Lab members

Lecturer
Department of Linguistics
San Diego State University

Alicia Stevers

Alicia Stevers completed her PhD at the University of Michigan in 2020 and now works as a lecturer in Linguistics at San Diego State University, in addition to being involved in the Language Contact and Cognition Lab here at Penn. Her work primarily has used corpus and experimental methods to test pragmatic and sociopragmatic questions, specifically around determiner constructions and notions of givenness. In her spare time, she enjoys sewing, baking, and spending time with her husband, Dan and their two little boys, Emmett and Sunny.

PhD Student
Department of Linguistics
University of Pennsylvania

Jahnai Garner

Jahnai is a graduate student in the Department of Linguistics at the University of Pennsylvania. Her research interests focus on psycholinguistics and sociolinguistics.

PhD Student
Department of Linguistics
University of Pennsylvania

Le Xuan Chan

Le Xuan is a graduate student in the Department of Linguistics at the University of Pennsylvania. His research interests focus on phonetics, multilingualism, and variation.

PhD Student
Department of Linguistics
Boston University

Ousmane Cisse

Ousmane is a graduate student in the Department of Linguistics at Boston University. His research interests focus on syntax, the interaction between syntax and morphology, sociolinguistics, and Mandinka language documentation.

PhD Student
Department of Linguistics
University of Pennsylvania

Pristina Koon

Pristina’s research interests focus on how morphology and morphosyntax can change as a result of language contact. More specifically, she works on the multifunctionality and morphological innovation in mixed languages. Pristina received her BA in Linguistics and Southeast Asian Studies from the University of Michigan in 2024. 

PhD Student
Department of Linguistics
University of Pennsylvania

Quynh-Giang Dang

Quynh-Giang is a graduate student in the Department of Linguistics at the University of Pennsylvania. Her research interests include postcolonial linguistics, formal syntax and language policy. In particular, she researches Vietnamese syntax and the language education policy of Vietnam. Quynh-Giang received her BA in Linguistics (with Highest Honors) and French Studies from Emory University.

PhD Student
Department of Linguistics
University of Pennsylvania

Wesley Lincoln

Wesley Mark Lincoln is a second-year Ph.D. student in Linguistics advised by Gareth Roberts and Meredith Tamminga. His research is centered around variation and contact phenomena in the languages of his native Singapore. He is interested in both phonetic and morphosyntactic variation.

Undergraduate Student
Department of Linguistics
University of Pennsylvania

Sarah DiPietra

Sarah is an undergraduate student in the Department of Linguistics at the University of Pennsylvania. Her current research, as part of her Senior Thesis project in Linguistics, focuses on language change, language use, and language attitudes towards preserved archaic Italian dialects in the northeastern United States.

Postdoctoral Researcher
Department of Linguistics
University of Pennsylvania

Soo-Hwan Lee

Soo-Hwan’s research primarily focuses on syntax and morphology. One of his ongoing projects focuses on how nominal arguments are represented and licensed in syntax.