Laura Gil (PhD, Hispanic Linguistics) Awarded 2020 Language Learning Dissertation Grant

Laura Gil (PhD, Hispanic Linguistics) has been selected as one of the recipients of a 2020 Language Learning Dissertation Grant. This grant is designed to facilitate the research efforts of doctoral candidates in the language sciences. Laura’s dissertation investigates the effects of immersion on lexical (word) processing in adult second language (L2) learners. Specifically, it examines whether a bilingual’s second (and presumably weaker) language can affect their native or first language after extended periods abroad. To do so, she will compare the responses of L2 learners and monolingual speakers of English and Spanish in the United States and Argentina by means of three psycholinguistic tasks. In addition, Laura will examine how cross-language interference can be modulated by other factors, including amount and frequency of linguistic exposure, place and length of residence and individual differences in executive function.  Laura will spend the Spring semester 2020 in Argentina collecting data for her dissertation.