Contact Information
707 S. Mathews Ave. | MC-168
Urbana, IL 61801
Office Hours
Biography
I was born in Mar del Plata, Argentina and completed my undergraduate university education in Argentina. I received a Masters in English from the University of Cincinnati and a PhD in Linguistics from McGill University in Montreal, Canada. I have been a professor in SUNY-Albany and I came to the University of Illinois in 1999.
I am a Professor in the Department of Spanish and Portuguese and in the Department of Linguistics and I teach graduate and undergraduate courses in Spanish and in English. I was Head of the Department of Spanish, Italian & Portuguese from 2010-2013 and Head of the Department of Spanish and Portuguese from 2015-2016. In 2010 I founded the University Language Academy for Children, an after school and summer camp Spanish program for 4-16 year old children, which I directed until 2018.
Research Interests
Second language acquisition
bilingualism
heritage language acquisition
Research Description
Grounded in linguistic theory and using psycholinguistic methodologies,my research explores the following theoretical issues:
- the linguistic nature of interlanguage and bilingual grammars
- the role of the “other” language in the acquisition or loss of a language
- the reasons why some L2 learners/bilinguals reach the level of proficiency and linguistic knowledge of native speakers while others fall short of that level even when optimal conditions for learning are provided,
- the linguistic selectivity of acquisition and loss, or why linguistic “success” or “failure” affects certain grammatical areas (vocabulary, sounds, meaning, verb endings, and discourse) but not others (sentence structure)
- the differences and similarities between linguistic processes attested in second language acquisition and bilingualism and other developmental processes typical of historicallanguage change and first language acquisition.
Education
PhD. McGill University, Montreal
Grants
National Center for Supercomputer Applications (NCSA) Faculty Fellowship Program. Project Title: Analyzing and Visualizing Linguistic Variation in Monolingual and Bilingual Speakers. Montrul, S. (PI), David Durbin (co-PI), Scott Nicholson (NSCA collaborator). $24,977 for 1 year (AY 2021-2022).
National Institutes of Health, NICHD. NIH R03HD099491. Validating New Measures of Later Language Development with Spanish and English Monolinguals and Bilinguals. Montrul, S. (PI), Yan, X., Montag, J., Christianson, K. and Hadley, P. Amount: $142,614. Duration 24 months (2020-2022).
Social and Behavioral Sciences Research Initiative Small Grants Program, University of Illinois. Project Title: Oral Language Development in School-age Dual Language Learners. Montrul, S. (PI), Montag, J., Christianson, K. and Hadley, P. Requested amount: $20,000 for 1 year (AY 2018-2019).
National Science Foundation, BCS, Perception, Action and Cognition. BCS-1431324 PI: Darren Tanner, co-PI: Silvina Montrul. Cognitive and Neurocognitive individual differences in native and non-native language processing. Amount $391,376. Duration 36 months (2014-2018).
National Science Foundation, Linguistics and International Programs. PI: Silvina Montrul, Co-PIs: Rakesh Bhatt and Roxana Girju. (Proposal No. BCS-0917593, ARRA). Research project title: Differential Object Marking in Spanish, Hindi and Romanian Heritage Speakers. Amount $303,444. Duration 36 months (2009-2012)
Awards and Honors
2024 L. Bloomfield Book Award from the Linguistics Society of America for "Native Speakers, Interrupted" (Cambridge University Press, 2022)
Marjorie Roberts Professor of Liberal Arts and Sciences
University Scholar 2013
Courses Taught
Spanish & Prtuguese
- SPAN 252: Introduction to Hispanic Linguistics
- SPAN 305: The structure of Spanish
- SPAN 307: Bilingualism
- SPAN/LING 588 Seminar in Second Language Acquisition
Linguistics
- LING 489: Theoretical Foundations of Second Language Acquisition
- LING 514: Research Design and Statistics
- LING 529: Second Language Acquisition and Bilingualism
- LING 560: Seminar in Bilingualism
Additional Campus Affiliations
Professor, Spanish and Portuguese
Professor, French and Italian
Professor, Global Studies Programs and Courses
Professor, Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology
Highlighted Publications
Books
Montrul, Silvina. The Acquisition of Heritage Languages. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2016. excerpt.
Montrul, Silvina. El bilingüismo en el mundo hispanohablante. Malden, MA: Wiley-Blackwell, 2013.
