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Dr. Shimanskaya obtained her Ph.D. in second language acquisition from the University of Iowa and her M.A. in linguistics from Syracuse University. 

She studies how adults learn foreign/second languages. More specifically, her research focuses on the impact of one's native language on second language acquisition – L1 Transfer. The ultimate goal of this research is to understand in what ways the linguistic knowledge of a second language speaker is different from that of a monolingual speaker. 

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She presented her theoretical and empirical research on second language acquisition of French at several national and international conferences (Second Language Research Forum, Boston University Conference on Language Development, Generative Approaches to SLA Conference, Annual Meeting of the Linguistic Society of America).

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Download Dr. Shimanskaya's C.V. here

selected publications​

  • Shimanskaya, E. (2018). Another look at L2 Acquisition of French clitic and strong pronouns. In J. Cho, M. Iverson, T. Judy, T. Leal, & E. Shimanskaya (Eds.), Meaning and structure in Second Language Acquisition: Studies in honor of Roumyana Slabakova (pp. 67-94). Amsterdam: John Benjamins.

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  • Shimanskaya, E. (2018). On the role of input and explicit instruction in L2 acquisition: the case of French strong pronouns, Language Learning, 68(3), 780-812.

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  • Shimanskaya, E. & Slabakova, R. (online first). The Native language: Problem or solution on the way to L2 acquisition? Language Teaching Research.

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courses taught

  • First-year French

  • Second-year French

  • Third-year French (reading skills and composition)

  • French Composition

  • (French) Structure and Communication

  • (French) Phonetics and Pronunciation

  • SLA Theory

  • Methods of Teaching Foreign Languages

  • Methods of Teaching Foreign Languages - College

  • Structure of Modern French

  • Structure of Romance Languages

  • Language Across Cultures

some evaluation quotes

  • The instructor acts very professionally, but makes her students feel comfortable and confident.

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  • That I, personally, had trouble but that Elena was very willing to help and that she made the material easy to understand.

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  • The instructor communicates and teaches well. She is always organized and moves at a pace conductive to learning. Topics that are highlighted in class are those on exams. Overall, I’ve learned a great deal and she is a great teacher.

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  • She is very effective at communicating grammatical points.

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  • She is a great instructor; communicates clearly, makes hard material easier, and is very approachable.

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  • She is extremely fair in her grading, she notices attempts made, even if they are wrong. She is very kind and a great teacher.

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  • I would recommend this course taught by Elena. She makes class different and entertaining each day.

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  • The instructor is very helpful and speaks French in a way that learners can keep up with.

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  • She encourages students to speak more French.

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