Reinaldo Cabrera Pérez
Doctoral Student
Reinaldo Cabrera Pérez
Applied Psycho/Neuro-linguist
Explore the World of Bilingualism
Reinaldo is a first-generation Ph.D. student at the University of
California, Irvine's School of Education. Before his doctoral studies, Reinaldo earned a dual Bachelor of Arts in Linguistics and Russian Studies, as well as a Russian-English
Translations Certificate, from the University of Florida.
His research interests lie at the intersection of bilingualism, heritage and second language acquisition, sociolinguistics, psycholinguistics, and typical and atypical language development in childhood and young adulthood. Specifically, he is interested in investigating the consequences of
early bilingual childhood development using various psychometric measures.
Research Interests
Heritage Speakers &
Second Language Learners
I specialize in understanding the individual differences between heritage bilinguals and second-language learners, focusing on how personal and external factors influence language development.
Publications
Prystauka, Y., Hao, J., Cabrera Perez, R.; Rothman, J. (2024). Lexical interference and prediction in sentence processing among Russian heritage speakers: an individual differences approach. Journal of Cultural Cognitive Science. https://doi.org/10.1007/s41809-024-00148-4.
Kartsevski, M.; Cabrera Perez, R. (in press). Second Language Learners from a bilingual perspective: a decolonizing framework. Íkala: Revista de Lenguaje y Cultura.
Cabrera Pérez, R.; Conde, D.; Pascual Y Cabo, D. (2023). El español como lengua heredada: oportunidades para el empoderamiento, el crecimiento personal y la reflexión. Actas de XII Encuentro Práctico de Profesores de Español en Nueva Delhi. Instituto Cervantes de Nueva Delhi, India.
Cabrera Perez, R. (2023). Connecting the dots: Social Network approaches to capture variability across the lifespan of bilinguals and its consequences for cognition. https://ufdc.ufl.edu/aa00092456/00001 (Undergraduate honors thesis).
Child Development & Developmental Language Disorder
I study bilingual child development, focusing on vocabulary acquisition and semantic networks. With 7-11% of children affected by developmental language disorder (DLD), my research uses speech graph analysis to identify markers of DLD and better understand how bilinguals develop and organize language.
Publications
Cabrera Perez, R., Pratt, A.; Sanabria, A.; Peña, E. Paradigmatic-Syntagmatic Lexical Relationships in Spanish-English Bilinguals (in prep.).
Cabrera Perez, R., Pratt, A.; Sanabria, A.; Peña, E. Understanding Bilingual Children’s Word Selection in Spanish-English Word Match Tasks: Insights from Cognitive Interviews (data collection ongoing).
Cabrera Perez, R.; Weissheimer, J.; Bedore, L.; Peña, E. Longitudinal Speech Graph Analysis of Narrative Retelling in Bilingual Spanish-English Children With and Without Developmental Language Disorder (in prep.).
Pratt, A.; Sanabria, A.; Gallagher, J.; Cabrera Perez, R.; Peña, E. Exploring variability in code- and meaning-focused skills in English and Spanish: A latent profile analysis of bilingual children (in prep.).
Ueshiro, K.; Cabrera Perez, R.; Bedore, L.; Peña, E. Exploring the Accuracy of a Teacher-Parent Questionnaire to Screen for Language Disorder in Bilingual Children (in prep.).
Torres, M.; Cruz, A.; Cabrera Perez, R.; Carlo, G.; Peña, E. Beyond Commands: Exploring the Multifunctional Use of Imperatives in Spanish-speaking Latina Mother-Child Play Interactions Across Cultural Contexts (data analysis ongoing)
Other Publications
Cabrera Perez, R. (2024). From Russian Shadows to Global Spotlights: Translating Darya Dontsova’s Detective Novel, Вакантное место райской птички (The Empty Nest of a Bird of Paradise). Delos: A Journal of Translation and World Literature. https://doi.org/10.5744/delos.2024.1012
Cabrera Pérez, R. How Language, Mentorship, and Community Shape My Journey in Education. (submitted).
Selected Conference Presentations & Invited Talks
Cabrera Perez, R.; Wang, D.; Kartservski, M. (2024). Treating bilingual school age-children with Developmental Language Disorder: a review on narrative based interventions. (Poster presented at the 2024 American Speech and Hearing Convention—Seattle, Washington).
Cabrera Perez, R.; Pratt, A.; Sanabria, A.; Peña, E. (2024). Paradigmatic-Syntagmatic Lexical Relationships in Spanish- English Bilinguals. (Poster presented at California Meeting on Psycholinguistics—San Diego, California).
Hernández Santacruz, J., Cabrera Perez, R. (2024). Promoting Bilingualism in Multigenerational Latinx Communities: Insights from Charlas Series in Southern California. (Poster presented at California Meeting on Psycholinguistics—San Diego, California).
