Deyonce Murdock

Undergraduate Student

I am a finalist reading Psychology & Linguistics (PPL) at Oxford. I am currently undertaking a research project supervised by Nicky Dawson and Kate Nation on how the benefits of shared reading for children's spoken vocabulary might be moderated by language ability. As a child, I was truly obsessed with reading - family members never had to think too hard about what to get me at Christmastime, as a good book (or three) would suit me just fine. My fondest memories from school were trading books with friends and discussing them when we next saw each other. One of my favourite things about reading is being introduced to words and turns of phrase I'd never encountered before. I believed back then (and still do) that vocabulary is the currency of reading, and it was only a matter of time before my love of words led me to a degree in linguistics.

My favourite word

My favourite word in the English language is gumption - largely because (for me, at least) it sounds exactly like what it is: 'shrewd or spirited initiative and resourcefulness; enterprise'. It's a trait that I also seek to have in everything I do.

My favourite childhood book

An impossible question, really. I've loved many books over the years, but the furthest back I can remember is Michael Morpurgo's The War of Jenkin's Ear. I found the writing so compelling and immersive that, needless to say, I had a very particular image of all boys' schools from then on!