Gözde Mercan

I am a psycholinguist interested in the question of how language is represented in the human mind and how it is processed during both comprehension and production. My research primarily consists of sentence comprehension and production experiments with various mono-, bi- and multilingual populations speaking various languages with a special emphasis on Turkish. I use a variety of experimental methods including eye-tracking, self-paced reading, and web-based tasks to study different linguistic phenomena, focusing mainly on aspects of Turkish morphosyntax. I have worked extensively within the structural priming paradigm. I am particularly interested in the processing and acquisition/learning of Turkish as a second, foreign or heritage language. I focus both on the linguistic and psychological factors involved in the acquisition of Turkish as a foreign language. I am currently teaching introductory, intermediate, and advanced level Turkish courses at U of T. My research, specifically with learners of Turkish as a foreign language complements my teaching. My current research involves the comparative investigation of sentence processing in Turkish by Turkish-English (and Turkish-French) bi-/multilinguals including foreign language learners, heritage speakers and attriters in North America (mainly in Canada) and Europe.