糖心原创

CRAL
Centre for Research in Applied Linguistics
 

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Kathy Conklin

Professor in Psycholinguistics, Faculty of Arts

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Expertise Summary

I am fascinated by how our mind represents and processes all of the complexities of a first (L1) and a second (L2) language. In particular, my research focuses on: 1. the learning, representation and processing of multi-word units (e.g. "bread and butter") in a first (L1) and second (L2) language; 2. implicit and explicit L2 word learning; and 3. automatic word activation in an L1/L2. While much of my work could be termed 'basic research', I believe that part of the value of research is its potential application. Therefore, other elements of my research are more 'applied' and have involved developing innovative interdisciplinary networks with academics from other fields, as well as external partners (e.g. Browne & Jacobson, LLP; Phone-paid Service Authority; BBC). In this research, I apply psycholinguistic techniques to address a range of real-world questions focusing on the readability of language in different contexts by varied segments of the population.

My research makes use of behavioral measures, eye-tracking, and EEG. You can view my video '' on YouTube or my podcast about , Episode 2 of The Language Scientists.

Teaching Summary

My teaching largely addresses topics like: is the human brain special, how do we learn language and what allows us to learn a first and second language, how do we produce and understand words and… read more

Research Summary

We constantly use language, and it becomes so practiced that we produce it and comprehend it automatically in a variety of contexts in our native language. However, in a nonnative language reduced… read more

Selected Publications

  • PELLICER-S脕NCHEZ, A., CONKLIN, K. and VILKAITE-LOZDIENE, L., 2021. Language Learning. 71(1), 162-203
  • CONKLIN, K. and CARROL, G., 2020. Words go together like 鈥渂read and butter鈥�: The rapid, automatic learning of lexical patterns Applied Linguistics. Online first, 1-23
  • KYRIACOU, M., CONKLIN, K. and THOMPSON, D., 2020. Language and Speech. 63(2), 404-435
  • CARROL, G. and CONKLIN, K., 2020. Language and Speech. 63(1), 95-122

My goal is for PhD students to establish themselves as researchers. This means ensuring they receive specialized training in experimental design, using specialized software and equipment (e.g. eye-tracker), data analysis, and writing-up their research for the thesis as well as for publication. Postgrads enter a very competitive global academic and professional market. Thus, I help my PhD students gain skills in applying for grants, presenting at conferences, publishing, and developing collaborative research.

Current PhD Students

Xinyue Wang - Cognate facilitation in difference script bilinguals

Shatha Alsaif - Second language vocabulary learning with apps

Emily Claughton - Modeling language change in networks

- Modeling formulaic language acquisition and processing

Viktor (Zijia) Zhong - The processing of collocations by heritage speakers and L2 learners

Maisa Qani - The influence of audio-visual input and accent on listening comprehension

Fahad Ameen - Learning vocabulary from gaming

Completed PhD Students

Arwa Alfreah (2025) Learning polysemous words in a second language

(2025) Children's L2 phonological development

(2024) Learning idioms in a first and second language by children and adults

(2023) Metaphor comprehension and learning in second language speakers of English

Aziz Altamimi (2021) The acquisition and processing of formulaic language

(2021) Situational language Understanding in Texts

(2020) The impact of teaching-materials on formulaic language processing in Japanese learners of English

(2020) The effect of input mode, input enhancement and number of exposures on the learning and processing of binomials

(2019) Understanding modified idiomatic expressions

(2019) A psycho-stylistic approach to Virginia Woolf's use of free indirect style

(2015) Idiom processing in native and non-native speakers

(2013) Cross-linguistic similarity in Japanese-English bilingual processing and representation

(2013) Incidental acquisition of foreign language vocabulary through multi-modal situations

(2013) Activation of Chinese lexical information following automatic translation from English

Alice Doherty (2013) The use of gender and number cues in L1 and L2 pronoun processing

(2012) Neuroimaging investigations of lexical processing, executive control, and the bilingual advantage

(2010) On-line processing of multi-word sequences in an L1 and L2: Evidence from eye-tracking and ERP

My teaching largely addresses topics like: is the human brain special, how do we learn language and what allows us to learn a first and second language, how do we produce and understand words and sentences, how do we use context to produce and understand meaning, and how do we use and understand idioms and metaphor, and understand literary texts?

