Sara Zahler
Bio
I am originally from Fort Lauderdale, Florida. I completed my Bachelor’s in Spanish and French at University of Florida, as well as my Master’s in Hispanic Linguistics. I went to Indiana University – Bloomington for my doctorate, and then I worked at SUNY Albany before arriving at NCSU in Fall of 2024. My primary research interest is on how languages vary and change over time and space. I have done work on a variety of language use contexts, including first, heritage, and second languages. In all my research, I seek to describe, explain, and track changes in patterns of variation in order to approach a better understanding of the role of variation in the acquisition and mental architecture of language. Some specific research interests of mine are second language acquisition of sociolinguistic variation, individual differences in second language acquisition, study abroad, dialectal variation, grammaticalization, morphosyntax, and Spanish trills.
I have had a wide range of teaching experiences. I have taught all levels of Spanish language courses as well as several upper level undergraduate and graduate linguistics and culture courses, across several institutions. These courses include Linguistic Structure of Spanish, Spanish Syntax and Morphology, History of the Spanish Language, Grammaticalization, World Language Teaching Methods, Second Language Acquisition, Individual Differences in SLA, Project-Based Language Learning, Sociolinguistics, Spanish in the U.S. and Language Variation and Change. In all my teaching, I connect the course material to my students’ experiences and create opportunities for my students to conduct real linguistic analysis and research in and outside of class. I am also a huge proponent of High Quality Project-Based Learning and incorporate this pedagogical approach into my courses frequently.
Current and Recent Projects
- Sociolinguistic variation and instructor input in the language classroom
- Study abroad and the second language acquisition of sociolinguistic variation
- A longitudinal analysis of the acquisition of sociolinguistic variation
- Spanish trill variation in first and second language speakers and in the language classroom
- The role of working memory and phonological short-term memory in first and second languages
- Morphosyntactic variation in Central American and Caribbean Spanish
- The L3 acquisition of French by L2 learners and heritage speakers of Spanish
Research Publications
Edited Volumes
Zahler, S. L., Long, A., & Linford, B. (Eds.). (2023). Study abroad and the second language acquisition of sociolinguistic variation in Spanish. Issues in Hispanic and Lusophone Linguistics. John Benjamins. https://doi.org/10.1075/ihll.37
Refereed Articles and Book Chapters
Zahler, S. L., Daidone, D., & Kuder, E. (Forthcoming). University Spanish instructors’ trill production within and outside of the language classroom. Invited contribution submitted to Research at the intersection of second language acquisition and sociolinguistics: Studies in honor of Kimberly L. Geeslin (Editors: Megan Solon, Matt Kanwit & Aarnes Gudmestad). John Benjamins.
Bonilla Conejo, M., Cembrero Bonet, E., Leguisamon, R., Sims, E., & Zahler, S. L. (Forthcoming). Diferencias dialectales en el orden de palabras en la construcción más + palabra negativa. Spanish in Context.
Zahler, S.L., & Leguisamon, R. (2024). The present progressive as a future marker in monolingual Spanish, monolingual English, and Spanish and English in contact. In M. Gradoville and S. McKinnon (Eds.), Recent Developments in Hispanic Linguistics: Studies in Structure, Variation, and Bilingualism (pp. 151-171). John Benjamins. https://doi.org/10.1075/ihll.41.06zah
Zahler, S. L. (2023). Some issues in usage-based methods: Contributions from corpus linguistics, psycholinguistics, and variationist sociolinguistics. The Handbook of Usage-Based Linguistics (Editors: Manuel Díaz-Campos & Sonia Balasch), pp. 73-90. Blackwell Handbooks in Linguistics. Wiley-Blackwell. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781119839859.ch4
Zahler, S. L., & Daidone, D. (2023). Individual differences do not affect trill variation by advanced learners of Spanish. Innovative approaches to research in Hispanic linguistics: Regional, diachronic and learner profile variation (Editors: Sara Fernández Cuenca, Tiffany Judy & Lauren Miller), pp. 196-224. Issues in Hispanic and Lusophone Linguistics. John Benjamins. https://doi.org/10.1075/ihll.38.09zha
Zahler, S. L., & Whatley, M. (2023). Learning context and the development of L2 Spanish past-time perfective marking at home and abroad. Study abroad and the second language acquisition of sociolinguistic variation in Spanish (Editors: Sara Zahler, Avizia Long & Bret Linford), pp. 321-349. Issues in Hispanic and Lusophone Linguistics. John Benjamins. https://doi.org/10.1075/ihll.37.11zah
Zahler, S. L. (2023). The second language development of past perfective forms in Spanish. Borealis – An International Journal of Hispanic Linguistics, 12(1), 207-229. https://doi.org/10.7557/1.12.1.6725
Zahler S. L., & Lord, G. L. (2022). The role of phonological short-term memory in Spanish second language phonology: Exploring vowel quality among English-speaking learners. Spanish Journal of Applied Linguistics (Revista Española de Lingüística Hispánica), 35(1), 173–205. https://doi.org/10.1075/resla.20003.zah
Zahler, S. L. (2022). Measuring individual differences: A look at working memory. The Routledge Handbook of SLA and Sociolinguistics (Editor: Kimberly Geeslin), pp. 237-248. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003017325
Zahler, S. L. (2021). Speech strategy sequencing in online personal advertisements: Differences according to sex and sexual orientation in Mexico City and London. Gender and Language, 15(4), 503-524. https://doi.org/10.1558/genl.18800
Daidone, D., & Zahler, S. L. (2021). A variationist analysis of second language Spanish trill production. Studies in Hispanic and Lusophone Linguistics, 14(1), 1-37. https://doi.org/10.1515/shll-2021-2038
Díaz-Campos, M., & Zahler, S. L. (2018). A usage-based approach to variation in más + negative word constructions: The role of analogy and priming in language variation and change. Hispania, 101(4), 605-619. https://www.jstor.org/stable/26781133
Linford, B., Zahler, S. L., & Whatley, M. (2018). Acquisition, study abroad and individual differences: The case of subject pronoun variation in L2 Spanish. Study Abroad Research in Second Language Acquisition and International Education, 3(2), 243-274. https://doi.org/10.1075/sar.17003.lin
Daidone, D., & Zahler, S. L. (2016). The future is in the past: A diachronic analysis of variable future-in-the-past expression in Spanish. In A. Cuza, L. Czerwionka, & D. Olson (Eds.) Inquiries in Hispanic linguistics: From theory to empirical evidence (pp. 317-334). Philadelphia, PA: John Benjamins. http://dx.doi.org/10.1075/ihll.12.17dai.
