Bilingual Language Processing: Comparing First and Second Language Comprehension

A considerable literature has investigated how different populations of monolingual and bilingual speakers acquire and process language in real-time. Research in this field has compared first and second language comprehension, and the factors that influence successful language acquisition. This project aims to investigate the similarities and differences between first and second language processing, and will involve developing and running psycholinguistic experiments investigating language processing in real-time. Students on this project are welcome to develop paradigms using behavioural tasks, such as self-paced reading or listening, or eye-tracking paradigms, such as eye-tracking during reading or listening. Depending on the interests and expertise of the student, there is also opportunity to use neuroscientific techniques, such as EEG/ERP and fMRI. There is scope within this project to examine language processing in either adult or child populations, and in different languages, depending on the interests of the applicant. Interested applicants are encouraged to visit the Psycholinguistics and Neurolinguistics Lab webpage (link below) for further details about specific projects.