My research interests lie primarily in L2 and bilingual phonology and syntax. In particular, I study the syntactic mechanisms that underlie the Spanish morphosyntactic system, and apply existing theories to explain the syntactic and phonological structural outcomes in both early and late bilinguals. Thus, my individual and collaborative studies examine variable syntactic phenomena in Asturian Spanish and in US Spanish, such as subject pronoun expression, clitic placement, and clitic climbing.
My research on bilingual and L2 phonology has examined the phonetic outcomes of bilingual pronunciation in relation to language dominance. This investigation informs of the permeability of native phonetic systems by examining the converged phonetic values of English and Spanish VOTs in code-switching contexts. Furthermore, the results of this inquiry supports previous findings stating that phonetic systems are unstable rather than fixed; and it also shows that late learners are capable of fine phonetic control of their second language. Most recently, I have undertaken a series of studies on the early and intermediate stages of the acquisition of the Spanish phonological system by adult L2 learners. Some of the main objectives of this study include the application, testing and eventual development of current theories of bilingual phonological acquisition, such as the Speech Learning Model, or the Perceptual Assimilation Model (L2-PAM), to the acquisition of L2 phonological systems by adults. This type of research has important pedagogical consequences as the results rendered by production and perception experiments may be immediately applied to the development of teaching materials.
My future projects include a series of studies that focus on the role that gender, power, and prestige have in the construction of individual and group identity. I have already conducted exploratory research in Asturian Spanish, and I plan to extend this investigation to other bilingual and contact areas in which Spanish is one of the languages of the community. In general, this area of my research is centered within a larger frame that explores, compares, and contrasts Spanish as a minority language (e.g. Spanish in the US) and as an official or “de facto” language (e.g. Spanish in Asturies).
My research on bilingual and L2 phonology has examined the phonetic outcomes of bilingual pronunciation in relation to language dominance. This investigation informs of the permeability of native phonetic systems by examining the converged phonetic values of English and Spanish VOTs in code-switching contexts. Furthermore, the results of this inquiry supports previous findings stating that phonetic systems are unstable rather than fixed; and it also shows that late learners are capable of fine phonetic control of their second language. Most recently, I have undertaken a series of studies on the early and intermediate stages of the acquisition of the Spanish phonological system by adult L2 learners. Some of the main objectives of this study include the application, testing and eventual development of current theories of bilingual phonological acquisition, such as the Speech Learning Model, or the Perceptual Assimilation Model (L2-PAM), to the acquisition of L2 phonological systems by adults. This type of research has important pedagogical consequences as the results rendered by production and perception experiments may be immediately applied to the development of teaching materials.
My future projects include a series of studies that focus on the role that gender, power, and prestige have in the construction of individual and group identity. I have already conducted exploratory research in Asturian Spanish, and I plan to extend this investigation to other bilingual and contact areas in which Spanish is one of the languages of the community. In general, this area of my research is centered within a larger frame that explores, compares, and contrasts Spanish as a minority language (e.g. Spanish in the US) and as an official or “de facto” language (e.g. Spanish in Asturies).