Undergraduate Modules Taught

3rd Year - Language and the Mind

2nd Year - Language Development

1st Year - 糖心原创ing Language, I contribute in the areas of "Language Science", "Language and the Brain" and "Language Acquisition"

1st Year - Academic Community

Postgraduate Modules Taught

Psychology of Language

MA by distance learning - Words and Multiword Units

Postgraduate Training

Nottingham Psycholinguistics and Language Learning Lab

Current Research

We constantly use language, and it becomes so practiced that we produce it and comprehend it automatically in a variety of contexts in our native language. However, in a nonnative language reduced proficiency can lead to more mistakes in language production, having a recognizable accent, being slower in reading and comprehension, etc. With well over half the world being bilingual, determining what makes language processing automatic, or 'easier', in a native language, and less so in a nonnative language is an important undertaking. With this in mind, my research focuses on a number of key questions.

(1) Frequent multi-word sequences (fish and chips) are processed more quickly than infrequent or novel sequences (chips and fish). What underpins the processing advantage? And what might allow nonnative speakers to realize this same processing advantage?

(2) It seems impossible to achieve fluency in a L2 simply in the confines of the classroom. What aspects of language, like vocabulary, can be learned implicitly? And what factors impact implicit L2 learning?

(3) Words from a L1 are activated when processing in a L2. Thus, L1 coinEnglish is activated when reading L2 coinFrench. What factors influence this automatic activation? For example, what is the role of the amount of cross-linguistic overlap? Also, what is the impact of non-selective activation on cognitive control?

I also use psycholinguistic techniques to study language in real-world contexts. Together with Dr. Richard Hyde (School of Law) and Dr. Fabio Parente (School of English), we have been looking at the readability of language in legal and other contexts.

  • Working with Browne and Jacobson, LLP, we used readability measures, questionnaires and eye-tracking to explore how various segments of the population read legal documents. Our findings allowed us to develop guidelines to reduce the reading age of one insurance policy by 10 years: from doctorate level to that of an eighth-grade student (i.e. a 12-13 year-old). This increased the percentage of the U.K. population that could understand the policy by some 75%, from 13.4% to 89% (an increase of 40.4 million people). We have also done work for: Beazley Insurance, Ecclesiastical Insurance, Cornish Mutual Insurance and Habito (online mortgage broker).
  • Working with the Phone-paid Service Authority (PSA), which is the U.K. regulator for the content, goods and services that are charged to a phone bill, we looked at webpages with paid phone connection services to discover: 1) how people's web searches lead them to such webpages, 2) what people look at on these webpages (incorrect logos, misspellings, any disclaimers, etc.); and 3) people's ability to detect that they have landed on such webpages. Based on the results of this research, we helped PSA to develop an evidence-based Code of Practice that helps protect consumers from harm, which they have used as a basis for proposing regulatory changes in the U.K. for Information, Connection & Signposting Services (ICSS) (April 2019).

Notably, my research makes use of behavioral measures, eye-tracking, and EEG. You can view my video '' on YouTube or my podcast about ''. You can see more about what I research by clicking on the Research Supervision tab. My book on using eye-tracking technology in applied Linguistics was recently released.

CONKLIN, K.,PELLICER-S脕NCHEZ, A., & CARROL, G. (2018). . Cambridge University Press.

