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2025
Co-director of the ACLC Research Group “Multimodal and Embodied Language Development” (MELD), University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands (in collaboration with Dr. Ileana Grama, UvA)
2024
Confidential Advisor training, Merlijn Group / SKV Certification
2023
Professionele Ontwikkeling voor UDs [POU], University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands
2020
Certificate in Basic Teaching Qualification [Basiskwalificatie Onderwijs, BKO], University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands
2010 – 2015
Ph.D. in Linguistics, International Max Planck Research School (Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics) & Radboud University, Department of Linguistics (Centre for Language Studies), Nijmegen / The Netherlands
Acquisition of spatial language by signing and speaking children: A comparison of Turkish Sign Language [Türk İşaret Dili, TİD] and Turkish
Supervisors: Prof. Aslı Özyürek (Radboud University & Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics / The Netherlands), Prof. Pamela Perniss (University of Cologne / Germany), and Dr Inge Zwitserlood (Radboud University / The Netherlands)
2012 – 2015
M.A. in Applied Linguistics, Boğaziçi University, Department of Foreign Language Education, Faculty of Education (Major GPA 3.88 on a 4-point scale), İstanbul / Turkey
Scene-setting and referent introduction in Turkish Sign Language [Türk İşaret Dili, TİD] and Turkish: What does modality tell us?
Supervisor: Prof. Belma Haznedar (Boğaziçi University / Turkey)
1999 – 2004
B.A. in Teaching English as a Second Language, Boğaziçi University, Department of Foreign Language Education, Faculty of Education (with High Honours), İstanbul / Turkey
Assistant professor, 2021 – present
Department of Linguistics, University of Amsterdam / The Netherlands
Lecturer, 2018 – 2021
Department of Linguistics, University of Amsterdam / The Netherlands
Postdoctoral researcher, 2015 – 2020
Multimodal Language Department, Max Plank Institute for Psycholinguistics, Nijmegen / The Netherlands
TUBITAK research fellow, 2015 – 2017
Language and Communication Development Lab, Department of Psychology, Koç University, İstanbul / Turkey
Doctoral Dissertation:
2024 – present
Louise Bony, CNRS, Universite Paris 8, France
Co-supervising with Prof. Marie-Anne Sallandre (Universite Paris 8)
“Effects of late sign language input on the expression of motion events by Deaf children acquiring French Sign Language (LSF)”
2023 – present
Jos Ritmeester, University of Amstredam & Auris, The Netherlands.
Co-supervising with Prof. Floris Roelofsen (University of Amsterdam
“Digital support for parents of deaf children learning Dutch Sign Language (NGT)”
2023 – present
Hasan Dikyuva, University of Amsterdam & International Max Planck Research School (Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics) / The Netherlands
Co-supervising with Prof. Aslı Özyürek (Multimodal Language Department / Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics) & Dr. Roland Pfau (University of Amsterdam), The Netherlands.
“The Production of Negation Forms in Turkish Sign Language: A Corpus-Based Analysis”
2015 – 2021
Dilay Karadöller Astarlıoğlu, International Max Planck Research School (Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics) & Department of Linguistics (Centre for Language Studies), Radboud University / The Netherlands
Co-supervised with Prof Aslı Özyürek (Radboud University, The Netherlands) and Dr Ercenur Ünal (Özyeğin University, Turkey)
“Effect of linguistic experience and iconicity on memory for expressing spatial relations: Evidence from native and non-native signing children and adults”
2015 – 2019
Cansu Gür, Department of Linguistics, University, Erzurum / Turkey
“Effects of late language exposure on the development of narrative skills: Insights from Turkish Sign Language (TİD)”
Master’s Thesis (MA & rMA):
2024
“A Systematic Review of Music Therapy’s Role in Improving Speech Fluency in Individuals who Stutter”
“The efficacy of using abstract items in treating naming deficits in persons with aphasia: a systematic literature review”
“Parental perspectives versus objective measures: understanding language abilities in children with Developmental Language Disorder”
2023
“Homesign systems and the innateness hypothesis”
“Gesture perception and Identity”
“Acquiring NGT signs by deaf refugee children in the Netherlands”
“Interaction patterns in Dutch child directed language: A corpus-based approach”
“Lexical sign production by signers with aphasia”
2018
“Revisiting patterns of handshape in the acquisition of classifier constructions in Turkish Sign Language (TİD”
2025
Pre-finalist of Amsterdam Science and Innovation Awards (AmSIA) in the category of Society
2024
Recognition award for Societal Impact by Amsterdam Young Academy (AYA) (2,000 Euros)
2021-2022
CLARIAH Teaching Fellowship, proposal to develop a digital platform for the improved use of ELAN (transcription tool for visual data) in class (20,000 Euros)
2018
National Media Prize for “Development of the first research-based cartoon series for the Deaf children in Turkey”, by Accessible Information Technologies Society, İstanbul / Turkey
2015-2017
Postdoctoral Research Grant, Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions, Co-funded Brain Circulation Scheme, The Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey, Koç University, İstanbul / Turkey (115,000 Euros)
2012
Finalist, Best Talk Award, 11th Theoretical Issues in Sign Language Research Conference (TISLR), London / The United Kingdom
2012
Paula Menyuk Travel Award, Boston University Conference on Language Development (BUCLD 36), The USA
Sümer, B. (May, 2026). Spatial language and spatial cognition in signed language and gesture. Workshop on Spatial Cognition and Spatial Communication in Ageing (https://www.istc.cnr.it/en/media/events/conferences-workshops/workshop-spatial-cognition-and-spatial-communication-ageing), Rome, Italy.
