Second Language Acquisition and Bilingualism Lab (SLAB)
G73 FLB
https://netfiles.uiuc.edu/montrul/www/slab/
Director: Silvina Montrul
Lab assistants for 2009-2010: Eunice Chung and Eunah Kim
Research Focus
The SLAB facility brings together faculty, graduate and undergraduate students interested in
experimental phonology, syntax, semantics and morphology, as well as those interested in
cognitive, linguistic and psycholinguistic aspects of second language acquisition and
bilingualism in children and adults.
Questions we pursue in this lab are
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how different structural aspects (morphology, syntax, semantics, pragmatics) of first and
second languages are represented in the minds of individuals
how speakers and hearers access and process different aspects of language when using
their first and second languages
how knowledge and processing change during the process of second language learning
and first language loss
Experimental Methods
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On-line and off-line grammaticality/acceptability judgment tasks
Oral and written elicitation tasks
Truth value judgment tasks
Cross-modal and visual primed lexical decision task
Cross-modal priming tasks
Picture naming tasks
Auditory and visual on-line sentence processing tasks
Eye-tracking
Reading tasks
Verbal report / think aloud tasks
Oral interaction tasks
Current and Upcoming Research Projects
Comparative Heritage Languages
Principal investigator: Silvina Montrul, co-principal investigators: Rakesh Bhatt and Roxana Girju. RA:
Kirsten Hope and Archna Bhatia
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Comparative study of differential object marking, dative case and clitics in Spanish, Hindi and Romanian
heritage speakers and fully fluent native speakers. Funded by the National Science Foundation (200913).
A Comparative Syntactic Description of 5 Arabic Dialects
Principal investigator: Elabbas Benmamoun
This project aims to provide a detailed parallel syntactic description of five Arabic varieties, representing
the main geographical regions of the Arab world from the Atlantic ocean in Africa to the Gulf in Asia. It
will collect data on a large number of syntactic constructions and patterns in a numner of varieties and
analyze them. The study will also aim to engage important issues in theoretical and comparative syntax
that arise in the context of studying closely related language varieties. Funded by the National Science
Foundation (2009-13).
Bilingual Past Project (stage 2)
Principal investigator: Silvina Montrul. Collaborator: Rebecca Foote, RAs: Justin Davidson, Israel de la
Fuente, Celester Larkin.
Systematic comparison of different aspects of Spanish morphology, syntax and semantics in adult
heritage speakers and proficiency-matched L2 learners of Spanish.
L1 Retention and L2 Acquisition in Two Adult Adoptees
Principal investigator: Silvina Montrul. Collaborators on phonology part of the project: Annie Tremblay
and Brad Dennison.
In depth investigation of knowledge of Spanish and English morphosyntax and phonology in two adult
Guatemalan sisters adopted by an American family in middle childhood.
Articles and Genericity in L2 Acquisition
Principal investigator: Tania Ionin, co-principal investigator: Silvina Montrul. Collaborator:
Collaborators: Mónica Crivos, Universidad CAECE Mar del Plata, Argentina; Ji-Hye Kim,
SungKyunKwan University; Vadim Philippov, Orel State University
Stage 1 (completed): Comparative and bidirectional study of the second language acquisition of articles
and genericity by Spanish-speaking and Korean-speaking learners of English, as well as by Englishspeaking learners of Spanish. Extension to heritage language speakers (tested in Spanish and English) and
comparison between heritage speakers and L2 learners of Spanish (See project # 1).
Stage 2 (in progress): Comparative study of the second language acquisition of articles and genericity by
Spanish-speaking, Korean-speaking, and Russian-speaking learners of English. Focus on the acquisition
of semantic contrasts between singular and plural generics, as well as the relationship between genericity
and aspect.
The scope of indefinites in English and Russian
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Principal investigator: Tania Ionin.
An experimental semantics study of how different types of indefinites are interpreted by native speakers
in English and in Russian, with a possible extension to second language acquisition.
The Non-Native Acquisition of Brazilian Portuguese
Principal investigator: Silvina Montrul, collaborators: Rejane Dias Prince and Hélade Santos.
Study of Brazilian Portuguese as a second and third language by Spanish- and English-speaking learners.
Focus on morphosyntax and semantics.
Genericity crosslinguistically
Principal investigator: Tania Ionin , collaborators: Silvina Montrul, Hélade Santos.
Cross-linguistic experimental comparison of how different types of generics are interpreted in English,
Spanish and Brazilian Portuguese. Possible extension to L3 acquisition of Brazilian Portuguese by
speakers of English and Spanish.
