September 2021.

Bethan Collins. Cognitive and Linguistic Skills in Emergent Bilingual Primary School Children in Wales. PhD ESRC studentship in Bilingualism. Start date September 2021.

Rebecca Day. Bilingualism in Rett syndrome. MA+PhD ESRC studentship in Bilingualism. Start date September 2019

Felicity Parry. Teachers' attitudes and experiences of the speech and language disorder identification process in bilingual pupils. PhD Bilingualism. Start date January 2020.

Athanasia Papastergiou. Language and Executive Functioning Skills in Greek-English Bilingual Children in the UK. ESRC funded PhD in Bilingualism. Completed 2021.

Rebecca Ward. Profiling language abilities in Welsh-English bilinguals with Down syndrome. ESRC funded PhD in Bilingualism. Completed 2020.

Maram Alamri. The acquisition of spatial relations by Arabic learners of English. Completed 2020.

Wesam Almehmadi. Pragmatic features in adolescents with Autism. Completed 2019.

Teaching

Eirini teaches advanced modules on language development and neurodevelopmental conditions, bilingualism, and research methods. She has also taught modules across many other areas of linguistics.

• QXL3316/4416 Language Disorders and Bilingualism
• QXL3317/4417 Child Language Acquisition
• QXL4432 Linguistic Research Methods
• PPP4008 Methods in Language and Bilingualism
• QXL4400 MA/MSc Dissertation
• QXL2204 Morphosyntax

Email: e.sanoudaki@bangor.ac.uk