Kara Morgan-Short, PhD
Professor & Director of Cognition of the Second Language Acquisition Lab
Hispanic and Italian Studies; Psychology
Pronouns: She/Her/Ella
Contact
Building & Room:
1706 UH
Address:
601 S. Morgan St.
Email:
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About
Kara Morgan-Short (Ph.D., Georgetown University) is Professor at the University of Illinois Chicago (UIC), with a joint appointment in the Department of Hispanic and Italian Studies and the Department of Psychology where she directs the Cognition of Second Language Acquisition Lab. Kara is also affiliated with the Laboratory of Integrative Neuroscience at UIC, is currently co-editor of the Language Learning Cognitive Neuroscience Series, and serves on editorial boards. Informed by the fields of linguistics, cognitive psychology and neuroscience, Kara Morgan-Short’s research aims to elucidate the linguistic and (neuro)cognitive processes underlying late-learned second language acquisition and use. Further, her research explores how these processes may be moderated by the effects or interactions of factors external to the learner, such as the context under which a second language is learned, and factors internal to the learner, such as learners’ level of proficiency or learners’ individual cognitive abilities (e.g., working memory, declarative/procedural memory, attention). These issues are examined using a set of complementary behavioral (e.g., accuracy on spoken language tasks) and electrophysiological (event-related potentials, ERPs) approaches. Results of her work have been published in such journals as Language Learning, Studies in Second Language Acquisition, Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, and Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience.
Selected Grants
National Science Foundation, Doctoral Dissertation Research Improvement Grant (BCS #1941189, 2020-2022), PI; co-PI David Abugaber
National Science Foundation, Doctoral Dissertation Research Improvement Grant (BCS #1823898, 2018-2020), PI; co-PI Alicia Luque
Language Learning, The Language Learning Small Grants Research Program (2014-2016), PI; co-PI Emma Marsden
National Science Foundation, Doctoral Dissertation Research Improvement Grant (BCS #1348964, 2018-2020), PI; co-PI Bernard Issa
Selected Publications
Morgan-Short, K. & Van Hell, J. G. (Eds.) (2023). The Routledge handbook of neurolinguistics and second language acquisition. Routledge.
Marsden, E., & Morgan-Short, K. (2023). (Why) are open research practices the future for the study of language learning? Language Learning, 73(S2), 344–387. https://doi.org/10.1111/lang.12568
Open Access || Preprint @ OSF || Accessible Summary @ OASIS
Ullman, M. T., & Morgan-Short, K. (2023). How the declarative and procedural memory brain circuits support second language: Electrophysiological, neuroimaging, and neurological evidence. In K. Morgan-Short & J. G. van Hell (Eds.) The Routledge handbook of second language acquisition and neurolinguistics (pp. 165-176). Routledge.
Morgan-Short, K., Finestrat, I., Luque, A., & Abugaber, D. (2022). Exploring new insights into explicit and implicit second language processing: Event-related potentials analyzed by source attribution. Language Learning, 72(2), 365–411. https://doi.org/10.1111/lang.12492
Open Materials, Data, Code @ OSF, @ IRIS || Accessible Summary @ OASIS
Morgan-Short, K., & Ullman, M. T. (2022). Declarative and procedural memory in second language learning: Psycholinguistic considerations. In A. Godfroid & H. Hopp (Eds.), The Routledge handbook of second language acquisition and psycholinguistics (pp. 322-334). Routledge.
Morgan-Short, K., Hamrick, P., & Ullman, M. T. (2022). Declarative and procedural memory as predictors of second language development. In S. Li, P. Hiver, & M. Papi (Eds.), The Routledge handbook of second language acquisition and individual differences (pp. 67-81). Routledge. https://doi.org/ 10.4324/9781003270546
Buffington, J., Demos, A., & Morgan-Short, K. (2021). The reliability and validity of procedural memory assessments used in second language acquisition research. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 43(3), 635-662. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0272263121000127
Preprint @ PsyArXiv || Open Data, Code @ OSF || Accessible Summary @ OASIS
Morgan-Short, K. (2020). Insights into the neural mechanisms of becoming bilingual: A brief synthesis of second language research with artificial linguistic systems. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, 23(1), 87-91. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1366728919000701
Issa, B. I., & Morgan-Short, K. (2019). Effects of external and internal attentional allocation on second language grammar development: An eye-tracking study. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 41(2), 389-417. https://doi.org/10.1017/S027226311800013X
Faretta-Stutenberg, M., & Morgan-Short, K. (2018). The interplay of individual differences and context of learning in behavioral and neurocognitive second language development. Second Language Research, 34(1), 67-101. https://doi.org/10.1177/0267658316684903
Service to Community
Founding member, Bilingualism Matters Chicago
Professional Leadership
Co-Editor, Language Learning Cognitive Neuroscience Series
Editorial Board, Applied Linguistics Press
Editorial Board, Studies in Second Language Acquisition
Editorial Board, Bilingual Processing and Acquisition Book Series
Editorial Board, Research Methods in Applied Linguistics
(Past) Associate Editor, Language Learning
Notable Honors
2018, Award for Excellence in Teaching, Office of the Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs, University of Illinois at Chicago
2017, Honors College Capstone Advisor of the Year, Honors College, University of Illinois at Chicago
2013, Graduate Mentoring Award, Graduate College, University of Illinois at Chicago
2009, Harold N. Glassman Dissertation Award for Social Sciences, Georgetown University
Education
2007, PhD, Spanish Linguistics, Georgetown University
1998, MATL, Spanish, University of Southern Mississippi at Hattiesburg
1991, BA, Humanities, The University of Texas at Austin
Selected Presentations
Selected Presentations
Online Talks
- Registered Reports as an Open Research Practice. (June 9, 2022). Open Science in Applied Linguistics Symposium [virtual presentation].
- Understanding the potential of second language learners: Insights from neurocognitive research. (October 2, 2021). 2021 ALAK International Symposium for Young Researchers in Applied Linguistics & International Conference. Seoul, Korea [virtual presentation].
Media Mentions