The amazing world of second language acquisition
Francesco Bryan Romano Ph.D.
I am a science-driven, passionate, knowledge-greedy linguist with a general proclivity to answering puzzling questions about how second languages develop in the mind. My interests lie at the crossroads of education, developmental psychology, and experimental linguistics. The main purpose of my intellectual endeavors is to learn through research and teach through lectures how language is represented in the human mind. Learn more about my work by checking out my current research and blog.
Current research
Child and Adult Heritage Language Acquisition
Second Language Acquisition
Language Attrition
Second Se
This project aims to verify whether very advanced L2 Spanish (L1 English, L1 German and L1 European Portuguese (EP)) adult speakers can attain native-like competence in the L2, and whether there is evidence of attrition effects (loss of structures previously acquired) in their L1s.
September 2022-2006
Does typological similarity between the minority and majority languages of bilingual children favor a more complete acquisition of the minority language later in life?
October 15, 2022
In this project run across Spain, I look at the effects of raising heritage children with two very similar languages, Italian, the minority, family language, paired to Spanish, the dominant, working language of their upbringing. Results are then compared to Swedish, a very different language to Italian, by comparing heritage speakers of Italian dominant in Swedish.
Does early exposure to and instruction in a minority family language bring measurable benefits to its ultimate development in adulhood?
August 15, 2018
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A study I have conducted with heritage language speakers of Italian dominant in Swedish at the University of Stockholm shows that early exposure to and instruction in the minority family language during childhood is associated with better knowledge of deep structural properties in comparison to surface forms such as grammatical inflection.
Past research
Second Language Acquisition
When we speak, do we plan sentences in a second language the same way we do in our first language?
January 12, 2018
Yes! In a study I conducted with very advanced Turkish speakers of English in Istanbul and Chinese speakers in the UK, I found that these speakers organise speech production in English in remarkably similar ways to native speakers of English.
Do grammatical similarities between your native language and a foreign language make it easier for you to acquire it?
June, 2011
In a study I conducted with adult Spanish and French learners of English in the UK and Spanish and English learners of Italian in Italy, I found that at early stages of language learning in classrooms, mistakes made by learners with verb inflections are systematic and regular regardless of similarity between their native language and English/Italian. This suggests that as second/foreign language learners, we all undergo a same stage of development in which our grammars are underspecified.
Contact Me
Halmstad University
Department of English
Academy of Education, Humanities, and Social Sciences (LHS)