Linguistics and English Language
The common thread of my research is an interest in the developmental, synchronic, and experimental aspects of variation in language. My research has focused on three areas:
(a) BILINGUAL LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT. I have worked extensively on the development of syntactic knowledge in adult L2 acquisition, and particularly on the characteristics of the 'final state' that is attainable by adults who are near-native speakers of a second language. I was the first to suggest a distinction between 'divergent' and 'incomplete' ultimate attainment, terms that have been subsequently elaborated by several researchers in the field. My more recent work is concerned with a specific feature of final-state L2 grammars, namely optionality, which is selectively found at the interface(s) between syntax and other cognitive domains. I am attempting to investigate the processing abilities of second language speakers and to determine whether at least some of observed phenomena can be attribute to insufficient resources to coordinate knowledge domains. I have compared the manifestations and consequences of optionality in L2 acquisition and in other domains of language development (e.g. first language development, language attrition and diachronic language change), trying to discover patterns of convergence. In recent work I used neuroimaging techniques in order to determine the pattern of cortical activation in each of the near-native bilingual's languages in response to different types of language anomaly, and to compare the bilingual pattern of cortical activation in near-native speakers with that of monolingual native speakers.
My developmental research investigates the changes that take place in the native language competence of speakers who have been exposed to a second language for a long time (L1 attrition). I have carried out research on syntactic attrition that may ultimately shed light on the reciprocal effects of one language on another in the bilingual's linguistic competence, and eliminate the commonly held assumption that the learner's native language is not significantly affected by learning another.
Another developmental domain I have focused on is bilingual first language acquisition. The questions I have addressed concern the extent to which the two simultaneously acquired systems influence each other, whether such influence is selectively found in particular areas of syntactic competence, and why interfaces are privileged 'leakage' points between grammars. I have been working on bilinguals acquiring different pairs of languages, with varying degrees of typological similarity, to determine the importance of cross-linguistic influence in bilingual development. Together with Ludovica Serratrice of the University of Manchester, I have recently completed an ESRC-funded project on "The syntax-pragmatics interface in bilingual first language acquisition".
Most recently I have started a project on the effects of bilingualism in non-linguistic cognitive domains, using standard experimental psychology techniques. In a project with Sergio Della Sala, I have explored the phenomenon of negative priming in speakers who were bilingual from birth.
(b) GRADIENCE, LINGUISTIC INTUITIONS AND GRAMMATICALITY JUDGMENTS. For several years I have been interested in the experimental measurement and quantification of linguistic competence. My dissertation was the first attempt to apply magnitude estimation techniques (originally developed in psychophysics) to judgments of linguistic acceptability. My subsequent work on magnitude estimation paradigms for the elicitation of grammaticality judgments has focused on the phenomenon of gradience in natural language, which I have explored with Frank Keller. This work has had ramifications both in the methodological domain (as witnessed by the increasing number of applications of magnitude estimation in different areas of linguistic research) and in the theoretical linguistic domain (e.g. computational models of gradience in language).
(c) CONSTRAINTS ON SYNTACTIC VARIATION. In a series of studies on split intransitivity (especially auxiliary selection) I have collected a wide range of data from different languages (Dutch, French, German, Italian, Japanese, and Paduan) indicating the existence of systematic lexical effects on the syntax of auxiliary selection and on some of the other manifestations of split intransitivity. My work has had an impact on linguistic typology (in the form of more descriptions of split intransitivity in a variety of languages), general linguistic theories of the lexicon-syntax interface, theories of diachronic change (especially in Romance linguistics), and developmental theories of argument structure, particularly in L2 acquisition. I have investigated the processing of auxiliary selection (with Ellen Bard and Cheryl Frenck-Mestre) and I am involved in a joint project with Ina Bornkessel-Schlesewsky (Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Science) on the electrophysiological correlates of auxiliary selection in German. I have been working on a theoretical account of variation at the lexicon-syntax interface within a formal model of grammar. I am currently on a British Academy Research Leave Fellowship that will allow me to write a monograph on this topic
Together with my colleague Caroline Heycock I have recently begun a AHRC-funded 3-year project investigating variation and change in the syntax of Faroese, which explores word order variation experimentally in both adult and child Faroese speakers.
I am committed to disseminating the findings of research on bilingualism among bilingual families, schools, and policy makers. I believe that bilingualism provides much more than knowledge of two languages, and there is still too much disinformation about the advantages of growing up bilingual.
I am a member of the Developmental Linguistics Group and, more generally, of the thriving language research community at Edinburgh. More information on the activities of the Developmental Linguistics Group can be found here; information on language research in Edinburgh can be found here.