Lara Kelly-Iturriaga

PhD Linguistics & English Language

  • Linguistics and English Language
  • School of Philosophy, Psychology and Language Sciences

Contact details

Address

Street

Dugald Stewart Building

City
3 Charles Street, Edinburgh
Post code
EH8 9AD

CV

PDF icon 150352.pdf

Qualifications

2023 - Present - AHRC-funded PhD in Linguistics and English Language - University of Edinburgh

  • Thesis: The role of language distance in bilingual lexical processing

2021 - 2022 - MA in Applied Linguistics and Language Acquisition in Multilingual Contexts - University of Barcelona (UB)

  • MA Thesis: Do you eat pasta for dessert and tender your clothes? A comparison of cross-language activation in Turkish and Spanish learners of English

2016 - 2020 - BA in Political Science and Public-Sector Management - University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU)

  • BA Thesis: Linguistic and Sociolinguistic Policies: Multilingualism and Minority Languages in the UK

Responsibilities & affiliations

AHRC PhD Scholarship managed by the Scottish Graduate School for Arts & Humanities (SGSAH), September 2024 – present

Associate Fellowship Advance HE, University of Edinburgh, June 2025

Received teaching accreditation after completing the Introduction to Academic Practice course delivered by the Institute for Academic Development at the University of Edinburgh; demonstrating effective and inclusive teaching practice and evidence of PSF 2023 Dimensions: Professional Values V1 and V3, Core Knowledge K1, K2 and K3, and Areas of Activity A2 and A3.

Undergraduate teaching

Tutor, September 2023 – present

2024-2025

  • Second Language Acquisition (Honours) (LASC10030)
  • First Language Acquisition (Honours) (LASC10029)

2023-2024

  • Linguistics and English Language 1B (LASC08023)
  • LEL2B: Phonetic Analysis and Empirical Methods (LASC08018)

Research summary

Bilingual language processing, language distance and the bilingual mental lexicon, L2 word recognition, interlingual homograph recognition, cross-linguistic influence

Knowledge exchange

Chair, Bilingualism and Developmental Linguistics Research Group (BDLRG), September 2024 – present

Conference details

Kelly-Iturriaga, L. M.*, Ota, M. & Pickering, M. J. (2025). The effect of language distance on bilingual lexical processing. Architectures and Mechanisms for Language Processing 2025 (AMLaP2025), Charles University, Prague, 4th-6th September 2025. Poster presentation.

Kelly-Iturriaga, L. M. (2025). The role of language distance in bilingual language processing. 15th International Symposium on Bilingualism (ISB15), Basque Center on Cognition, Brain and Language (BCBL), Donostia-San Sebastián, 13th June 2025. Poster presentation.

Leivada, E.*, Kelly-Iturriaga, L. M., Masullo, C., Westergaard, M. & Rothman, J. (2025). The impact of language similarity on cognitive adaptations to bilingualism. 15th International Symposium on Bilingualism (ISB15), BCBL, Donostia-San Sebastián, 12th June 2025. Poster presentation.

Kelly-Iturriaga, L. M. (2025). The role of language distance in bilingual language processing. Linguistics and English Language Postgraduate Conference 2025, The University of Edinburgh, 4th June 2025.

Leivada, E., Blanco-Elorrieta, E., Kelly-Iturriaga, L. M.*, Masullo, C., Westergaard, M. & Rothman, J. (2025). Exploring the role of language distance in bilingual cognition: A systematic review. Bilingualism Matters Symposium 2025, Edinburgh, 24th March 2025. Poster presentation.

Kelly-Iturriaga, L. M. (2024). Do you eat pasta for dessert and tender your clothes? Cross-language activation in L1-Turkish and L1-Spanish learners of English. 30th Linguistics and English Language Postgraduate Conference, The University of Edinburgh, 4th June 2024. Poster presentation.

Organiser

  • Organising committee, Linguistics and English Language Postgraduate Conference, September 2024 – present
  • Organising committee, 30th Architectures and Mechanisms for Language Processing, September 2024
  • Organising committee, Language Lunch @ Edinburgh, September 2023 – June 2024