Arabic Morphology in Heritage Speakers and L2 Learners
Principal investigator: Elabbas Benmamoun, collaborators: Silvina Montrul, Abdulkafi Albirini,
Emman Saddah.
Investigation of productive patterns of plural morphology in Jordanian and Egyptian Arabic speakers and
in L2 learners of Arabic.
The Role of Instruction in Heritage Language (Re)acquisition
Principal investigator: Melissa Bowles, collaborator: Silvina Montrul (see project # 1).
Study of the role of negative evidence in the instructed acquisition of differential object marking (apersonal) in L2 learners of Spanish and Spanish heritage language learners.
Classroom Spanish Learner-Learner Interactions: L2 Learners and Heritage Language
Learners
Principal investigator: Melissa Bowles, RA: Florencia Henshaw
The benefits of having foreign language learners interact with native speakers have been clearly shown
through research. But most foreign language learners come into contact with other non-native speakers
(e.g., classmates). This study investigates the extent to which there are linguistic benefits for non-native
speaker pairs interacting in a foreign language. Simultaneously, it investigates whether there are
differences depending on whether the non-native speakers are heritage language learners or second
language learners. This project investigates interactions between pairs of L2 learners, pairs of heritage
language learners, and mixed pairs.
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The Acquisition of Exempt Anaphors in English as a Second Language
Principal investigator: James Yoon, collaborator: Silvina Montrul, RA: Eunah Kim.
Study of binding interpretation with picture NPs by Korean learners of English using eye-tracking.
Interpretation of nominals in L2 English
Principal investigator: Tania Ionin; co-principal investigators: Soondo Baek, Eunah Kim; Collaborators:
Heejeong Ko (Seoul National University), Ken Wexler (MIT)
Task comparison of how English noun phrases are produced are interpreted by Korean-speaking learners
of English. Extension to noun phrase interpretation in native Korean.
Processing of Number Agreement in Native and Non-Native French: An Investigation of
Working Memory
Principal investigator: Annie Tremblay, collaborator: Caitlin Coughlin
This study investigates the role of working memory in the processing of number agreement between
object clitics and their antecedents by English-speaking L2 learners of French (and native French
speakers).
Processing of Liaison-Initial Words in Native and Non-Native French
Principal investigator: Annie Tremblay, collaborator: Elsa Spinelli (Laboratoire de Psychologie et
Neurocognition, Université Pierre Mendes, France)
This eye-tracking study investigates whether English-speaking L2 learners of French and native French
speakers can use fine-grain acoustic-phonetic information to recognize vowel-initial words preceded by a
liaison consonant in continuous speech.
Perception of articles in L2 English
Principal investigator: Tania Ionin; Co-principal investigator: Lisa Pierce
Investigation of the role of perception in the L2 acquisition of English articles by Korean-speaking and
Mandarin-speaking learners of English. Comparison between perception, production and comprehension
of English articles.
The Development of Lexical Knowledge in L2 Arabic
Principal investigator: Rebecca Foote
Investigation of the development of lexical knowledge and organization in L1 English learners of L2
Arabic.
Inflectional Frames in L2 Word Production
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Principal investigator: Rebecca Foote Study examining the formation of inflectional frames during L2
word production by learners of Spanish at different proficiency levels.
Policies (summary)
Scheduling and Hours of Operation
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The SLAB Labs is dedicated to language analysis and experimentation. Faculty members
of the FLB and their students are eligible to use the Lab.
The SLAB Lab is open for use only when a lab assistant is present and the door is
unlocked, or you have checked out a key to use the lab. Lab assistants generally work
between 9:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m., Monday through Friday, except during class or meeting
times. This will change by semester.
While we would like everybody to have the opportunity to carry out their research in the
lab, there are times when the lab is extremely busy and scheduling conflicts may arise. If
scheduling conflicts should arise at any time, externally funded research projects will
take priority over other projects for scheduling. For graduate student research,
dissertation projects will take priority over course projects.
Please go to Scheduling and Calendars to request specific equipment/space.
Graduate students wishing to conduct research in the lab, and who are not working for the
faculty members affiliated with the lab, must request permission in writing from the Lab
Director Prof. Silvina Montrul by submitting a copy of their approved IRB form. They
must also specify the specific dates and times they expect to use the facility, the number
of subjects to be tested, and the equipment to be used.
Please print and complete the application to request the use of lab facilities and return it
to the director or the lab assistants.
Key Policy
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Only graduate students and affiliated faculty members from the SIP, Linguistics, and
French Departments can check out a key from the Linguistics or SIP receptionist between
9:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m, if the lab is not open. To check out a key you must leave your
university ID with the receptionist. Other users must first seek permission from the
Director.