Two Men Talking in a Tavern (detail), Jean Charles Meissonier (1848-1917)

​I'm a cognitive scientist who studies and writes about language and communication.

​How can people learn a second language in adulthood?

What makes cross-cultural communication difficult?
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​How does our language ability change as we get older?

My first three books examined these questions. I wrote them with a former student who now works as a diplomat for the U.S. Department of State.

​My most recent book, all about irony and sarcasm, was published by The MIT Press in 2020.