Hunter McKenzie

I am a linguistics researcher whose work focuses on the second language acquisition of syntax and argument structure. My dissertation examines the second language acquisition of the English dative alternation and its connections to null prep and learnability theory. I seek to situate empirical findings from acquisitional studies within broader questions about the structure of the lexicon and the factors that drive syntactic systems to change. My other areas of interest include L3 acquisition, corpus linguistics, diachronic syntax, and TBLT.

I am also passionate about teaching and writing. I have taught academic writing and research skills in a wide variety of pedagogical settings, including undergraduate remote classes at a Liberal Arts college, ESL writing in IEP and undergraduate contexts, K-12 education, and task-based community English classes. Paulo Freire wrote once that "to speak a true word is to transform the world," and it is this ongoing search for the right word that continues to define my mission as an educator.