Dr. Karina Tachihara

Biography

Karina Tachihara is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Linguistics at Illinois University. She explores how cognitive mechanisms enable and disrupt the processes of language learning. Her research investigates the factors that influence the acceptability of constructions and how these mechanisms vary when adults learn a new language, which often poses unique challenges. Ongoing projects within her research group examine the input structure, learning environments, and modalities that affect learning unacceptability. Additionally, she is interested in how semantic knowledge shapes the organization and production of language. By analyzing naturalistic production data, she aims to understand the cognitive structures that help organize thoughts and speech. Utilizing a combination of psycholinguistic tasks and computational tools, including machine learning and large language models, she studies language acquisition. She has experience with English, Spanish, and Japanese and aims to expand her research to include additional languages in the future.

Research Interests