Kehui Zhang is a Visiting Assistant Professor of Practice in Psychology at NYU Shanghai. She holds PhD, MS and MA degrees from the University of Michigan – Ann Arbor, and a BS degree from the Pennsylvania State University.
Kehui is broadly interested in human language and literacy acquisition. Her research aims to explore the universal and language-specific skills that children need to learn languages across different cultures and investigates how bilingualism influence language and literacy development. Additionally, she is also interested in understanding the mechanisms behind reading disabilities, such as dyslexia, and effective interventions to support language learning in children. Kehui’s research incorporates both behavioral and brain imaging techniques, such as functional Near-Infrared Spectroscopy (fNIRS) to unravel the neuro-cognitive processes involved in reading acquisition.
Select Publications
Zhang, K.H, Sun, X., Yu, C.L., Kovelman I., Cross-linguistic transfer in bilingual children’s phonological and morphological awareness skills - A longitudinal perspective. (2024). Bilingualism Language and Cognition. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1366728924000439
Kou J.W., Fan, L.Y., Chen, H.C., Chen, S.Y., Hu, X.S., Zhang, K.H., Kovelman, I., Chou, T.L., Neural substrates of L2-L1 transfer effect on phonological awareness in young Chinese-English bilingual children. (2024) Neuroimage. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuroimage.2024.120592
Zhang, K.H, Sun, X., Yu, C. L., Eggleston, R., Marks, R., Nickerson, N., Chou, T.L., Hu, X.S., Booth, J., Tardif, T., Satterfield, T., & Kovelman, I. (2023). Phonological and morphological literacy skills in English and Chinese: A cross- linguistic neuroimaging comparison of Chinese-English bilingual and monolingual English children”. Human Brain Mapping. http://doi.org/10.1002/hbm.26419
Sun, X., Zhang, K.H, Marks, R. A., Nickerson N., Eggleston, R., Yu, C-L., Chou, T-L., Tardif, T., Kovelman, I., (2022). What’s in a word? Cross-linguistic influences on Spanish-English and Chinese-English bilingual children’s word reading development. Child Development. https://doi.org/10.1111/cdev.13666
Zhang, K.H, Eggleston., R.L., Kovelman I. (2022). Brain imaging methods and bilingual readers and writers. The Routledge Handbook of International Research on Writing. https//doi:10.4324/9780429437991-46
Sun, X., Marks, R., Zhang, K.H., Yu, C. L., Eggleston, R., Nickerson, N., Chou, T.L., Hu, X.S., Tardif, T., Satterfield, T., & Kovelman, I. (2022). Brain bases of English morphological processing: A comparison between Chinese-English, Spanish-English bilingual, and English monolingual children. Developmental Science. https://doi.org/10.1111/desc.13251
- Marks, R. A., Eggleston, R., Sun, X., Yu, C. L., Zhang, K.H., Nickerson, N., Hu, X., & Kovelman, I. (2021). The neurobiological basis of morphological processing for typical and impaired readers. Annals of Dyslexia. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11881-021-00239-9
Education
PhD, Education and Psychology
University of Michigan – Ann ArborMS, Psychology
University of Michigan – Ann ArborMA, Education
University of Michigan – Ann Arbor
Research Interests
Bilingualism
Dyslexia
Language and literacy acquisition
Neuro-cognitive mechanism underlying language and reading
Courses Taught
Introduction to Psychology
Cognitive Psychology