With support from the National Science Foundation, Dr. Viorica Marian uses bilingualism as a means for general studies of language and mind, and as an end in itself to understand bilingualism. Sometimes words in different languages sound similar or look the same on paper, and this overlap in form can influence a listener or reader's understanding of language and other mental processes. Dr. Marian records and analyzes eye movements or participants who listen or read language and examines times to respond in simple language tasks. She compares, for example, English monolinguals to Russian-English and German-English bilinguals, to tease out interactions between visual and auditory sources of one or more language. Her research incorporates state-of-the-art eye movement monitoring technology. The funded research has implications for a broad segment of population. The 2000 Census reported 18% of American households speak a language other than English at home, a proportion that is steadily increasing. More directly, this work can benefit bilingual children placed in monolingual classrooms and the project provides research training to graduate and undergraduate students studying linguistically diverse populations.