Montrul, S. Incomplete Acquisition in Bilingualism. Re-examining the Age Factor. [Series on Studies in Bilingualism]. Amsterdam: John Benjamins, 2008.
Montrul, S. The Acquisition of Spanish. Morphosyntactic Development in Monolingual and Bilingual L1 Acquisition and in Adult L2 Acquisition. [Series on Language Acquisition and Language Disorders]. Amsterdam: John Benjamins, 2004.
Journal Articles
Montrul, Silvina, Rakesh Bhatt, and Roxana Girju. "Differential Object Marking in Spanish, Hindi and Romanian as heritage languages." Language, vol. 91, no. 3, 2015, p. 1-47.
Benmamoun, Elabbas, Abdulkafi Albirini, Silvina Montrul, and Eman Saadah. "Arabic plurals and root and pattern morphology in Palestinian and Egyptian heritage speakers." Linguistic Approaches to Bilingualism, vol. 4, no. 1, 2014, p. 89-123.
Montrul, Silvina, Justin Davidson, Israel de la Fuente, and Rebecca Foote. "Early language experience facilitates gender agreement processing in Spanish heritage speakers." Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, vol. 17, no. 1, 118-138, 2014.
Benmamoun, Elabbas, Silvina Montrul, and Maria Polinsky. "Defining and “ideal” heritage speaker: Theoretical and methodological challenges. Reply to peer commentaries." Theoretical Linguistics, vol. 39, no. 3-4, 2013, p. 259-294.
Montrul, Silvina, and Noelia Sánchez-Walker. "Differential object marking in child and adult Spanish heritage speakers". Language Acquisition, vol. 20, no. 109-132, 2013.
Montrul, Silvina. "How native are heritage speakers? A look at gender agreement in Spanish." The Heritage Language Journal, vol. 10, no. 2, 15-39, 2013.
Benmamoun, Elabbas, Silvina Montrul, and Maria Polinsky. "Keynote article. Heritage languages and their speakers: Opportunities and challenges for linguistics." Theoretical Linguistics, vol. 39, no. 3-4, 2013, p. 129-181.
Montrul, Silvina, Israel de la Fuente, Justin Davidson, and Rebecca Foote. "The role of experience in the acquisition and production of diminutives and gender in Spanish: Evidence from L2 learners and heritage speakers." Second Language Research, vol. 29, no. 1, 87-118, 2013.
Montrul, Silvina, and Tania Ionin. "Dominant language transfer in Spanish heritage speakers and L2 learners in the interpretation of definite articles." The Modern Language Journal, vol. 96, no. 2, 2012, p. 70-94.
Montrul, Silvina, Rakesh Bhatt, and Archna Bhatia. "Erosion of case and agreement in Hindi heritage Speakers." Linguistic Approaches to Bilingualism, vol. 2, 2012, p. 141-176.
Ionin, T, S. Montrul, and H. Santos. "An Experimental Investigation of the Expression of Genericity in English, Spanish and Brazilian Portuguese." Lingua, vol. 121, 2011, p. 963-985.
Montrul, S, R. Dias, and H. Santos. "Clitics and object expression in the L3 acquisition of Brazilian Portuguese. Structural similarity matters for transfer." Special issue of Second Language Research on L3 acquisition, vol. 27, no. 1, 2011, p. 21-58.
"Interfaces and incomplete acquisition." Lingua, vol. 212, no. 4, 2011, p. 591-604.
"Morphological errors in Spanish second language learners and heritage speakers." Studies in Second Language Acquisition, vol. 33, no. 2, 2011, p. 155-161.
Montrul, S. "Current issues in heritage language acquisition." Annual Review of Applied Linguistics, vol. 30, 2010, p. 3-23.
Montrul, S. "Dominant language transfer in Spanish L2 learners and heritage speakers." Special issue of Second Language Research, vol. 26, no. 3, 2010, p. 293-925.
Montrul, S. "How similar are L2 learners and heritage speakers? Spanish clitics and word order." Applied Psycholinguistics, vol. 31, 2010, p. 167-207.
Montrul, S, and M Bowles. "Is grammar instruction beneficial for heritage language learners? Dative case marking in Spanish." The Heritage Language Journal, vol. 7, no. 1, 2010, p. 47-73. (download).
