Members

Previous members and completed PhDs can be found here.

Director: Marit Westergaard, Professor UiT/Professor II NTNU

Marit
Research interests: First, second/third & bilingual language acquisition, heritage language/language attrition, syntactic variation, diachronic change, com­parative syntax, word order, nominal structure (grammatical gender, definiteness, possessives), English, Norwegian, Russian, German.

Co-Director: Terje Lohndal, Professor NTNU/Professor II UiT

Research interests: Syntax, semantics, morphology, interfaces, variation, heritage languages/language attrition, first, second and bilingual language acquisition, English, Norwegian.

Professors and other researchers

Jubin Abutalebi, Professor II UiTscreen-shot-2016-12-20-at-08-57-40

Research interests: Bilingualism, functional and structural neuroimaging, neurolinguistics, language control, aphasia, cognitive neuroscience, neuropsychology, aging.

Merete Anderssen, Professor UiTscreen-shot-2016-12-20-at-08-44-45

Research interests: First, second and bilingual language acquisition, heritage languages and language attrition, word order and information structure in clauses and determiner phrases, reference/(in)definiteness, English, Norwegian and other Scandinavian languages.

Yvonne van Baal, Postdoc NTNU

Research interests: Syntax and morphology, multilingualism, dialect variation, language acquisition, heritage languages including American Norwegian, definiteness, grammatical gender.

Fatih Bayram, MSCA Fellow UIT Fatih

Research interests: Simultaneous first language bilingualism; heritage speaker bilingualism; language attrition in bilingualism; acquisition of morphosyntax; roles and weights of linguistic and extra-linguistic factors in development/processing/ultimate attainment variation across bi/multilinguals.

Kristine Bentzen, Professor UiTscreen-shot-2016-12-20-at-08-45-08

Research interests: Comparative syntax, dialect syntax, first language acquisition, bilingualism, Scandinavian languages, Sami, verb placement, object shift, scrambling, information structure.

Elma Blom, Professor II, UiTscreen-shot-2016-12-20-at-08-45-08

Research interests: Multilingual language development, language disorders, language in relation to cognitive and socio-emotional development, dialect and heritage language development, multilingual education.

Guro Busterud, Associate Professor UiOGuro

Research interests: First, second/third language acquisition, bilingual language acquisition, language acquisition and critical periods, methodology, syntax, syntactic variation, binding theory, finiteness, nominal structure, Norwegian (L1 and L2/L3).

Nicole Busby, Associate Professor NTNU

Research interests: Second language acquisition, reading in a second language, academic language, vocabulary, metacognitive awareness, parallel language use.

Chloe Castle, Postdoc UiT

Research interests: Multilingualism, language acquisition, language attrition, heritage and community languages, language change and variation, and Slavic linguistics.

Anne Dahl, Associate Professor NTNUAnne

Research interests: L2/L3/Ln acquisition (theoretical and applied perspectives): L2/L3/Ln syntax, L2/L3/Ln mental lexicon, Age and language acquisition, Multilingualism, Implicit and explicit language learning, English in Norway, English in (Norwegian) schools, English in (Norwegian and international) academia.

Cecile De Cat, Professor II, UiTCecile De Cat

Research interests: Language acquisition (L1, L2, bilingual), environmental and cognitive predictors of language proficiency and high-level verbal reasoning (in children and adolescents), measuring bilingual experience, L2 processing, interface between syntax and information structure.

Vincent DeLuca, Associate Professor UiT

Research interests: Bi/multilingualism; neuroplasticity, executive functions, neurolinguistics, adult second language acquisition, adult third language acquisition.

Kristin Melum Eide, Professor NTNU Kristin

Research interests: Universal Grammar, multiple grammars in one mind (universal multilingualism), dialects, first and second language acquisition, language contact and change, heritage language, syntax, semantics, predication, tense, aspect, modality, mood, and finiteness.

Ragnhild Eik, Associate Professor NTNU

Research interests: Syntax and morphology, dialect variation, compounding, grammatical gender, argument structure, code switching, theories of science.

