Kathy Conklin

I am fascinated by how our mind represents and processes all of the complexities of a first (L1) and a second (L2) language. In particular, my research focuses on: (1) representation and processing of multi-word units (e.g. "bread and butter") in the L1 and L2; (2) implicit L2 learning; and (3) automatic word activation in an L1/L2, which has implications for cognitive control. My research makes use of behavioral measures, eye-tracking, and EEG.

My teaching largely addresses topics like: is the human brain special, how do we learn language and what allows us to learn a first and second language, how do we produce and understand words and sentences, how do we use context to produce and understand meaning, and how do we use and understand idioms and metaphor, and understand literary texts?