Cabrera Perez, R.; Gallagher, J.; Kravzov, S.; Pratt, A.; Sanabria, A.; Peña, E. (2024). Examining Relationship Patterns in Bilingual Children’s Lexical Selection. (Poster presentation at the International Max Planck Research Schools (IMPRS)’s Interdisciplinary Approaches to Language Sciences – Nijmegen, The Netherlands).
Cabrera Perez, R., Gallagher, J.; Kravzov, S.; Pratt, A.; Sanabria, A.; Peña, E. (2024). An in-depth exploration of lexical selection in Spanish-English Heritage Children. (Oral presentation at the 15th Heritage Language Research Institute – Irvine, California).
Cabrera Perez, R.; Chamberlain, C.; Peña, E. (2024). Identifying developmental language disorder in Spanish-English Bilingual children: Insights from English story retelling. (Poster presentation at the Bilingualism Matters California: a mini conference–Irvine, California).
Cabrera Perez, R. (2024). Bilingual Development as a Bridge to Culture and Society "El desarrollo bilingüe como puente a la cultura y la sociedad." (Invited oral presentation at the University of La Laguna’s Language as a Bridge conference).
Cabrera Perez, R., Gallagher, J.; Kravzov, S.; Pratt, A.; Sanabria, A.; Peña, E. (2023). Yo digo planta, tú dices árbol: an analysis of lexical errors in bilingual children’s semantic network. Oral presentation at the Encuentro Virtual de Estudiantes de Doctorado en Lingüística – Valparaíso, Chile).
Prystauka, Y.; Cabrera Perez, R.; Rothman, J. (2023). Anticipation and Interference during Sentence Processing in Russian Heritage Speakers. (Oral presentation at the Heritage Languages at the Crossroads: cultural contexts, individual differences and methodologies – Istanbul, Turkey).
Cabrera Perez, R.; Navarro, E.; Cañarte, D.; Rossi. (2023). Social Landscapes: Capturing Linguistic Variability Across the Lifespan of Bilinguals. (Poster presented at the University of Florida's Bilingualism as a Human Capital Workshop – Gainesville, Florida).
Rossi, E.; Cabrera Perez, R.; Navarro, E.; Cañarte, D. (2022). Understanding the Nature of Bilingualism: Multimodal Network Approaches Reveal Dynamic Effects of Bilingualism for Language and Cognition (Oral presentation at the 63rd Annual Meeting of the Psychonomic Society – Boston, Massachusetts).
Cabrera Perez, R., Rossi, E. (2021). Using social network analysis to understand bilingual language variation and cognitive performance (Oral presentation at the Psycholinguistics Meeting – Tallahassee, Florida).
Language is not just a means of communication; it shapes our understanding of the world and influences our cognitive processes.
- Reinaldo Cabrera Pérez
Teaching
University of California, Irvine, CA
EDUC 34B: Educational Equity and the Exceptional Learner (Summer 2024)
University of Florida, FL
LIN 4790: Brain and Language, Guest Lecturer (Spring 2023)
Non scholae sed vitae discimus (We don't learn for school, but for life).
- Seneca
Science Dissemination
Tertulias
This initiative offers SoE students the chance to engage with facilitators, fostering a learning environment focused on equitable practices. With a focus on students from diverse backgrounds, including those with bilingual or bidialectal experience, the project aims to strengthen connections between educators and communities while promoting home language literacy and generating recommendations for inclusive educational practices.
Tertulia1: What does it mean to be bilingual/speak a second language?
Tertulia 2: Language ideologies in higher education
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This project brings together bilingual educators, speech-language therapists, researchers, and community libraries across Southern California. Inspired by the tradition of casual conversations over bread and coffee, the “Charlas” were co-created by HABLA lab members, including Ph.D. students and Dr. Elizabeth Peña, along with partner librarians. Sessions offer a space for multigenerational Latinx participants to explore multilingualism, language education, and support for children with disabilities.
Charlas
Invited talk: Bilingual Development as a Bridge to Culture and Society.
El desarrollo bilingüe como puente a la cultura y la sociedad.
"The ROLE Collective is a consortium of scholars working against harmful language beliefs in policy and practice, within academia and beyond.
This cross-institutional transdisciplinary group seeks to work towards concrete policy changes in research by (a) bringing together evidence that taking essentialist approaches to language enacts harm, (b) supporting each other to advocate for and implement policy changes across institutional and disciplinary spaces, and (c) demonstrating scholarly consensus within linguistics and language research."
Prof. Ana Celia Zentella shared our community workshop initiative at the 1st Symposium on Spanish-English Bilingualism in California.
Prof. Eleonora Rossi (undergrad advisor) shared my experiences learning languages. Sometimes, it is better to use ourselves as examples :)
Media Coverage: A team of UF researchers have language on the brain.
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Curriculum Vitae
GET IN TOUCH
University of California, Irvine
School of Education
reinaldc@uci.edu
Tel: 949 - 346 - 2351
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