Montrul, S, and M Bowles. "Is grammar instruction beneficial for heritage language learners? Dative case marking in Spanish." The Heritage Language Journal, vol. 7, no. 1, 2010, p. 47-73. (download).
Ionin, T, and S Montrul. "The role of L1-transfer in the interpretation of articles with definite plurals in L2-English." Language Learning, vol. 60, no. 4, 2010, p. 877-925.
Montrul, S, and T. Ionin. "Transfer effects in the interpretation of definite articles by Spanish heritage speakers." Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, vol. 13, no. 4, 2010, p. 449-473.
Montrul, S, and M. Bowles. "Back to basics: Differential Object Marking under incomplete acquisition in Spanish heritage speakers." Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, vol. 12, no. 4, 2009, p. 363-383.
"Incomplete Acquisition of Tense-Aspect and Mood in Spanish Heritage Speakers." The International Journal of Bilingualism, vol. 13, no. 3, 2009, p. 239-269.
Montrul, S. "Reexamining the Fundamental Difference Hypothesis: What can early bilinguals tell us?" Studies in Second Language Acquisition, vol. 31, no. 2, 2009, p. 225-257.
Montrul, S, R Foote, and S Perpiñán. "Gender agreement in adult second language learners and Spanish heritage speakers: The effects of age and context of acquisition." Language Learning, vol. 58, no. 3, 2008, p. 503–553.
Montrul, S, and K Potowski. "Command of gender agreement in school-age Spanish bilingual children." International Journal of Bilingualism, vol. 11, no. 3, 2007, p. 301–328.
Montrul, S. "Subject and object expression in Spanish heritage speakers: A case of morpho-syntactic convergence." Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, vol. 7, no. 2, 2004, p. 125–142.
Montrul, S, and R Slabakova. "Competence similarities between native and near-native speakers: An investigation of the preterite/imperfect contrast in Spanish." Studies in Second Language Acquisition, vol. 25, no. 3, 2003, p. 351-398.
"Incomplete acquisition and attrition of Spanish tense/aspect distinctions in adult bilinguals." Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, vol. 5, no. 1, 2002, p. 39-68.
Edited Books
Arregi, K, Z. Fagyal, S. Montrul, and A. Tremblay. Interactions in Romance. Selected papers from the 38th Linguistic Symposium on Romance Languages. Amsterdam: John Benjamins, 2010.
Slabakova, R, S Montrul, and P Prévost. Inquiries in Linguistic Development. In Honor of Lydia White. Amsterdam: John Benjamins, 2006.
Linguistic Theory and Language Development in Hispanic Languages. Selected Papers from the 5th Hispanic Linguistics Symposium and the 2001 Conference on the Acquisition of Spanish and Portuguese. Somerville, MA: Cascadilla Press, 2003.
Recent Publications
Coşkun Kunduz, A., & Montrul, S. (2024). Relative clauses in child heritage speakers of Turkish in the United States. Linguistic Approaches to Bilingualism, 14(2), 218-254. https://doi.org/10.1075/lab.21027.cos
Ionin, T., Montrul, S., & Slabakova, R. (2024). Introduction. In T. Ionin, S. Montrul, & R. Slabakova (Eds.), The Routledge Handbook of Second Language Acquisition, Morphosyntax, and Semantics (pp. 1-10). (Routledge Handbooks in Second Language Acquisition). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003412373-1
Ionin, T., Montrul, S., & Slabakova, R. (Eds.) (2024). The Routledge Handbook of Second Language Acquisition, Morphosyntax, and Semantics. (Routledge Handbooks in Second Language Acquisition). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003412373
Montrul, S. (2024). Semantically Based Case. In T. Ionin, S. Montrul, & R. Slabakova (Eds.), The Routledge Handbook of Second Language Acquisition, Morphosyntax, and Semantics (pp. 224-239). (Routledge Handbooks in Second Language Acquisition). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003412373-20
Montrul, S., & Armstrong, A. (2024). The Literacy Enhancement Hypothesis in bilingual language development. In E. Babatsouli (Ed.), Multilingual Acquisition and Learning: An ecosystemic view to diversity (pp. 60-89). (Studies in Bilingualism; Vol. 67). John Benjamins Publishing Company. https://doi.org/10.1075/sibil.67.02mon