  • PELLICER-S脕NCHEZ, A., CONKLIN, K. and VILKAITE-LOZDIENE, L., 2021. Language Learning. 71(1), 162-203
  • PARENTE, F., CONKLIN, K., GUY, J. and SCOTT, R., 2021. Language and Literature. 30(1), 21-36
  • ALLEN, D., CONKLIN, K. and MIWA, K., 2021. International Journal of Bilingualism. 25(1), 168-188
  • MASTROPIERRO, L. and CONKLIN, K., 2021. Journal of Literary Semantics. 50(1), 25-41
  • THUL, R. and CONKLIN, K., 2021. Journal of Memory and Language. Online First, 1-18
  • KYRIACOU, M., CONKLIN, K. and THOMPSON, D., 2020. Language and Speech. 63(2), 404-435
  • CARROL, G. and CONKLIN, K., 2020. Language and Speech. 63(1), 95-122
  • CONKLIN, K. and GUY, J., 2020. English Language and Literature: Investigating Literariness Using a New Psycholinguistic Methodology. In: ADOLPHS, S. and KNIGHT, D., eds., Routledge Handbook of English Language and Digital Humanities Routledge.
  • GRISOT, G., CONKLIN, K. and SOTIROVA, V., 2020. Language and Literature. 29(2), 103-123
  • CONKLIN, K., ALOTAIBI, S., PELLICER-S脕NCHEZ, A. and VILKAITE-LOZDIENE, L., 2020. Second Language Research. 257-276(3), 257-276
  • GODFROID, A., WINKE, P. and CONKLIN, K., 2020. Second Language Research. 36(3), 243-255
  • PELLICER-S脕NCHEZ, A., TRAGANT, E., CONKLIN, K., RODGERS, M., SERRANO, R. and LLANES, A., 2020. Studies in Second Language Acquisition. 42(3), 665-665
  • CONKLIN, K. and CARROL, G., 2020. Words go together like 鈥渂read and butter鈥�: The rapid, automatic learning of lexical patterns Applied Linguistics. Online first, 1-23
  • CONKLIN, K., HYDE, R. and PARENTE, F., 2019. Legal Studies. 39(3), 309-325
  • NORTHBROOK, J. and CONKLIN, K., 2019. Applied Linguistics. 40(5), 816-833
  • MASTROPIERRO, L. and CONKLIN, K., 2019. Language and Literature. 28(4), 309-325
  • PARENTE, F., CONKLIN, K., GUY, J., SCOTT, R. and CARROL, G., 2019. Scientific 糖心原创 of Literature. 9(1), 3-33
  • PELLICER-S脕NCHEZ, A. and CONKLIN, K., 2019. Eye-tracking as a data collection method. In: MCKINLEY, J. and ROSE, H., eds., Routledge Handbook of Research Methods in Applied Linguistics Routledge.
  • CONKLIN, K., 2019. Processing single- and multi-word items. In: WEBB, S., ed., Routledge Handbook of Vocabulary Studies Routledge. 174-188
  • CONKLIN, K., PELLICER-S脕NCHEZ, A. and CARROL, G., 2018. An introduction to eye-tracking: A guide for applied linguistics research Cambridge University Press.
  • GUY, J., CONKLIN, K. and SANCHEZ-DAVIES, J., 2018. Language and Literature. 27(3), 196-217
  • NORTHBROOK, J. and CONKLIN, K., 2018. International Journal of Corpus Linguistics. 23(3), 311-334
  • CONKLIN, K. and CARROL, G., 2018. First language influence on the processing of formulaic language in a second language. In: SIYANOVA-CHANTURIA, A. and PELLICER-S脕NCHEZ, A., eds., Understanding formulaic language: A second language acquisition perspective Routledge. 62-77
  • CARROL, G. and CONKLIN, K., 2017. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition. 20(2), 299-317
  • DOHERTY, A. and CONKLIN, K., 2017. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology. 70(4), 718-735
  • ALLEN, D. and CONKLIN, K., 2017. Journal of the Ochanomizu University English Society. 7, 41-57
