Dr. Sara Fernández Santos
Chair of Language and Cognition (Alexander von Humboldt Professorship)
Contact
I completed my doctorate at Friedrich-Alexander University (FAU) Erlangen-Nürnberg as a member of the Research Training Group Dimensions of Constructional Space. As part of the research team, I investigated the role of frequency and phonological salience in the acquisition of constructions through psycholinguistic experiments (project 7). I am now expanding on this work as a postdoctoral researcher at the Chair for Language and Cognition at FAU.
Conferences
- The Role of Perceptual Salience in L2 Cross-Situational Learning. 15th International Symposium on Bilingualism (ISB15). San Sebastián, 9-13 June 2025 (presentation).
- Cue timing trumps syntactic transparency in sentence processing. Architectures and Mechanisms for Language Processing 30th (AMLaP30). Edinburgh, 5-7 September 2024 (poster).
- Cue timing trumps syntactic transparency in sentence processing. Variation and Language Processing Conference 6th (VALP6). Vigo, 26-28 June 2024 (presentation).
- Predictive processing can alter phonetic perceptions in Spanish object relatives. Forum Junge Englische Linguistik in Bayern (FJUEL). Erlangen, 29-30 September 2023 (presentation).
- Evolution of cognitive representations: The case of Spanish object relatives. 16th International Cognitive Linguistics Conference (ICLC16). Düsseldorf, 7-11 August 2023 (presentation).
- Evolution of cognitive representations: The case of Spanish object relatives. 12th International Conference on Construction Grammar (ICCG12). Prague, 19-21 May 2023 (presentation).
Publications
2026
- Fernández Santos, S., Rebuschat, P., Correia, S., Monaghan, P., & Llompart, M. (2026). The effect of morphological salience and novel phonology in the initial stage of second language learning. Studies in Second Language Acquisition. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0272263126101776
- Kenanidis, P., Fernández Santos, S., & Wright, R. (2026). Usage-Based Language Learning. In International Encyclopedia of Language and Linguistics (Third Edition). (pp. 636-641).
2025
- Fernández Santos, S., De la Garza Espinosa, V., Kaßler, A., & Winckel, E. (2025). Experimental Methods. In Reference Module in Social Sciences. Elsevier.
- Fernández Santos, S., Llompart, M., & Dabrowska, E. (2025). Predictive processing can override perceptual information: evidence from Spanish object relative clauses. Language and Cognition, 17. https://doi.org/10.1017/langcog.2025.10015
2024
- Kenanidis, P., Llompart, M., Fernández Santos, S., & Dabrowska, E. (2024). Redundancy can hinder adult L2 grammar learning: evidence from case markers of varying salience levels. Frontiers in Psychology, 15. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1368080
- Llompart, M., Fernández Santos, S., & Dabrowska, E. (2024). Comprehension of object relatives in Spanish: the role of frequency and transparency in acquisition and adult grammar. Cognitive Linguistics. https://doi.org/10.1515/cog-2024-0016
Data, materials, and other research resources
The data and other research resources associated with my publications are openly available in the following repositories:
Predictive processing can override perceptual information: evidence from Spanish object relative clauses (Fernández Santos et al. 2025)
OSF repository
Redundancy can hinder adult L2 grammar learning: evidence from case markers of varying salience levels (Kenanidis et al. 2024)
OSF repository
Comprehension of object relatives in Spanish: the role of frequency and transparency in acquisition and adult grammar (Llompart et al. 2024)
OSF repository