Sümer, B. (2025). Multimodal Pathways to Language: The Role of Gesture and Sign in Early Language Development. Webinar on Kind, Taal, en Gehoor. Vrij Universiteit, The Netherlands.
Sümer, B. (2024). Emergence of Negation in a Turkish Homesign System: Insights from the Family Context. Turkish in Contact Workhop. Amsterdam / The Netherlands. Invited Talk.
Sümer, B. (2024). Relationship between language experience, language use and memory. Seminar on Sign Languages. Paris / France. Invited Talk.
Sümer, B. & Pfau, R. (2023). Manner and Path in Serial Verb Constructions. Serial Verbs Across Modalities Workshop. Paris / France. Invited Talk.
Sümer, B. (2021). Sign language in the brain. Brain Week, University of Amsterdam / The Netherlands.
Sümer, B. (2018). Different effects of iconicity in sign language acquisition. Nijmegen Gesture Centre, Radboud University / The Netherlands.
Sümer, B. (2018). Late language exposure influences spatial language development: Evidence from Turkish Sign Language (TİD). Grammar and Cognition Lab, University of Amsterdam / The Netherlands.
Sümer, B. (2018). Different effects of iconicity on sign language acquisition. Amsterdam Center for Language and Communication (ACLC), University of Amsterdam / The Netherlands.
Sümer, B. & Akkökler, B. (2018). When research turns into practice: A cartoon series in Turkish Sign Language. 18th International Congress on Accessible Information Technologies, İstanbul / Turkey.
Sümer, B. & Dikyuva, H. (2017). Language acquisition by deaf children and media applications. The 6th International Children’s Media Conference, İstanbul / Turkey.
Sümer, B. & Özyürek, A. (2016). What do our hands tell us about language, communication and cognition? Insights from deaf and hearing individuals. International Symposium on Brain and Cognitive Science (ISBCS 3), Yeditepe University, İstanbul / Turkey.
Sümer, B., Perniss, P. M., & Özyürek, A. (2015). The role of body in learning to express spatial relations: A comparison of spatial language development in sign, speech, and gesture. Laboratory for Developmental Studies (Spelke Lab), Harvard University, Boston / The USA.
Sümer, B., Zwitserlood, I., Perniss, P. M., & Özyürek, A. (2014). Modality in development of spatial expressions: A comparison of sign and speech. Centre for Sign Linguistics and Deaf Studies, The Chinese University of Hong Kong / Hong Kong.
Sümer, B., Zwitserlood, I., Perniss, P. M., & Özyürek, A. (2014). Do the hands have the upper hand? Learning to express space by deaf children acquiring sign language. Centre for Languages (CLS) Colloquium, Radboud University / The Netherlands.
Sümer, B., Zwitserlood, I., Perniss, P. M., & Özyürek, A. (2013). When the hands acquire language: Acquisition of Spatial Language in Turkish and Turkish Sign Language. Koç University, İstanbul / Turkey.
Sümer, B., Zwitserlood, I., Perniss, P. M., & Özyürek, A. (2012). Effects of modality in acquisition of spatial language by Deaf and hearing children. Talk presented at IMPRS Evaluation Event, Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics / The Netherlands.
Sümer, B., Zwitserlood, I., Perniss, P. M., & Özyürek, A. (2011). Development of locative expressions by Deaf and hearing Turkish children: Are there modality effects? Experimental Linguistics Talks Utrecht (ELiTU), Utrecht University / The Netherlands.
Sümer, B. (2008). The effect of total quality management on the lives of the deaf children. 11th International Convention on Students’ İmece Circles”, İstanbul / Turkey.
