Research Interests
- My research interests are in semantics, pragmatics, syntax and prosody, and the way they interact to contribute to meaning. Using both offline and online experimental methods, I investigate issues pertaining to information structure, that is how speakers structure their sentence to convey information linked to the preceding context, the factors that can affect their choice, and the (context-dependent) inferences that are associated with certain of these structures.
- Past and recent projects include investigating:
- differences in the pragmatics of c'est- versus il y'a-clefts in French, and especially the influence of the Question-Under-Discussion on their interpretative properties and naturalness;
- the asymmetries in focus marking and focus interpretation in Standard vs. Colloquial French;
- post-focal compression patterns in French, and the realization of dual focus (with Caroline Féry);
- the acquisition of exhaustive inferences in the French c'est-cleft by near native speakers and L2 learners of French (with Bryan Donaldson);
- the role of contrast and speakers' expectations in the acceptability of the English it-cleft (with David Beaver & Liz Coppock);
- the processing and the underlying mechanisms of deriving the exhaustive inference in English vs. French clefts (with Joseph DeVeaugh-Geiss);
- focus realizations (and methodologies in testing) by heritage, bilingual, L2 and native speakers of Spanish (with Tania Leal & Brad Hoot).
... I also like to dance, travel, cook, scuba-dive, read, hike, and spend some quality time with my husband & son, family and friends.
Education
2013: Ph.D in Linguistics
University of Texas at Austin (Supervisor: David Beaver).
Dissertation Title: An empirical investigation on the meaning and use of the French c'est-cleft.
2005: Master in Linguistics and English literature & civilization,
Université Toulouse Le Mirail, France (Supervisor: Jacques Durand).
University of Texas at Austin (Supervisor: David Beaver).
Dissertation Title: An empirical investigation on the meaning and use of the French c'est-cleft.
2005: Master in Linguistics and English literature & civilization,
Université Toulouse Le Mirail, France (Supervisor: Jacques Durand).
Academic Positions
August 2013-present: Assistant Professor (tenure-track)
French Linguistics, Department of French & Italian (100%),
+ FLARE Program, Department of Linguistics (0% appointment as of June 2015),
University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA.
2012-2013: Lecturer
Department of French and Italian,
St. Edwards University, Austin, TX.
French Linguistics, Department of French & Italian (100%),
+ FLARE Program, Department of Linguistics (0% appointment as of June 2015),
University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA.
2012-2013: Lecturer
Department of French and Italian,
St. Edwards University, Austin, TX.
