Research
My research interests and experience lie mainly in the acquisition of Spanish morphosyntax among child bilinguals, L2 learners and heritage speakers as well as the attrition of previously acquired structures. Working with all of these populations is imperative in order to understand the nature of the acquisition of morphosyntax and the factors that influence it, including age, the presence of another language, the complexity of the structure and the frequency of the structure. My work also focuses on the application of these findings to pedagogical solutions for heritage speakers and L2 learners.
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Specific research interests are outlined below:
Heritage Speakers
- Incomplete acquisition vs. child L1 attrition
- Transfer
- The role of input
- The role of family language practices and attitudes
- Informing pedagogical and testing development
- Development of methodology for research with heritage speakers
L2 learners
- Effect of task-type
- Processing Difficulties
- Age of onset of acquisition
- Similarities and differences to heritage speakers
- Where and how transfer occurs
- Teaching morphosyntax
L1 Attrition
- Types of structures attrited
- The role of transfer
- Similarities to L2 learners and heritage speakers
- Age of onset of acquisition of the L2
- relative influence of 2nd, 3rd, Nth languages
​Educational Services
- Assessment & Evaluation
- Development of bilingualism in all four skills
- Developing appreciation of the minority language and culture
- Fomenting awareness of linguistic research in the community
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