Sümer, B. & Sallandre, M.A. (2025). Bridging Gaps in Deaf Education: The Role of Sign Language Acquisition Research. Symposium to at the 24th International Conference on the Education of the Deaf (ICED), Rome / Italy.
Sümer, B. (2025). Assessing early vocabulary development in late signing Deaf children. Talk presented at the 24th International Conference on the Education of the Deaf (ICED), Rome / Italy.
Schiefner, A., Roelofsen, F., & Sümer, B. (2025). Iconic or transparent? On the relationship between iconicity and transparency in Sign Language of the Netherlands. Talk presented at 10th Conference of the International Society for Gesture Studies, Nijmegen / The Netherlands.
Dikyuva, H., Pfau, R., Sümer, B., & Özyürek, A. (2025). The Interplay of Manual and Non-Manual Markers of Negation in Turkish Sign Language (TİD): A Corpus-Based Analysis. Talk presented at Multimodal Negation Workshop, Nijmegen / The Netherlands.
Dikyuva, H., Pfau, R., Sümer, B., & Özyürek, A. (2025). Negation in Turkish Sign Language: A Corpus-Based Analysis of Manual and Nonmanual Markers. Talk presented at MEDAL Final Conference, Tartu / Estonia.
Ritmeester, J., Sümer, B., Boonstra, M., de Meulder, M., van der Aa, B., & Roelofsen, F. (2025). User Perspectives on ZINinNGT: A Mobile App to Support Parents of Deaf Children in Learning Dutch Sign Language. Talk presented at the 24th International Conference on the Education of the Deaf (ICED), Rome / Italy.
Kan, U., Gökgöz, K., Sümer , B. & Özyürek, A. (2025). The Role of Input on Emergence of Negation in Turkish Homesign: A Case Study. Poster presented at 10th Conference of the International Society for Gesture Studies, Nijmegen / The Netherlands.
Asithianakis, O. & Sümer, B. (2024). The gestural other: Accentedness, gesture use and the perception of identity. Talk presented at International Congress of Linguists. Poznan / Poland.
Sümer, B. & Pfau, R. (2024). Complex motion predicates in Turkish Sign Language: a developmental perspective. Talk presented at Societas Linguistica Europaea. Helsinki / Finland.
Vachaudez, S., Pfau, R., & Sümer, B. (2024). Thoughts vs. actions: Particle choice in Adamorobe Sign Language negation. Talk presented at the 21st International Congress of Linguists (ICL). Poznań / Poland.
Vachaudez, S., Sümer, B. & Pfau, R. (2024). Thoughts vs. actions: Particle choice in Adamorobe Sign Language negation. Poster presented at Formal and Experimental Advances in Sign Language Theory conference (FEAST). Michigan / The USA.
Clough, S., Sümer, B., de Laat, K., Tanguay, A. F. N., Brown-Schmidt, S., Duff, M C.., & Özyürek, A. (2024). Recent and remote memory for spatial narratives in individuals with Alzheimer’s disease and healthy older adults: A multimodal perspective. Poster presented at Dubrovnik Conference on Cognitive Science. Dubrovnik / Crotia
Clough, S., Sümer, B., De Laat, K., Tanguay, A., Brown-Schmidt, S., Duff, M. C., et al. (2024). Spatial narratives from remote and recent memory in individuals with Alzheimer’s disease and healthy older adults: A multimodal and kinematic perspective. Poster presented at the 2nd International Multimodal Communication Symposium (MMSYM 2024), Frankfurt / Germany.
Dikyuva, H., Pfau, R., Sümer, B., & Özyürek, A. (2024). Negation markers in Turkish Sign Language (TID). Poster presented at the MEDAL Summer School in Experimental Linguistics 2024, Nijmegen / The Netherlands.
Karadöller, D. Z., Ünal, E., Sümer, B., Göksun, T., Özer, D., & Özyürek, A. (2023). Children express more information multimodally when describing Left-Right relations. Talk to be presented at the 52nd Annual Meeting of the Jean Piaget Society, Madrid / Spain.
Karadöller, D. Z., Kırbaşoğlu, K., Sümer, B, & Ünal, E. (2023). Children use gestures to increase the informativeness of their spatial expressions depending on the complexity of spatial relations. Talk presented at the 1st International Multimodal Communication Symposium (MMSYM 2023). Barcelona / Spain.
Karadöller, D. Z., Kırbaşoğlu, K., Sümer, B., & Ünal, E. (2023, April). Children use gestures to increase the informativeness of their spatial expressions depending on the complexity of spatial relations. Talk to be presented at the 1st International Multimodal Communication Symposium, Barcelona / Spain.
