UCD lecture: Does your grammar have an accent? (with complimentary dinner)

UCD IRISH INSTITUTE FOR CHINESE STUDIES PUBLIC LECTURE SERIES

Does your grammar have an accent? Psycholinguistic insights and applied consequences

Professor Dr Holger Hopp, TU Braunschweig

This talk surveys and challenges common preconceptions about foreign language learning and bilingualism. Starting from observing how a foreign accent leads us to view and label a speaker, we survey recent psycholinguistic experiments that show how a foreign accent acts as a cue for us to turn a blind eye to a speaker’s grammatical ability in a (foreign) language. By widening the lens to bilingual speakers other than adult foreign language learners, such as bilinguals from birth, we discuss how accents and cross-linguistic interference are not specific to foreign language learning; rather, they are part and parcel of bilingualism in general. Finally, we explore how recent statistical modelling allows us to move beyond group-level categorizations, such as foreign-language learners or native speakers, in accounting for the rich and varied forms of bilingualism in a European and a global context. This way, we critically examine preconceived notions of what foreign language learners can achieve and discuss how we can move beyond group labels and set expectations of bilingual learners and speakers.

Holger Hopp is a Professor of English Linguistics at the University of Braunschweig (TU Braunschweig) in Germany. In his research, he investigates child and adult second/third language acquisition and processing as well as heritage language acquisition and attrition. His research employes several psycholinguistic real-time methods to determine the directionality, scope and degree of cross-linguistic influence in bi- and multilingual speakers of different ages. He is an Executive Editor of the journal Linguistic Approaches to Bilingualism.

6-7 pm Thursday 05 March 2026

004 Theatre, Confucius Institute Building, UCD Belfield Campus

(Doors close at 6:10pm)

This event is held both in-person and online, with the lecture delivered in English.

A complimentary Chinese meal will be provided after the lecture. (Please note that the meal may contain allergens. If you have any allergies, please speak to the staff on-site.)

Zoom Meeting ID: 687 7630 6617

Zoom link: https://ucd-ie.zoom.us/j/68776306617

Event Venue & Nearby Stays

004 Theatre, UCD Confucius Institute Building, Stillorgan Road, Dublin 4, Ireland

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