Leigh Anne Benzaia is a Ph.D. candidate in the Linguistics Department at the University of Utah, specializing in Second Language Acquisition (SLA) and forensic linguistics. Her research takes a mixed-methods approach to explore how formerly incarcerated and gang-affiliated L2 English speakers, particularly L1 Spanish speakers, comprehend U.S. constitutional rights, including Miranda warnings. Her dissertation assesses Miranda warning comprehension among immigrant and formerly incarcerated individuals, using predictive models based on English proficiency and qualitative error analysis to meet U.S. court evidence standards.
Further information about Leigh Anne’s research may be found by clicking here.