Zahler, S. L. (2015). Pragmalinguistic variation in electronic personal ads from Mexico City and London. Indiana University Linguistics Club Working Papers, 15(1), 208-230.
Zahler, S. L., & Daidone, D. (2014). A variationist account of trill /r/ usage in the Spanish of Málaga. Indiana University Linguistics Club Working Papers, 14(2), 17-42.
Recent Presentations
Zahler, S. L., Daidone, D., & Kuder, E. “University Spanish instructors’ trill production within and outside of the language classroom.” Paper to be presented at the 52nd New Ways of Analyzing Variation (NWAV), Florida International University and University of Miami, Miami, Florida. November 2025.
Fanning, C., Monaco, M., Melo, Y., & Zahler, S. L. (April, 2024). “The evaluation of andar compared to llevar and tener in innovative transitive contexts.” Paper presented at the 11th International Workshop on Spanish Sociolinguistics (WSS11), University of Buffalo, Buffalo, New York.
Zahler, S. L. (March, 2024). “The relationship between PSTM and L2 pronunciation in advanced learners depends on the phonological structure.” Paper presented at Current Approaches to Second Language Phonology 2024, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, North Carolina.
Daidone, D., & Zahler, S. L. (February, 2024). “Future forms in instructor speech within the Spanish language classroom.” Paper presented at Spanish Linguistics in the Southeast (SLISE)/Spanish Linguistics in North Carolina (SLINKI), College of Charleston, Charleston, South Carolina.
Fanning, C., Monaco, M., Melo, Y., & Zahler, S. L. (October, 2023) “The evaluation of andar as a transitive verb across varieties of Hispano-American Spanish.” Paper presented at the 2023 Hispanic Linguistics Symposium, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah.
Zahler, S. L. & Leguisamon, R. (November, 2022) “La función del progresivo en inglés, español y el español en contacto con inglés”. Paper presented at the 2022 Hispanic Linguistics Symposium, Arizona State University, held virtually.
Thompson, C. & Zahler, S. L. (November, 2022) “Complementizer variation in ojalá + subordinate clauses in Puerto Rican Spanish”. Paper presented at the 2022 Hispanic Linguistics Symposium, Arizona State University, held virtually.
Bonilla-Conejo, M., Cembrero Bonet, E., Leguisamon, R., Sims, E., & Zahler, S. L. (April, 2022) “Dialectal differences in variable word order in negative word + más constructions: The case of Puerto Rican and Panamanian Spanish”. Paper presented at the 10th Workshop on Spanish Sociolinguistics, Georgia Tech University, held virtually.
Zahler, S. L. & Daidone, D. (February, 2022) “Documenting instructor oral input in the Spanish language classroom.” Paper presented at the 8th biennial Current Approaches to Spanish and Portuguese Second Language Phonology (CASPSLaP), University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI, held virtually.
Zahler, S. L. & Daidone, D. (October, 2021). ¨Individual variability in the production of the trill phoneme in second language Spanish.¨ Paper presented at the 2019 Hispanic Linguistics Symposium (HLS 2021), Wake Forest University, held virtually.
Zahler, S. L. (October, 2019). “Second language learners and working memory: Production of gender agreement in advanced Spanish”. Paper presented at the 2019 Hispanic Linguistics Symposium (HLS 2019), University of Texas at El Paso, El Paso, TX.
Zahler, S. L. (September, 2019). “Individual differences in L2 pronunciation: The relationship between phonological memory and L2 Spanish VOT length”. Paper presented at the 2019 Second Language Research Forum (SLRF 2019), Michigan State University, Lansing, MI.
Zahler, S. L. (October, 2018). “The relationship between working memory and the acquisition of variable subject expression by second language learners of Spanish.” Paper presented at the 2018 Second Language Research Forum (SLRF 2018), Université du Québec à Montréal, Montréal, Canada.
Zahler, S. L. (October, 2018). “The role of cognitive constraints in language variation: The relationship between working memory and subject expression variation in Spanish.” Paper presented at New Ways of Analyzing Variation 47 (NWAV 47), New York University, New York, NY.