Kira Gor

Dr. Kira Gor is a Professor of Second Language Acquisition at the University of Maryland's School of Languages, Literatures, and Cultures. She holds dual Ph.D.s in Linguistics and Experimental Phonetics (St. Petersburg State University) and Russian and Second Language Acquisition (Bryn Mawr College). Her research focuses on nonnative lexical access, phonological encoding, and morphological processing in L2 learners, particularly in Russian. She co-authored multimedia Russian language courses and leads projects funded by the Department of Education.

Education:

• Ph.D., Linguistics and Experimental Phonetics, St. Petersburg State University
• Ph.D., Russian and Second Language Acquisition, Bryn Mawr College

Research interests include:

• Nonnative mental lexicon development
• Phonology-orthography interface
• Heritage speaker proficiency
• Morphological decomposition in L2 processing

Key contributions include the Ontogenesis Model of the L2 Lexical Representation (2021) and studies on phonological priming effects in nonnative speech processing. Her work bridges cognitive linguistics and applied language pedagogy.