Interests

My research focuses on adult second language acquisition of syntax and argument structure. My dissertation, advised by Dr. Rex Sprouse at Indiana University, examines the acquisition of the dative alternation in English among adult language learners and uses an innovative experimental design to illuminate patterns in learner data that are initially hidden by differences in the ways that learners' lexicons categorize verbs. On the theoretical front I am developing a model of lexical-conceptual construal, which seeks to account for the ways that the L2 lexicon can "squeeze" the syntax of newly acquired verbs into old syntactic patterns. I am interested in the role of universals in the acquisition of the open class lexicon, and in finding cross-currents and empirical avenues between general syntax and L2 acquisition literature.

I also have an interest in L3 research. Recently at the Second Language Research Forum (2020), I helped present new research on the L3 acquisition of participle agreement in Italian with my colleagues in the L3 Syntax Lab at Indiana University.