Bilingualism Research Lab
Our lab is one of the few in the world dedicated exclusively to the linguistic study of bilingualism. Our research focuses on the underlying linguistic mechanisms of bilingual phenomena such as code-switching, blending, borrowing, etc. Our investigations are driven by intellectual interest but not exclusively because our findings should eventually have an impact outside of the lab: Research on bilingualism should ground rational linguistic policies, effective speech therapies and approaches to the teaching of second languages to children and adults. Our facility is fully equipped for in-lab or field research. We accept new students who want to work hard and enjoy the exhilaration of being involved in cutting-edge research that is relevant to people’s lives.
People
Research
Contact
People
Current Members
 |
Kay González-Vilbazo, Assistant Professor of Linguistics in the Hispanic and Italian Studies department. Co-director of the BRL. His research focuses on linguistic-theoretical aspects of bilingual phenomena, mostly the syntax of code-switching. Current projects of his include: functional categories, gender agreement and concord, the functional role of some adjectives, classifiers and Phase theory.
 |
Luis López, Professor and head of the department of Hispanic and Italian Studies. Co-director of the BRL. He is mostly interested in theoretical linguistics, in particular syntactic theory and its interfaces. He is involved in a long-range project on predicate structure in code-switching with Kay González-Vilbazo as well as a solo project on indefinite objects. In the recent past, he has worked on information structure and the syntax-phonology interface.
 |
Laura Bartlett, PhD candidate in Hispanic Linguistics. Graduate Student Co-director of the BRL. Her research interests include the syntax of adjectives, code-switching approaches to DP syntax, and neurolinguistic testing of theoretical hypotheses. Her current research includes native, bilingual, heritage, and L2 neurolinguistic studies on adjectives, code-switching studies on classifier languages, code-switching studies on case marking, and a longitudinal study on L2 acquisition of Spanish.
 |
Sarah Downey, PhD candidate in Hispanic Linguistics. Director of Marketing and Communication of the BRL. Her main interests include bilingual borrowing, code-switching, gender agreement, and experimental approaches to theoretical questions. She is currently working on gender agreement in highly proficient bilingual borrowing.
 |
Shane Ebert, PhD candidate in Hispanic Linguistics. Director of Information Technology of the BRL. His research interests include crash-proof approaches to derivational syntax, wh-movement, American Sign Language (ASL) syntax from a Minimalist perspective, and generative approaches to code-switching. His most recent research projects focus on wh-movement in Spanish/English code-switching, Spanish/Taiwanese code-switching, and ASL/English mode-switching.
 |
Jeanne Heil, PhD candidate in Hispanic Linguistics. Director of Grants, Funds, and Finance of the BRL. Her research interests include syntax, generative approaches to second language acquisition, cognitive approaches to second language acquisition, and code-switching. Her current projects include adult L2 acquisition of non-finite complementation from a generative perspective as well as investigating non-finite complementation using English/Spanish code-switching.
 |
Brad Hoot, PhD candidate in Hispanic Linguistics. Graduate Student Co-director of the BRL. His main interests include information structure, the prosody/syntax interface, heritage language grammars, Optimality Theory, experimental approaches to theoretical questions, and code-switching. He is currently working on his dissertation, entitled "Presentational Focus in Heritage and Monolingual Spanish," as well as a project on complementizers in Spanish-English code-switching.
 |
Bryan Koronkiewicz, PhD candidate in Hispanic Linguistics. Director of the Literature and Information Management of the BRL. His research interests are primarily bilingualism, code-switching, and pronouns. His current research project includes pronouns in Spanish/English code-switching.
 |
Tim Anderson, PhD candidate in Hispanic Linguistics. His current research focus is the semantics of “inner” aspect from a crosslinguistic perspective.
 |
Sergio Ramos, PhD candidate in Hispanic Linguistics. Director of Technology Implementation and Support. His research interests include code-switching, Minimalist approaches to syntactic theory, sluicing, and subjects.
