Research:
On-going projects
Cross-Linguistic Influence:
Can a prolonged exposure to an L2 restructure one’s less dominant L1? Through eye-tracking and brain-imaging techniques (e.g. normal reading, event-related potentials, eye-fixation related potentials), I'm currently investigating how the progressive mastery of an L2 may eventually change processing in the L1. I am also examining to what extent different language-background variables (e.g. age of acquisition, exposure to the L2 and proficiency) may exert an influence on any effect that the L2 has on the L1.
Vocabulary Acquisition:
As a Graduate Research Assistant for Dr. Patrick Bolger and Dr. Gabriela Zapata, I’m involved in the study of the different variables that affect the acquisition of vocabulary by beginning Spanish L2 learners. This study investigates the effectiveness of different methods of vocabulary presentation; specifically, whether the presentation of vocabulary grouped by semantic fields as it is traditionally found in text books facilitates or hinders vocabulary acquisition.
Past projects
Language Processing of Regular vs. Exception Words:
As a graduate student, I was a research assistant under the supervision of Dr. Jacqueline Cummine at the department of Speech Pathology and Audiology at the University of Alberta. The purpose of this project was to use functional neuroimaging (fMRI) techniques to study how the varied proportion of regular and exception words affected the overall contribution of the dorsal and ventral processing streams.
Culture and Language Development:
As an undergraduate at the University of Washington, I worked as a Research Assistant for Dr. Nairán Ramírez Esparza at the Institute for Learning and Brain Sciences (Patricia Kuhl’s lab). The purpose of this project was to understand how language and culture influenced personality and behavior; in particular, how the language that English-Spanish bilingual families used in their daily lives influenced the linguistic development of their infants.
Other research interests
Bilingual education, Cognitive (Construction) Grammar, Corpus Linguistics, Cultural Psychology, L2 end state, language-background variables, neural networks, typical and atypical bilingual language development in children, usage-based approaches to language.
Cross-Linguistic Influence:
Can a prolonged exposure to an L2 restructure one’s less dominant L1? Through eye-tracking and brain-imaging techniques (e.g. normal reading, event-related potentials, eye-fixation related potentials), I'm currently investigating how the progressive mastery of an L2 may eventually change processing in the L1. I am also examining to what extent different language-background variables (e.g. age of acquisition, exposure to the L2 and proficiency) may exert an influence on any effect that the L2 has on the L1.
Vocabulary Acquisition:
As a Graduate Research Assistant for Dr. Patrick Bolger and Dr. Gabriela Zapata, I’m involved in the study of the different variables that affect the acquisition of vocabulary by beginning Spanish L2 learners. This study investigates the effectiveness of different methods of vocabulary presentation; specifically, whether the presentation of vocabulary grouped by semantic fields as it is traditionally found in text books facilitates or hinders vocabulary acquisition.
Past projects
Language Processing of Regular vs. Exception Words:
As a graduate student, I was a research assistant under the supervision of Dr. Jacqueline Cummine at the department of Speech Pathology and Audiology at the University of Alberta. The purpose of this project was to use functional neuroimaging (fMRI) techniques to study how the varied proportion of regular and exception words affected the overall contribution of the dorsal and ventral processing streams.
Culture and Language Development:
As an undergraduate at the University of Washington, I worked as a Research Assistant for Dr. Nairán Ramírez Esparza at the Institute for Learning and Brain Sciences (Patricia Kuhl’s lab). The purpose of this project was to understand how language and culture influenced personality and behavior; in particular, how the language that English-Spanish bilingual families used in their daily lives influenced the linguistic development of their infants.
Other research interests
Bilingual education, Cognitive (Construction) Grammar, Corpus Linguistics, Cultural Psychology, L2 end state, language-background variables, neural networks, typical and atypical bilingual language development in children, usage-based approaches to language.