Research
Ongoing Research
We have ongoing research looking at second and additional (L2/A) language learning and processing using both behavioral (e.g., accuracy on spoken language tasks, reaction times, etc) and electrophysiological (event-related potentials, ERPs) methodologies. See below for ongoing project descriptions:
Cognitive individual differences in adult L2/A neurocognitive processing
This electrophysiological (event-related potential) study investigates how individual cognitive abilities—working memory, declarative memory, procedural memory, and domain-general auditory processing—influence the processing of (morpho)syntactic structures among adult L2/A learners. Intermediate L2/A learners of Spanish completed complex span tasks to measure working memory and underwent EEG recording during a grammaticality judgment task including phrase structure, subject-verb agreement, and noun-phrase number and gender agreement.
Researchers: Rodríguez Gallego, A., Berles, A. Ridchenko, M., Morgan-Short, K.
Neurocognitive processing of feedback in adult L2/A learning
This study examines how explicit and implicit corrective feedback impact neurocognitive processing during L2/A learning and its interaction with individual differences in working memory at early stages of proficiency. Using event-related potential measures, the study examines learners’ neural responses to feedback during a training task to assess external feedback processing (indexed by the feedback-related negativity, FRN) and internal error monitoring(indexed by the error-related negativity, ERN).
Researchers: Rodríguez Gallego, A. & Morgan-Short, K.
Longitudinal role of working memory in grammar development and use
This study investigates the role of working memory in the development of receptive and productive abilities in Spanish grammatical gender agreement among intermediate L2/A learners over one semester. Participants completed complex span tasks to measure working memory, and language assessments that included a receptive grammaticality judgment task and a productive information gap activity, both targeting gender agreement on articles and adjectives.
Researchers: Faretta-Stutenberg, M., Rodríguez Gallego, A., Morgan-Short, K.
Role of memory systems in metalinguistic awareness
This project investigates how the development of metalinguistic awareness is influenced by short (working memory) and long-term (declarative and procedural) memory systems, using an artificial language paradigm.
Researchers: Ridchenko, M. & Morgan-Short, K.
Cognitive control and language experience in context in L2/A learning
This ongoing project examines how cognitive control and language experience in context shape adults’ ability to learn new sounds in second or additional language learning (L2/A). Focusing on English-speaking learners of Spanish, the study investigates how proactive and reactive control, along with diverse language environments, influence phonological learning and neural processing. By integrating behavioral and electrophysiological (event-related potential) measures, this work aims to clarify how individual cognitive abilities and real-world language contexts interact to affect L2/A learning success.
Researchers: Berles, A. & Morgan-Short, K.
Validating the Contextual and Individual Linguistic Diversity Questionnaire (CILD-Q) as a holistic measure of contextual and individual linguistic diversity
This ongoing project replicates and validates the Contextual and Individual Linguistic Diversity Questionnaire (CILD-Q; Wigdorowitz et al., 2023), a recently developed tool designed to quantify how sociolinguistic context shapes individual language experience. Building on the original study that identified three key factors: Multilingualism in Context, Multilingualism in Practice, and Linguistic Diversity Promotion. This replication aims to assess the questionnaire’s reliability and factor structure in a new population. The project will contribute to establishing the CILD-Q as a robust, generalizable measure for capturing linguistic diversity across diverse language-learning and bilingual contexts.
Researchers: Wigdorowitz M., Berles, A. & Morgan-Short, K.
Cognitive individual differences in explicit and implicit contexts in (L2/A) second/additional language learning
This study investigates how cognitive individual differences such as cognitive control, working memory, declarative memory, and procedural memory, contribute to adult second language learning under different instructional conditions. Using an artificial language paradigm, it examines how these cognitive abilities influence learners’ acquisition of grammatical structures in explicit (rule-based) versus implicit (exposure-based) learning contexts across early and later stages of learning.
Researchers: Berles, A., Ridchenko, M., Buffington, J. & Morgan-Short, K.
Completed Research
Role of memory systems when learning a second/additional language with ADHD
This study explored whether the contribution of different memory systems (working, declarative, and procedural memory) that play a role in L2/A learning in adults with neurotypical cognition differs in L2/A learning in adults with ADHD.
Researchers: Ridchenko, M. Morgan-Short, K.
(Ridchenko, M., & Morgan-Short, K. (in press). Learning second/additional languages with ADHD: The role of memory systems. Studies in Second Language Acquisition.)