Biography
Alexandra Román-Irizarry is a first year graduate student specializing in Human Development in Context (HDIC). She is mainly interested in examining the electrophysiological correlates Spanish-English bilinguals engage for processing the gender-neutral pronouns “they” in English and “elles” in Spanish. Alexandra is currently working under the supervision of Dr. Judith Kroll at the Bilingualism, Mind, and Brain Lab, and Dr. Julio Torres at El Areyto Lab. Through her research, Alexandra hopes to explore the relationship between the explicit usage of a linguistic phenomenon and its implicit processing. By doing so, she hopes to discover effective teaching methods that will aid in the teaching of non-binary gender-inclusive language in Spanish. Alexandra also aims to pursue a graduate emphasis in Gender and Sexuality Studies.
Alexandra received her bachelor’s degree in Modern Languages (French, Chinese, and Japanese) and Hispanic Linguistics at the University of Puerto Rico, Río Piedras. As an undergraduate she was awarded a Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship (MMUF) and a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship (NSF GRFP).
Alexandra Román-Irizarry is a first year graduate student specializing in Human Development in Context (HDIC). She is mainly interested in examining the electrophysiological correlates Spanish-English bilinguals engage for processing the gender-neutral pronouns “they” in English and “elles” in Spanish. Alexandra is currently working under the supervision of Dr. Judith Kroll at the Bilingualism, Mind, and Brain Lab, and Dr. Julio Torres at El Areyto Lab. Through her research, Alexandra hopes to explore the relationship between the explicit usage of a linguistic phenomenon and its implicit processing. By doing so, she hopes to discover effective teaching methods that will aid in the teaching of non-binary gender-inclusive language in Spanish. Alexandra also aims to pursue a graduate emphasis in Gender and Sexuality Studies.
Alexandra received her bachelor’s degree in Modern Languages (French, Chinese, and Japanese) and Hispanic Linguistics at the University of Puerto Rico, Río Piedras. As an undergraduate she was awarded a Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship (MMUF) and a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship (NSF GRFP).
Presentations
Román Irizarry, A. (2021, May 22). “Processing non-binary gender-inclusive morphemes and gender-neutral nouns in Spanish: How experience with queerness influences the linguistic processing of –x and –e” [Online poster presentation]. California Meeting on Psycholinguistics, University of California, Irvine.
Román Irizarry, A. (2020, November 14). “Todxs or Todes?: A Psycholinguistic Study of Non-binary Gender Inclusive Morphemes in Spanish” [Online oral presentation]. Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship Southeastern Regional Conference, Spelman College.
Román Irizarry, A. (2020, October 9). “The case of –x as a gender inclusive morpheme in Spanish pro-forms: an eye tracking study” [Online oral presentation]. 6th Penn State Undergraduate Exhibition in Hispanic and General Linguistics, Penn State University.
Román Irizarry, A. (2020, March 4). “Cambio social a través del procesamiento del lenguaje inclusivo en la juventud puertorriqueña contemporánea” ‘Social change by means of the processing of gender inclusive language among the current Puerto Rican youth’ [Oral presentation]. VIII Coloquio ¿Del otro la’o?, University of Puerto Rico, Mayagüez.
Román Irizarry, A. (2019, November 9). “Gender inclusive language among Puerto Rican college students: The linguistic processing of –x and –e” [Oral presentation]. Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship Southeastern Regional Conference, Rice University, Houston.
Román Irizarry, A. (2021, May 22). “Processing non-binary gender-inclusive morphemes and gender-neutral nouns in Spanish: How experience with queerness influences the linguistic processing of –x and –e” [Online poster presentation]. California Meeting on Psycholinguistics, University of California, Irvine.
Román Irizarry, A. (2020, November 14). “Todxs or Todes?: A Psycholinguistic Study of Non-binary Gender Inclusive Morphemes in Spanish” [Online oral presentation]. Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship Southeastern Regional Conference, Spelman College.
Román Irizarry, A. (2020, October 9). “The case of –x as a gender inclusive morpheme in Spanish pro-forms: an eye tracking study” [Online oral presentation]. 6th Penn State Undergraduate Exhibition in Hispanic and General Linguistics, Penn State University.
Román Irizarry, A. (2020, March 4). “Cambio social a través del procesamiento del lenguaje inclusivo en la juventud puertorriqueña contemporánea” ‘Social change by means of the processing of gender inclusive language among the current Puerto Rican youth’ [Oral presentation]. VIII Coloquio ¿Del otro la’o?, University of Puerto Rico, Mayagüez.
Román Irizarry, A. (2019, November 9). “Gender inclusive language among Puerto Rican college students: The linguistic processing of –x and –e” [Oral presentation]. Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship Southeastern Regional Conference, Rice University, Houston.