Former Members
Mirta Lee - QRP: Spanish-Taiwanese code-switching within the DP (MA, Spring 2009)
Tara Toscano - QRP: The Strandability of prepositions in Spanish-English Code-switching (MA, Spring 2010)
Mónica Márquez – QRP: Spanish/English code-switching among heritage speakers of Spanish in the USA (MA, Spring 2008)
Undergraduate Research Assistants
2011-2012 Academic Year
Lukasz Adamczyk
Cristian Alvarado
Bianca Bustos
Melissa Reina
Elizabeth Remitz
Marlen Romero
Ivette Serrano
John Waas
2010-2011 Academic Year
Marija Bulatovic
Yasmin Mehta
Insiya Valika
Affiliate Members
Richard Cameron, UIC
Kara Morgan-Short, UIC
Rafael Núñez-Cedeño, UIC
Kim Potowski, UIC
Susanne Rott, UIC
Jessica Williams, UIC
Karlos Arregi, University of Chicago
Daniel Büring, University of Wien
Katja Cantone, University of Bremen
Marcel Den Dikken, City University of New York
Anastasia Giannakidou, University of Chicago
Kleanthes Grohman, University of Cyprus
Mary Kato, Universidade Estadual de Campinas
Jeff MacSwan, Arizona State University
Shahrzad Mahootian, Northeastern Illinois University
Viorica Marian, Northwestern University
Kara McAlister, Arizona State University
Silvina Montrul, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Natascha Müller, University of Wuppertal
Maricarmen Parafita, Bangor University
Uli Reich, Freie Universität Berlin
Jacqueline Toribio, University of Texas at Austin
Ondene van Dulm, Stellenbosch University
Patrick Wong, Northwestern University
RESEARCH
 |
Members of the Bilingualism Research Lab work together, discussing various research projects. |
The research focus of this lab is to investigate the linguistic competence of bilingual speakers as a window to understanding the human faculty of language. Currently we are developing five different research clusters.
Publications
Bartlett, Laura & Kay González-Vilbazo. Submitted. The Taiwanese DP: evidence from Taiwanese/Spanish code-switching.
Bartlett, Laura & Kay González-Vilbazo. Submitted. Classifiers and Spanish-Taiwanese code-switching. In Proceedings of the 46th Chicago Linguistic Society meeting.
González-Vilbazo, Kay, & Luis López. To appear. Little v and Parametric Variation. Natural Language and Linguistic Theory.
Download: Prepublication PDF
Hoot, Brad. To appear. Narrow Focus on Pre-Nominal Modifiers in Spanish: An Optimality-Theoretic Analysis. Proceedings from the Hispanic Linguistics Symposium 2010. Cascadilla Press.
Download: Prepublication PDF
González-Vilbazo, Kay, & Luis López. 2011. Some properties of light verbs in code-switching. Lingua 121, p. 832-850.
Download: Prepublication PDF
González-Vilbazo, Kay, & Almeida Jacqueline Toribio. To appear. Operator movement in English-Spanish and German-Spanish codeswitching. In Jeff MacSwan Grammatical Theory and Bilingual Code Switching. Cambridge, Massachusetts: MIT Press.
López, Luis. 2009. A Derivational Syntax for Information Structure.
Oxford Studies in Theoretical Linguistics 23, Oxford University Press.
López, Luis. 2009. Ranking the Linear Correspondence Axiom. Linguistic Inquiry 40(2), p. 239-278.
González-Vilbazo, Kay & Volker Struckmeier. 2008a. Asymmetrien im Code-Switching: Eine DM-Lösung zur Partizipselektion (Asymmetries in Code-Switching: a DM-solution to participle selection). In Mensching, G. & Remberger E. Romanistische Sprachwissenschaft – minimalistisch, Tübingen: G. Narr Verlag.