  • SIYANOVA-CHANTURIA, A., CONKLIN, K., CAFFARRA, S., KAAN, E. and VAN HEUVEN, W.J.B., 2017. Brain and Language. 175, 111-122
  • CONKLIN, K. and PELLICER-S脕NCHEZ, A., 2016. Second Language Research. 32(3), 453-467
  • GUY, J., SCOTT, R., CARROL, G. and CONKLIN, K., 2016. English Literature in Transition, 1880-1920. 59(4), 435-455
  • CARROL, G., CONKLIN, K., CONKLIN, K. and GYLLSTAD, H., 2016. Studies in Second Language Acquisition. 38(3), 403-443
  • ALLEN, D., CONKLIN, K. and VAN HEUVEN, W.J.B., 2015. The Mental Lexicon. 10(1), 32-55
  • BISSON, M.-J., VAN HEUVEN, W.J.B., CONKLIN, K. and TUNNEY, R.J., 2015. QUARTERLY JOURNAL OF EXPERIMENTAL PSYCHOLOGY. 68(7), 1306-1326
  • BOO, P. and CONKLIN, K., 2015. Journal of Second Language Teaching and Research. 4(1), 111-129
  • CARROL, G., CONKLIN, K., GUY, J. and SCOTT, R., 2015. Scientific 糖心原创 of Literature. 5(2), 200-228
  • BISSON, M.-J., VAN HEUVEN, W.J.B., CONKLIN, K. and TUNNEY, R.J., 2014. Applied Psycholinguistics. 35(2), 399-418
  • CARROL, G. and CONKLIN, K., 2014. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition. 17(4), 784-797
  • BISSON, M.-J., VAN HEUVEN, W.J.B., CONKLIN, K. and TUNNEY, R.J., 2014. Language Learning. 64(4), 855-877
  • MAHLBERG, M., CONKLIN, K. and BISSON, M.-J., 2014. Language and Literature. 23(4), 369-388
  • SZUDARSKI, P. and CONKLIN, K., 2014. TESOL Quarterly. 48(4), 833-842
  • CARROL, G. and CONKLIN, K., 2014. Journal of Eye Movement Research. 7(5), 1-11
  • BISSON, M-.J., VAN HEUVEN, W.J.B., CONKLIN, K. and TUNNEY, R.J., 2013. PLoS ONE. 8(4), e60912
  • ALLEN, D.B. and CONKLIN, K., 2013. PLoS ONE. 8(8), 1-14
  • ALLEN, D.B. and CONKLIN, K., 2013. Behavior Research Methods. 46(2), 540-563
  • CONKLIN, K. and SCHMITT, N., 2012. Annual Review of Applied Linguistics. 32, 45-61
  • CODERRE, E., VAN HEUVEN, W.J.B. and CONKLIN, K., 2012. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition. 16(2), 420-441
  • SIYANOVA-CHANTURIA, A., CONKLIN, K. and VAN HEUVEN, W.J.B., 2011. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory and Cognition. 37(3), 776-784
  • SIYANOVA-CHANTURIA, A., CONKLIN, K. and SCHMITT, N., 2011. Second Language Research. 27(2), 251-272
  • CODERRE, E., CONKLIN, K. and VAN HEUVEN, W.J.B., 2011. Brain Research. 1413(21), 51-59
  • ZHANG, T., VAN HEUVEN, W.J.B. and CONKLIN, K., 2011. Psychological Science. 22(10), 1237-1242
  • VAN HEUVEN, W.J.B., CONKLIN, K., CODERRE, E., GUO, T. and DIJKSTRA, T., 2011. Frontiers in Psychology. 2(374), 1-15
  • KOENIG, J.-P., MAUNER, G., BIENVENUE, B. and CONKLIN, K., 2008. Journal of Semantics. 25, 175-220
  • CONKLIN, K. and SCHMITT, N., 2008. Applied Linguistics. 29(1), 72-89
  • CONKLIN, K. and MAUNER, G., 2005. Bilingual semantic acess of homographs. In: COHEN, J., MCALISTER, K.T., ROLSTAD, K. and MACSWAN, J., eds., ISB4: Proceedings of the 4th International Symposium on Bilingualism Cascadilla Press. 552-569
  • CONKLIN, K., KOENIG, J.-P. and MAUNER, G., 2004. Brain and Language. 90(1-3), 221-230

Centre for Research in Applied Linguistics

The 糖心原创
Nottingham
NG7 2RD

telephone: +44 (0) 115 951 5900
fax: +44 (0) 115 951 5924
email: cral@nottingham.ac.uk