Sümer, B. (2022). ELANport: Web-based training for ELAN. Poster presented at CLARIAH & NDE Annual Conference, Utrecht / The Netherlands.
Sümer, B. & Özyürek, A. (2022). Action bias in describing object locations by signing children. Talk presented at SignCafe2, Ragusa / Italy.
Sümer, B. & Özyürek, A. (2022). Language use in deaf children with early-signing versus late-signing deaf parents. Talk presented at the International Conference on Sign Language Acquisition (ICSLA 4), online.
Sümer, B, Schoon, V., & Özyürek, A. (2022). Child-directed spatial language input in sign language: Modality specific and general patterns. Invited poster presented at TOK DAG, Nijmegen / The Netherlands.
Kan, U., Gökgöz, K., Sümer, B., Tamyürek, E., & Özyürek, A. (2022). Emergence of negation in a Turkish homesign system: Insights from the family context. Talk presented at the Joint Conference on Language Evolution (JCoLE). Kanazawa / Japan.
Karadöller, D. Z., Sümer, B., Ünal, E., & Özyürek, A. (2022). Relationship between spatial language experience and spatial memory: Evidence from deaf children with late sign language exposure. Talk presented at the International Conference on Sign Language Acquisition (ICSLA 4), online.
Karadöller, D. Z., Sümer, B., Ünal, E., & Özyürek, A. (2022). Geç işaret dilini ediniminin uzamsal dil ve bellek ilişkisine etkileri [Effect of late sign language acquisition on the relationship between spatial language and memory]. Talk presented at 3. Gelişim Psikolojisi Sempozyumu [3rd Symposium on Developmental Psychology]. Istanbul / Turkey.
Ünal, E., Kırbaşoğlu, K., Karadöller, D. Z., Sümer, B., & Özyürek, A. (2022). Children’s multimodal spatial expressions vary across the complexity of relations. Poster presented at the 8th International Symposium on Brain and Cognitive Science, online.
Kırbaşoğlu, K., Ünal, E., Karadöller, D. Z., Sümer, B., & Özyürek, A. (2022). Konuşma ve jestlerde uzamsal ifadelerin gelişimi [Development of spatial expressions on speech and gesture]. Poster presented at 3. Gelişim Psikolojisi Sempozyumu [3rd Symposium on Developmental Psychology], Istanbul / Turkey.
Karadöller, D. Z., Sümer, B., Ünal, E. & Özyürek, A. (2021). Spatial Language Use Predicts Spatial Memory of Children: Evidence from Sign, Speech, and Speech-plus-gesture. Talk accepted to the 43th Annual Conference of the Cognitive Science Society, Vienna / Austria.
Karadöller, D. Z., Sümer, B., Ünal, E., & Özyürek, A. (2020). Sign advantage for children: Signing children’s spatial expressions are more informative than speaking children’s speech and gestures combined. Talk presented at the 45th Annual Boston University (Virtual) Conference on Language Development (BUCLD 45). Boston / The USA.
Sümer, B, Schoon, V., & Özyürek, A. (2019). Child-directed spatial language input in sign language: Modality specific and general patterns. Poster presented at the 13th conference of Theoretical Issues in Sign Language Research (TISLR 13), Hamburg / Germany.
Karadöller, D. Z., Ünal, E., Sümer, B., Göksun, T., Özer, D., & Özyürek, A. (2019). Children but not adults use both speech and gesture to produce informative expressions of Left-Right relations. Poster presented at the 44th Annual Boston University Conference on Language Development (BUCLD 44), Boston / The USA.
2025 – present
Co-director of the ACLC Research Group “Multimodal and Embodied Language Development” (MELD), University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands (in collaboration with Dr. Ileana Grama, University of Amsterdam / The Netherlands
Associate editor, Applied Psycholinguistics.
2024 – present
Confidential Advisor, Faculty of Humanities, University of Amsterdam / The Netherlands
2021 – present
Chair of the Program Committee, Linguistics programme, University of Amsterdam / The Netherlands
2020 – 2021
Member of the Program Committee, Linguistics programme, University of Amsterdam / The Netherlands
2020 – present
Tutor, Linguistics, University of Amsterdam / The Netherlands
2018 – present
Tutor, Sign Language Linguistics program, University of Amsterdam / The Netherlands
2018 – present
Editorial board member, Psychology and Behavioral Sciences
2017 – present
Section editor, Sign Linguistics, Open Linguistics
2017 – present
Ad-hoc reviewer for Language, First Language, Language Dynamics and Change, Open Linguistics, Proceedings for the Annual Meeting of Cognitive Science Society, Dutch Journal of Applied Linguistics, Poznan Studies
2026
2025
2021– present
2017 – 2018
2013 – present
2018
2015