Dr. Gonzalez is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Spanish and Portuguese and the Department of Language, Linguistics, Literatures, and Cultures. She is currently the Study Abroad advisor for Spanish and Portuguese and the Faculty Director of the Iowa Hispanic Institute. She also directs the Multilingual Syntax Lab and serves as faculty for the Interdisciplinary Graduate Certificate on the Cognitive Science of Language.

Research

Dr. Gonzalez is a formal linguist whose research program centers on the acquisition of syntax (and its interfaces) in adult multilinguals, encompassing diverse populations such as sequential, simultaneous, and heritage bilinguals and third language learners. Her work combines theoretical and experimental approaches to consider linguistic and non-linguistic (e.g., language proficiency, dominance) factors that influence language behavior and outcomes. Her recent work has addressed the role of lexical semantics in argument structure as well as the nature of formal features and the role they play in the acquisition process.

Recent publications

• Gonzalez, B. (2025). Exploring factors that influence the accusative/dative experiencer alternation in Spanish psych verbs – data from three types of Spanish-English bilinguals. Studies in Hispanic and Lusophone Linguistics, 18, 425-457. https://doi.org/10.1515/shll-2025-2014
• Gonzalez, B. (2024). The role of the lexicon. Linguistic Approaches to Bilingualism, 14, 58-62. https://doi.org/10.1075/lab.23053.gon
• Gonzalez, B. (2023). A lexical semantic approach to the L2 acquisition of Spanish psych verbs. Second Language Research, 39 (3), 731-758. https://doi.org/10.1177/026765832110662
• Gonzalez, B. (2023). Syntactic licensing in heritage Spanish: psych verbs and the middle voice. International Journal of Bilingualism, 27(5), 776-794. https://doi.org/10.1177/13670069221121750

Courses taught

• PORT:3105 - Linguistic Aspects of the Lusophone World
• SPAN:2030 - Study of Language: Myths and Concepts
• SPAN:3100 - Structures of Spanish: Words & Sentences
• SPAN:3195 - Spanish Linguistics Lab I
• SPAN:4150 - Introduction to Spanish Syntax
• SPAN:4195 - Spanish Linguistics Lab II
• SPAN:6040 - Linguistic Structures
• LING:6050 - Language Universals/Linguistic Typology

Awards

• 2020 James N. Murray Faculty Award