González-Vilbazo, Kay & Volker Struckmeier. 2008b. Spuren des Verschwindens (Traces of disappearance). In Pusse, T. (Ed.) Rethoriken des Verschwindens.
López, Luis. 2008a. Zur Analyse der romanischen Rechtsdislokation. In Natascha Pomino and Eva Remberger (eds) Romanische Syntax - Minimalistisch. Tübingen: Narr, p. 195-224.
López, Luis. 2008b. The [person] restriction: why and why not". In Agreement Restrictions, edited by Roberta D’Alessandro, Gunnar Hrafbjargarsson and Susann Fischer. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter, p. 129-157.
Presentations
Heil, Jeanne, Laura Bartlett & Luis López. Creemos raising to be grammatical: Code-switching (CS) in non-finite complementation. International Symposium on Bilingualism 8, Oslo, June 15-19 2011.
Hoot, Brad. What’s up with that? Complementizer asymmetry in Spanish/English code-switching. International Symposium on Bilingualism 8, Oslo, June 15-19 2011.
González-Vilbazo, Kay & Bryan Koronkiewicz. Pronouns as D in English/Spanish code-switching. International Symposium on Bilingualism 8, Oslo etc
González-Vilbazo, Kay & Sergio Ramos. The Case for Sluicing in Code-switching. International Symposium on Bilingualism 8, Oslo etc
Bartlett, Laura, Kay González-Vilbazo, & Kara Morgan-Short. The processing of gender agreement errors in Spanish: An event-related potential investigation of pre/postnominal distinction. 10th International Symposium of Psycholinguistics. Donostia-San Sebastián, Spain: April 13-16, 2011.
Download: PDF
Downey, Sarah. Bilingual borrowing in a dual-gender and genderless language pairing. UIC Bilingualism Forum 2011. Chicago, IL: April 14-15, 2011.
Ebert, Shane & Kay González-Vilbazo. Wh-movement in Spanish/English code-switching. UIC Bilingualism Forum 2011. Chicago, IL: April 14-15, 2011.
Heil, Jeanne, Laura Bartlett, & Luis López. The Role of Infinitives in ECM: A code-switching study. UIC Bilingualism Forum 2011. Chicago, IL: April 14-15, 2011.
Download: PDF
Heil, Jeanne, Andrea Botero-Moriarty, Shane Ebert, & Kara Morgan-Short. Investigating Simultaneous Attention to Form and Meaning. UIC Bilingualism Forum 2011. Chicago, IL: April 14-15, 2011.
Hoot, Brad. Complementizer asymmetry in Spanish/English code-switching. UIC Bilingualism Forum 2011. Chicago, IL: April 14-15, 2011.
Download: PDF
Ramos, Sergio. The Case for Sluicing in Code-switching: Case matching in Spanish/German under sluicing. UIC Bilingualism Forum 2011. Chicago, IL: April 14-15, 2011.
Download: PDF
Morgan-Short, Kara, Laura Bartlett, Mandy Faretta-Stutenberg, & Kay González-Vilbazo. Local and distant morphosyntactic processing at early stages of second language acquisition: An even-related potential study. 18th Annual Meeting of the Cognitive Neuroscience Society (CNS). San Francisco, CA: April 2-5, 2011.
Download: PDF
Hoot, Brad. An Optimality Theoretic Analysis of Focus Realization in Spanish. Poster presented at the Linguistic Society of America Annual Meeting 2011. Pittsburgh, PA: January 6-9, 2011.
Download: Poster PDF, Handout PDF
Hoot, Brad. Narrow Focus on Pre-Nominal Modifiers in Spanish: An Optimality Theoretic Analysis. Hispanic Linguistics Symposium. Bloomington, IN: October 14-17, 2010.
Download: PPT
Morgan-Short, Kara, Jeanne Heil, Andrea Botero-Moriarty, & Shane Ebert. Simultaneous Attention to Form and meaning in Written Second Language Input. Second Language Research Forum 2010. College Park, MD: October 14-17, 2010.
