Sophie Booton is a research officer working on the LiFT project.

The Learning for Families through Technology (LiFT) project is a collaboration between Ferrero international and three research groups in the Department of Education: Applied Linguistics, Learning and New Technologies, and Families, Effective Learning, and Literacy. The project aims to examine key questions about children’s learning with technology, with a focus on language and literacy skills.

Within the project, Sophie is investigating vocabulary development in children with and without English as an Additional Language. Sophie’s research interests lie in children’s cognitive and emotional development, particularly in in how areas of development interact to affect children’s learning and well-being.

Before joining the Department of Education, Sophie studied for her PhD in Psychology at the University of Sheffield. Her doctoral research in collaboration with Dr Daniel Carroll focused on the impact of emotional states on children’s self-control. Prior to her PhD, Sophie gained a MEd on the Mind, Brain and Education programme at Harvard Graduate School of Education, and a BA in Experimental Psychology from the University of Oxford.

Research

Journal articles
  • Booton, S., Kolancali, P., & Murphy, V. (2023). Touchscreen apps for child creativity: an evaluation of creativity apps designed for young children. Computers & Education, 201. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compedu.2023.104811
    https://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:e0039290-cb03-4749-a2c2-2cae7924d48c

  • Booton, S., Hoicka, E., O’Grady, A., Chan, H., & Murphy, V. (2021). Children’s divergent thinking and bilingualism. Thinking Skills and Creativity, 41. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tsc.2021.100918
    https://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:966b80db-07db-4636-a50f-b081fca7de19

  • Booton, S., Hodgkiss, A., & Murphy, V. (2021). The impact of mobile application features on children’s language and literacy learning: a systematic review. Computer Assisted Language Learning, 36(3), 400-429. https://doi.org/10.1080/09588221.2021.1930057
    https://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:84ac0311-e6e1-405a-a07b-4c6015c4f2b9

  • Booton, S., Wonnacott, E., Hodgkiss, A., Mathers, S., & Murphy, V. (2021). Children’s knowledge of multiple word meanings: which factors count and for whom?. Applied Linguistics, 43(2), 293-315. https://doi.org/10.1093/applin/amab028
    https://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:8998a368-ce23-4c09-ad2d-e0f72832adcc

  • Booton, S., Hodgkiss, A., Mathers, S., & Murphy, V. (2021). Measuring knowledge of multiple word meanings in children with English as a first and an additional language, and the relationship to reading comprehension. Journal of Child Language, 49(1), 164-196. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0305000921000052
    https://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:598346ca-06b4-4cd8-8aac-33b4fcbdd42e