Kirill Elin, Postdoc UiT

Research interests: Morphological processing, native and nonnative language processing, language mapping, language lateralization, multilingualism, cognitive ageing.

Tekabe Legesse Feleke, Postdoc, UiT

Research interests: Quantitative dialectology or dialectometry, multilingualism and multilingual minds, first and second language acquisition and attrition.

Khadij Gharibi, Postdoc, UiT

Research interests: Cross-linguistic influence of different societal languages on the same heritage language; the role of attrited input in heritage language development; acquisition, attrition and maintenance of heritage languages.

Jorge González Alonso, Postdoc UiTscreen-shot-2016-12-20-at-08-50-02

Research interests: Second and third language acquisition, non-native language processing, bilingualism, morphology, compounding, (acquisition, representation and processing of) grammatical gender, eye-tracking during reading. English, Spanish, Norwegian, Basque.

Inghild Flaate Høyem, Professor NTNUInghild

Research interests: Syntax, semantics, syntax-semantics interface, comparative syntax, second/third language acquisition, predication, adjuncts, control, German, Norwegian, English.

Nadine Kolb, Postdoc UiTNadine

Research interests: Child second and third language acquisition; heritage language bilingualism; linguistic and extra-linguistic factors in bi/multilingual language development; acquisition at the syntax-semantics interface; multilingual education; immersion education.

Martin Krämer, Professor UiTscreen-shot-2016-12-20-at-08-56-44

Research interests: Phonology, variation, acquisition, Optimality Theory, lexicon.

Maki Kubota, Postdoc UiTMaki Kubota

Research interests: Bilingualism, child language acquisition, heritage language bilingualism, language attrition, executive control.

Tanja Kupisch, Professor II UiTscreen-shot-2016-12-20-at-08-57-40

Research interests: Language acquisition (L1, L2, L3, bilingual), language attrition, language dominance, bilectal acquisition, DP syntax and semantics (gender, adjective placement, definiteness, genericity), foreign accent, Italian, French, German, English, Turkish.

Jon Andoni Duñabeitia Landaburu, Professor II UiTscreen-shot-2016-12-20-at-08-57-40

Research interests: Psycholinguistics, Cognitive Science of Language, Bilingual Word Processing, Emotion, Executive Functions, Visual Word Recognition, Literacy.

Kjersti Faldet Listhaug, Associate Professor NTNU
Kjersti Listhaug

Research interests: Second/third language acquisition,  L2/L3/Ln mental lexicon, L2/L3/Ln syntax, language and perception, spatial language, French.

Sergey Minor, Assosiate Professor UiT

E-mail: sergey.minor@uit.no

Research interests: Semantic and syntactic processing, in particular the processing of verbal aspect.

Bjørn Lundquist, Associate Professor UiTBjørn Lundquist

Research interests: Syntax-Morphology interface, Syntax-Semantics interface, Lexical categories, Scandinavian micro-variation, Psycho-linguistics, Language acquisition.

Natalia Mitrofanova, Researcher UiT Natalia Mitrofanova

Research interests: Language acquisition (first, second, third, bilingual), acquisition of functional categories, the structure of early grammars, syntax and semantics of locative and directional expressions, experimental linguistics, eye-tracking (VWP), Russian, Norwegian, English, German.

Yanina Prystauka, Postdoc UiT

Research interests: Bilingualism, neurobiology of sentence processing, event comprehension.

Jason Rothman, Professor UiT
Jason Rothman

Research interests: Heritage Language Bilingualism, Second and Third Language Acquisition (child and adult), First Language Acquisition (children) and Maintenance (L1 attrition in adulthood), Formal Acquisition Epistemology, Syntax and its interfaces with other linguistic and non-linguistic modules, behavioral and neurolinguistic methodologies, Non-linguistic consequences of bi-/multilingualism (e.g., the bilingual “cognitive” and “brain” reserves).

Yulia Rodina, Professor UiT screen-shot-2016-12-20-at-09-01-40

Research interests: Language acquisition (first, second, third, bilingual), heritage languages, multilingualism and education, multilingual language assessment, Norwegian, Russian, English.

