About Me
California State University, Fresno
Nijmegen, the Netherlands, & Free University Amsterdam, the Netherlands
Guangzhou, China
Wuhan, China |
My research
My research examines how children and adults learn languages, and how language and cognition interact. In particular, I am interested in how learners acquire the semantics and syntax of a language from a cross-linguistic perspective. I have investigated the acquisition of verb compounding, lexical semantics of complex verbs (e.g., state-change verbs), event representation (e.g., events of motion, placement, and state change), classifiers, temporal marking (e.g., aspect), relative clauses, verb argument structure, preferred argument structure, and word order. I have also been working on collaborative projects exploring the influence of language (e.g., classifier system) on online language processing in adult speakers, speech and co-speech gestures in relation to event construal and event representation in native and nonnative speakers cross-linguistically, and information structure and word order in child and adult speakers of languages such as Arabic, English, Mandarin Chinese, and Spanish (more details at sites.google.com/a/colorado.edu/ldclab/current-projects). I am also interested in lexical and morphosyntactic development in bilingual or multilingual children, children with autism spectrum disorder, and adult second language learners.