Assistant Professor, Speech, Language and Hearing Sciences
Dr. Mesa is a bilingual scholar who specializes in studying the factors that impact the language and literacy skills of English-Spanish bilingual children in language contact environments as in the U.S. She investigates the role of home and school environments in shaping these skills over time and designs programs that promote bilingual children's foundational skills in both languages, which are essential for reading success, academic achievement, and cultural identity. She works with clinicians, professionals, and policymakers from different fields to support bilingual language and literacy development in children with and without language disorders or disabilities. Dr. Mesa is the director of the Bilingual Language Interaction for Social Success (BLISS) Laboratory and is particularly interested in advocating for Hispanic families’ language and communication. Through her research, she promotes the understanding and implementation of evidence-based practices and helps trainees in Speech-language Pathology and Education to build culturally responsive practices that enable them to serve bilingual children and their families successfully.
Newbury, D., Mesa, C., Puglisi, M., Nash, M., Nag, S., Hulme, C., Snowling, M. (2022). Challenges for Implementation in Diverse Settings: Reflections on two Randomized Controlled Trials of Educational Interventions in South American Communities. Research Papers in Education, 1-21. doi: 10.1080/02671522.2022.2065526
Yeomans-Maldonado, G., Mesa, C., & Language and Reading Research Consortium (2021). The Association of the Home Literacy Environment with the Oral Language of Spanish-English Bilingual Children. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 57(4), 271-284. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecresq.2021.07.001
Language and Reading Research Consortium, Mesa, C., & Yeomans-Maldonado, G.(2021). English and Spanish Predictors of Grade 3 Reading Comprehension in Bilingual Children. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 64(3), 889-908. https://doi.org/10.1044/2020_JSLHR-20-00379
Mesa, C., Newbury, D., Nash, M., Clarke, P., Esposito, R., Elliott, L., De Barbieri, Z., Fernández, M. A., Villanueva, P., Hulme, C., Snowling, M. (2020). The Effects of Reading and Language Intervention on Literacy Skills in Children in a Remote Community: An Exploratory Randomized Controlled Trial. International Journal of Educational Research, 100, 1-16. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijer.2020.101535
Mesa, C., & Restrepo, M. A. (2019). Effects of a Family Literacy Program for Latino Parents: Evidence from a Single-subject Design. Language, Speech, and Hearing Services in Schools, 50, 356-372. https://doi.org/10.1044/2018_LSHSS-18-0035
Language and Reading Research Consortium, Mesa, C., & Yeomans-Maldonado, G (2019). The Role of Pre-K Spanish in Predicting First Grade English. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 62, 1755 -1774. https://doi.org/10.1044/2019_JSLHR-L-17-0146
Language and Reading Research Consortium, Yeomans-Maldonado, G., Bengochea, A., & Mesa, C. (2018). The Dimensionality of Oral Language in Kindergarten Spanish– English Dual Language Learners. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 61, 2779- 2795. https://doi.org/10.1044/2018_JSLHR-L-17-0320
The College of Arts