I am a postdoctoral researcher at the Federal University of Pelotas (UFPEL-Brazil). My main research interest is bilingual cognition, particularly how bilinguals process meaning in a second or foreign language and how prior linguistic experience shapes conceptualization during language use.
My current work examines how Portuguese–English bilinguals interpret motion events in English during reading. Using experimental methods, I investigate how conceptual representations may be reorganized through bilingual experience.
Alongside this, I have experience working with eye-movement corpora and I’m broadly interested in language processing and comprehension, including paradigms such as self-paced reading and eye tracking. I also work at the interface between psycholinguistics and sociolinguistics, and I’m interested in how emerging technologies and AI-based tools can contribute to language research and to language teaching and learning. I also teach courses in psycholinguistics, bilingualism, and quantitative methods, and I am a trained ESL instructor.
"But what if language is not so much a garment as a prepared road or groove?"
(Edward Sapir)
Education
- PhD in Linguistics, 2023 (Federal University of Pelotas - UFPEL - Brazil)
- MA in Language Studies, 2018 (Federal University of Pelotas - UFPEL - Brazil)
- BA/Teaching degree in English Language and Literature, 2010 (Federal University of Pelotas - UFPEL - Brazil)
Research interests
- Bilingualism/Multilingualism
- Second language acquisition
- Crosslinguistic influence
- Psycholinguistics
- Experimental linguistics
- Linguistic relativity
Contact
Renan Ferreira
Postdoctoral Researcher
ferreira.renancastro@gmail.com
Graduate Program in Languages and Literatures
Federal University of Pelotas - UFPEL (Brazil)