González-Vilbazo, Kay. Light verbs in Code-switching. Languages in Contact Workshop, University of Wuppertal. Wuppertal, Germany: May 27-29, 2010.
Download: PDF
González-Vilbazo, Kay & Laura Bartlett. The Structure of the Taiwanese DP: Evidence from Code-switching. Chicago Linguistic Society 46, University of Chicago. Chicago, IL: April 8-10, 2010.
Download: PDF
Downey, Sarah. Some problems in bilingual borrowing. UIC In/Between Conference. Chicago, IL: April 22-23, 2010.
Ebert, Shane. Wh-movement in ASL-English mode-switching. UIC In/Between Conference. Chicago, IL: April 22-23, 2010.
Download: PDF
Heil, Jeanne & Laura Bartlett. Investigating non-finite complementation: evidence from English/Spanish code-switching data. UIC In/Between Conference. Chicago, IL: April 22-23, 2010.
Download: PDF
Hoot, Brad. T-to-C movement: Evidence from code-switching. UIC In/Between Conference. Chicago, IL: April 22-23, 2010.
Download: PDF
Koronkiewicz, Bryan. Reference & proper names: A Look at Longobardi’s Theory of N-movement. UIC In/Between Conference. Chicago, IL: April 22-23, 2010.
Download: PDF
Koronkiewicz, Bryan. Exceptional hiatuses in Spanish: An Extension of Cabré & Prieto (2006). UIC Talks in Linguistics. Chicago, IL: March 19, 2010.
Download: PowerPoint
Hoot, Brad. An Optimality Theoretic analysis of focus in Spanish and English. UIC Talks in Linguistics. Chicago, IL: November 13, 2009.
Download: PowerPoint
González-Vilbazo, Kay & Luis López. The little v hypothesis: Evidence from code-switching. International Symposium on Bilingualism 7. Utrecht, Netherlands: July 8-11, 2009.
Downey, Sarah. The Borrowability of bilingual competence. UIC Bilingualism Forum. Chicago, IL: April 30-May 1, 2009.
Heil, Jeanne. The Acquisition of ECM. UIC Bilingualism Forum. Chicago, IL: April 30-May 1, 2009.
Download: PowerPoint
Hoot, Brad. Focus marking in monolingual and heritage Spanish: preliminary results. UIC Bilingualism Forum. Chicago, IL: April 30-May 1, 2009.
Download: PowerPoint
Awards
2011
Chancellor’s Supplemental Graduate Research Fellowship – Laura Bartlett
Dorothy Thelander Undergraduate Award – Christian Alvarado
Liberal Arts & Sciences Undergraduate Research Initiative (LASURI) – Lukasz Adamczyk, John Waas
National Science Foundation (NSF) Grant – Brad Hoot & Luis López
Provost’s Award for Graduate Research (Spring) – Bryan Koronkiewicz
UIC WOW Award – Brad Hoot
2010
Diversifying Higher Education Faculty in Illinois (DFI) Fellow (2010-2011 Academic Year) – Sergio Ramos
Dorothy Thelander Undergraduate Award – Marija Bulatovic
Liberal Arts & Sciences Undergraduate Research Initiative (LASURI) – Yasmin Mehta
Provost’s Award for Graduate Research (Fall) – Laura Bartlett
2009
Diversifying Higher Education Faculty in Illinois (DFI) Fellow (2009-2010 Academic Year) – Sergio Ramos
2008
Provost’s Award for Graduate Research (Fall) – Brad Hoot
Current Projects
The research focus of this lab is to investigate the linguistic competence of bilingual speakers as a window to understanding the human faculty of language. Currently we are developing five different research clusters.