Marina Sokolova, Postdoc NTNU

Marina Sokolova

Research interests: Sequential multilingualism, code-switching, language processing for comprehension and production, parsing operations in L1/L2/L3/Ln.

Martin Schweinberger, Principal Data Science Advisor UiT

Research interests: Mechanisms of language variation and change, determinants of language use and linguistic variability, discourse markers and particles / adjective intensification / L1 and L2 acquisition, computational modelling and visualization of linguistic data, digital humanities, data science, best practices in text analytics and data management.

Ludovica Serratrice, Professor II UiT screen-shot-2016-12-20-at-09-01-40

Research interests: First, second and bilingual language acquisition, reference, metalinguistic awareness, relationship between vocabulary and grammar, processing of relative clauses, syntactic priming, cross-linguistic influence. English, Italian.

Roumyana Slabakova, Professor II NTNURoumyana

Research interests: Second, third & multilingual language acquisition; acquisition of functional morphology; acquisition at the syntax-semantics, syntax-discourse, and semantics-pragmatics interfaces; critical periods for acquisition; language processing; heritage language/language attrition; eye tracking; second language acquisition theory and epistemology.

Isabel Nadine Jensen, Postdoc UiTEirik

Research interests: Second and third language acquisition, multilingualism, acquisition of morphosyntax, the Bottleneck Hypothesis.

Aleksandra Tomic, Postdoc UiT

Research interests: multilingual predictive processing, multilingual emotional processing, code-switch processing, experiential factors shaping the processing/acquisition of multiple languages, data collection and statistical analysis methods in the service or psycho/neurolinguistics.

Olga Urek, Researcher UiT Olga Urek

Research interests: Phonology, Optimality Theory, feature geometry, Baltic languages, acquisition, bilingualism.

Brechje van Osch, Postdoc UiT

Research interests: First, second, third, bilingual language acquisition, heritage languages, language attrition, cross linguistic influance/transfer, linguistic interfaces, Romance, Germanic.

Øystein A. Vangsnes, Professor UiT Øystein A Vangsnes

Research interests: Syntax, North Germanic languages and dialects, language variation, multilingualism, multilectalism, literacy, cognitive development, language and education, language planning, the Sámi languages.

Marta Velnić, Researcher NTNU Marta Velnic

Research interests: Language acquisition, Cross-Linguistic Influence, Bilingualism, Pragmatics, Possessives, Ditransitive structures, Givenness, Animacy, Referring expressions, Adjectives.

Toms Voits, Postdoc UiT

Research interests: The effects of speaking more than one language on ones cognition and the brain, the potential implications of bi-/multilingualism in the later years of life and on clinical neurodegeneration.

Andrew Weir, Associate Professor NTNU Andrew

Research interests: Syntax, semantics, interfaces, microcomparative syntax, dialectal variation, register variation (especially ‘telegraphic’ written register), ellipsis, Scottish English, Germanic.

Stefanie Wulff, Professor II UiT Andrew

Research interests: Quantitative corpus linguistics, construction grammar, variation in learner language, second language acquisition, student writing development.

Tor Anders Åfarli, Professor Emeritus NTNU Tor

Research interests: Syntax, semantics, morphology, interfaces, grammar models, inter- and intra-individual linguistic variation, bilingualism, language contact and change, heritage language, language mixing, syntactic ‘periphery’ phenomena, language acquisition, Germanic langauges, Scandinavian dialects, languages of India and China.

Judith Schlenter, MSCA Fellow UiT

Credit: Stina Guldbrandsen / UiT
Research interests: Sentence comprehension, predictive processing, first and second language acquisition, bilingualism, psycholinguistic methods.

Anna Kamenetski, Postdoc UiT

Research interests: Relationship between language and cognition, with a specific focus on the processing of aspectual temporality, event cognition, and the influence of grammatical aspect on the way L1 and L2 speakers think about events.

