Mason A. Wirtz is a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Salzburg, Austria. He holds a BA (2015–2019) and MA (2019–2020) in German studies from Bowling Green State University (Ohio, USA) and a PhD (2020–2023) in German linguistics from the University of Salzburg, Austria with a focus on second language acquisition (title: Inter- and Intra-Individual Variation in Adult L2 Sociolinguistic Repertoires. Dynamics of Linguistic, Socioaffective and Cognitive Factors). He is also a recipient of the Young Investigators Award from the University of Salzburg (2022).
His primary research interests include psycholinguistics, variationist sociolinguistics, and second language acquisition in adulthood, especially as concerns quantitative approaches and statistical methods. His research sheds light on the role of domain-general cognitive functioning alongside psychosocial and linguistic factors on the acquisition of sociolinguistic variation in L2 learning during (young) adulthood, as well as how socioaffective, experiential, and contextual variables impact on additional language learning by mature adults. Additionally, he is interested in intra-individual variation and variability in L2 development from psycholinguistic and sociolinguistic perspectives as well as methodological challenges for empirical research, e.g., reconciling quantitative and qualitative methods as a means of explaining predications and capitalizing on new methodological designs and instruments (e.g., virtual reality) to control for the role of context. His work has appeared in international scientific journals such as Research Methods in Applied Linguistics and Studies in Second Language Acquisition.
Awards
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“Young Investigators Award” 2022 (2nd Place)
Paris Lodron University of Salzburg, Austria
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Team Lead for the winning team for the “World Summit Awards Youth for Innovation (WSA YFI)”
Education
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09.2020 – 05.2023
Paris Lodron University of Salzburg, Austria
Doctoral Program in (German) Linguistics and SLA
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10.2021 – 09.2022
Paris Lodron University of Salzburg, Austria
Certificate Program: Applied Statistics
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09.2019 – 05.2020
Bowling Green State University, USA
Master of Arts in German Studies (GPA: 1,00)
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03.2019 – 11.2020
Paris Lodron University of Salzburg, Austria
Certificate Program: German as a Second/Foreign Language (GPA: 1,16)
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06.2018 – 10.2018
Freie Universität Berlin, Germany
Exchange semester
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09.2017 – 07.2019
Bowling Green State University, USA
Bachelor of Arts in German Studies (GPA: 1,50)
Research Interests
Second language acquisition
- SLA across the lifespan
- Variationist approaches to SLA
- Acquisition of bidialectalism and sociolinguistic variation in L2 learning
- Individual differences in cognitive, socio-affective, linguistic, and instructional variables affecting SLA
- The love factor in (variationist) SLA
Variationist sociolinguistics and dialectology
- Language variation and change across the lifespan
- Effects of major life events on post-adolescent linguistic (in-)stability
- Individual differences in cognitive and psychobehavioral factors affecting linguistic variability
- Language attitudes and attitude development
- Dialectometry
- Geostatistical modeling of the interplay between social and spatial factors on linguistic variation
Multilingualism
- Bilingual and bidialectal (cognitive) advantage
- Effects of migratory experience on linguistic variability in the L1 and L2
Research methods
- Statistical methods for operationalizing individuality and intra-individual variability
- Novel methodological designs and elicitation instruments (e.g., virtual reality) to control for the role of context
- Reconciling quantitative and qualitative methods as a means of explaining predications