RESEARCH PROJECTS

Member, ALLENCAM (Adquisició de llengües des de la Catalunya Bilingüe). SALA/COLE Project: The effects of stays abroad on language acquisition (K-12 (COLE Project) & College (SALA Project)), Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona, Spain.
The Latin Project. Designed by Sanz and graduate students Bowden, and Stafford, it is an investigation of the interaction between prior experience with language (bilingualism), and type of input (varying in degrees of explicitness) with working memory and awareness as moderating variables. The focus is the use of word order, case, and number morphology to assign semantic functions in L3 Latin by speakers of different L1s and L2s. The design is experimental with computer-delivered treatments and tests, including oral and written interpretation, grammaticality judgment, and production.

FIPSE (Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education) funding for developing multimedia-enhanced materials for research on language teaching. Funding obtained by E. Dixon, FLL Faculty Liaison (UIS). Spring 1999. Pilot-test for study on impact of differential feedback completed June 1999.

Member of FLIRT (Foreign Language Initiatives on Research and Teaching), currently working on a study on the Georgetown advanced language learner sponsored by a $24,000 grant from the Georgetown Provost’s Office. From June 97-present: responsible for creation and supervision of coding procedure, colloquium organization, paper presentation. Resource for researchers interested in the Spanish and Catalan data.

The impact of explicit instruction on oral output. Duties: design the instruments and collect data in in-group and individual interviews with the help of media resources and the language laboratory facilities. January-May 1993, Spanish Department, University of Illinois. In conjunction with Bill VanPatten.

Development of a computer-based lesson for the Macintosh (Hypertalk language) which aims at modifying non-native processing of sentences in Spanish. The most important characteristics of the lesson are a) its use of multimedia resources, b) the user-friendly interface which requires just the use of the mouse, c) the fact that it is based on a model of second language acquisition. Spring 1992.

Research on early bilingual reading. Duty: interview 20 first-graders to elicit data on bilingual reading skills with the help of standardized and non-standardized tests. August 1991 to May 1992, Center for the Study of Reading, University of Illinois. In conjunction with Aydin Durgünoglu.

Development of a Spanish language placement and proficiency test. Duties: item writing (over 400 total); organizing and administering three pilot tests for approximately 6000 students. January 1991 to January 1992, Spanish Department, University of Illinois. In conjunction with James F. Lee.