Jiuzhou Hao, Researcher UiT

Research interests: First language acquisition, second language acquisition, language impairment (pathology), heritage language acquisition, child bilingualism, syntactic processing in language comprehension and production, eye-movement during reading and listening (both children and adults).

Maud Westendorp, Postdoc UiT

Research interests: Variation in the Nordic languages and dialects, and in experimental approaches to syntactic variation

Gustavo Guajardo, Postdoc UiTscreen-shot-2016-12-20-at-08-50-02

Research interests: Morphosyntactic variation and change, the relationship between child language acquisition and language change, syntactic theory, Tense/Aspect/Mood, Romance, Germanic, innate vs. non-innate aspects of language.

PhD Students 

Hedda Solbakken, PhD Candidate, NTNU 

E-mail: hedda.solbakken@ntnu.no

Research interests: Syntax, morphology, nominal structure, dialect variation, grammatical gender, adjectives (inflection and distribution), second language acquisition, cross-linguistic influence.

Ingrid Bondevik, PhD Candidate, NTNUIngrid

Research interests: Syntax, experimental syntax, syntactic variation, islands, that-trace effects, L1 acquisition, Norwegian, English.

Kristin Klubbo Brodahl, PhD Candidate, NTNUKristin

Research interests: Syntax, semantics, the syntax-semantics interface,German,English, adjuncts, predication, participle constructions.

Michela Iacorossi, Phd Candidate NTNU & UiO

Michela Iacorossi
Research interests: Multilingualism, language acquisition, language processing, cross-linguistic influence, Norwegian as a foreign/second/third language, Italian.

Anna Giskes, PhD Candidate NTNU Anna

Research interests: Sentence processing, experimental syntax, anaphora, intrusion effects, processing models, Dutch, English, Norwegian, Danish.

Anastasia Kobzeva, PhD Candidate NTNU

E-mail: anastasia.kobzeva@ntnu.no

Research interests: Language acquisition (first, bilingual, heritage), language corpora, structure of early grammars, computational modelling, Russian, English, Norwegian

Laura Nogueira Sánchez, PhD Candidate NTNU

Research interests: Second and third language acquisition, multilingualism, verb placement, syntax, morphology, Catalan, Spanish, English, Norwegian.

Charlotte Sant, PhD Candidate UiT

Research interests: Semantics; modification; comparative syntax; Scandinavian microvariation.

Bror-Magnus Sviland Strand, PhD Candidate UiT Bror-Magnus S. Strand

Research interests: First language acquisition, syntax, (the acquisition and representation of) socio-linguistic registers, Scandinavian languages, bidialectism, morphosyntactic variation, finiteness and infinitive clauses.

Helene Ruud Jensberg, PhD Candidate UiT

E-mail: helene.r.jensberg@uit.no

Research interests:Language acquisition (L1, L2, bilingual), cross-linguistic influence, transfer, syntax, English in Norwegian schools.

Sunniva Briså Strætkvern, PhD Candidate NTNU Sunniva

Research interests: second and third language acquisition, multilingualism, L1-effects, V2 phenomena, adverbials, the syntax-discourse interface, French, English, Norwegian.

Anya Vinichenko, PhD Candidate UiT

E-mail: anna.vinichenko@uit.no

Research interests: Psycho- and neurolinguistics; language acquisition and the mental representation of language; sentence processing; L1 and L2 variation; multilingualism, multilectalism and their extra-linguistic cognitive effects; Scandinavian languages and dialects.

Ekaterina Zhakun, PhD Candidate UiT Kate

Research interests: Phonology, Optimality Theory, Consonant Clusters, Syllable structure, language acquisition.
Research interests: Second and third language acquisition, multilingualism, foreign language didactics, syntax and morphology, verb placement, prepositional case government, German, Norwegian

Assistants

Research interests: Bi- and multilingualism, second and third language acquisition, atipical language development.

Mahdis Jafari, Research Assistant UiT, PoLaR lab

Mahdis Jafari

E-mail: mahdis.jafari@uit.no

Research interests: Language processing and psycho/neurolinguistics of receptive bilingualism.