1. Functional Categories
a. Functional categories in code-switching (Spanish/German)
PI: Kay González-Vilbazo
Description: A description of the role played by functional categories in code-switching. In particular, we focus on the ungrammaticality of certain code-switches such as those between C and T or Q and D.
b. The structure of the Taiwanese DP: evidence from code-switching (Taiwanese/Spanish)
PI: Kay González-Vilbazo
Co-PI: Laura Bartlett
Description: We analyze the structure of DP using as a data base the code-switching between a language with classifiers (Taiwanese) and a language without (Spanish).
c. Merge under selection: the status of classifiers in code-switching (Taiwanese/Spanish and Thai/English)
PI: Kay González-Vilbazo
Co-PI: Laura Bartlett
Description: In this project we adopt the hypothesis that Merge takes place triggered by selection. We use code-switching to explore the range of predictions generated by this hypothesis.
d. Phase theory: Little v and light verbs in code-switching (Spanish/German)
PIs: Kay González-Vilbazo and Luis López
Description: Many code-switching varieties exhibit light verb constructions, even if the source languages do not have them (Esplugish is an example). We tackle several empirical problems that arise in these types of constructions and show that the theoretical assumptions that form the central architecture of the Minimalist Program suffice to account for them. We compare this approach with the hegemonic approach to code-switching syntax, the so-called Matrix Language Frame Model (see Myers-Scotton and Jake 2009) and show that this model is unable to provide an account for these phenomena.
e. Pronouns as D in code-switching (Spanish/English)
PI: Kay González-Vilbazo Co-PI: Bryan Koronkiewicz Description: This study explores the role pronouns play in code-switching. Bilingual speakers seem to have clear intuitions when judging code-switches between a pronoun and verb as ungrammatical. Using Spanish/English bilinguals we will conduct a full formal experiment that analyzes code-switched subject and object pronouns in various syntactic contexts. We will then propose a theoretical account that explains our findings.
f. Complementizers in code-switching (Spanish/English)
PI: Luis López Co-PI: Brad Hoot Description: This project investigates the realization of complementizers in embedded declaratives in code-switched questions. English and Spanish each show interesting, and different, asymmetries in complementizer realization in this structure (the that-trace effect in English, obligatory overt ‘que’ in Spanish), and so this project asks what structures are possible when these two languages are combined in a single utterance. Using an acceptability judgment task to collect this data experimentally, this project seeks to contribute to our understanding of clausal complementation.
2. Agree and Concord
a. Gender agreement in code-switching (Spanish/German)
PI: Kay González-Vilbazo
Description: A study of the mechanism of Gender Agreement in the DP using evidence from code-switching. The analysis is based on a hierarchy of gender features with rich empirical consequences.
b. Gender agreement in bilingual borrowing (Spanish/English)
PI: Kay González-Vilbazo
Co-PI: Sarah Downey
Description: This project explores the nature of gender agreement in highly proficient bilingual borrowing by investigating the morphological and phonological treatment of English noun phrases borrowed into Spanish.
c. The neurolinguistics of gender agreement (Spanish)
PIs: Kay González-Vilbazo and Kara Morgan-Short
Co-PI: Laura Bartlett
Description: A neurolinguistic empirical study and analysis of gender agreement violations to pre- and postnominal adjectives in Spanish.
d. The neurolinguistics of gender agreement in bilingual borrowing (Spanish/English and Spanish/German)
PI: Kay González-Vilbazo and Kara Morgan-Short
Co-PI: Laura Bartlett and Sarah Downey
Description: This project is an extension of the behavioral study on gender agreement in bilingual borrowing and uses neurolinguistic data to further elucidate the findings of the behavioral study. In addition, the project explores the neurolinguistic correlates involved in the processing of bilingual borrowing and to what extent, if any, they differ from those found in code-switching.
3. Finite and Non-finite Structures
a. Investigating non-finite complementation using code-switching data (Spanish/English)
PI: Luis López
Co-PI: Jeanne Heil and Laura Bartlett
Description: Raising to Object exists in English but not in Spanish. The goal of this project is to extricate the source of this difference by exposing bilingual speakers to utterances that code-switch right after the raising verb and checking their acceptability.
b. Adult second language acquisition of Raising to Object constructions (Spanish/English)
PI: Luis López
Co-PI: Jeanne Heil
Description: This study investigates the I-language of native speakers of Spanish who are advanced adult learners of English. While English has Raising-to-Object constructions, Spanish does not, which means that the learners cannot transfer the construction from their L1. Thus, using learner data, we examine the acquisition of this construction and the role of formal features therein.
4. Wh-constructions
a. Wh-constructions in code-switching (Spanish/English)
PI: Kay González-Vilbazo
Co-PI: Shane Ebert
Description: Wh-questions in Spanish and English exhibit a number of parallels, including fronting of wh-phrases, inversion, and asymmetrical treatment of different types of wh-questions (e.g. matrix vs. embedded questions in English), but, importantly, they differ in the details of these properties. This suggests that they have different underlying features that derive those properties. By combining the two languages using code-switching and seeing how their features interact, we hope to gain insight into the formation of wh-questions in each of the individual languages and perhaps a better understanding of wh-question formation across languages.
b. Wh-movement, wh-in-situ and island effects: wh- in code-switching (Taiwanese/Spanish)
PI: Kay González-Vilbazo
Co-PI: Laura Bartlett, Shane Ebert and Dani Vergara
Description: In this study we combine a wh-in-situ language (Taiwanese) and a wh-fronting language (Spanish) in a code-switching experiment in order to test what factor triggers overt wh-movement. Furthermore we test island effects (which are different for Spanish and Taiwanese) to better understand the relation between overt/covert wh-movement and island effects. This will also allow us to isolate the constituent(s) responsible for these effects.
c. Sluicing in code-switching (Spanish/German and Spanish/English)
PI: Kay González-Vilbazo
Co-PI: Sergio Ramos
Description: This project is the first step in a broader project on ellipsis in code-switching. In this first sub-project we look into sluiced code-switched sentences. The data come from Spanish/German code-switching. We choose Spanish verbs that assign accusative to its complement and equivalent verbs in German that assign dative to test what determines the case of the wh-remnant: the matrix or the embedded (sluiced) verb.
5. Experimental Semantics and Pragmatics
a. Presentational focus in heritage and monolingual Spanish (Spanish)
PI: Luis López
Co-PI: Brad Hoot
Description: This study aims to understand the realization of presentational focus in monolingual and heritage Spanish. An Optimality-Theoretic analysis of focus in Spanish and English is developed and then tested experimentally using an acceptability judgment task. The results of this project will contribute to our understanding of focus and the prosody/syntax interface, as well as to our understanding of heritage language grammars.
b. Incremental Theme Predicates in Spanish (Spanish/English)
PIs: Kay González-Vilbazo
Co-PI: Tim Anderson
Description: The goal of this project is the development of an analysis of the variable telicity of incremental theme verbs in Spanish from the perspective of lexical semantics. We use experimental data from Spanish to access the underlying semantic nuts and bolts of the phenomenon.
Contact
Information
Bilingualism Research Laboratory
University of Illinois at Chicago
1702 University Hall
601 S. Morgan Street (M/C 315)
Chicago, IL 60607-7117
Phone: (312) 996-0381
Email: biling@uic.edu
Hours: Monday - Friday, 10:00 AM to 3:00 PM
Kay González-Vilbazo
1708 University Hall
601 S. Morgan Street (M/C 315)
Chicago, IL 60607-7117
Email: kgv@uic.edu
Luis López
1701 University Hall
601 S. Morgan Street (M/C 315)
Chicago, IL 60607-7117
Website: http://www.uic.edu/spanish/lopez/index.html
Email: luislope@uic.edu
Blog
Bilingualism Research Today
www.bilingualismresearch.com