Introduction
Phonetics is one of the research foci in the SLAM lab and is led by one of the co-directors Dr. Ratree Wayland. Phonetics is a branch of linguistics that studies how humans make and perceive sounds. Phonetics is typically divided into three sub-disciplines: articulatory phonetics, acoustic phonetics, and auditory phonetics. In articulatory phonetics, phoneticians study how humans plan and execute movements to produce speech. In acoustic phonetics, how different movements affect the properties of the resulting sound has been the research focus of linguists. In auditory phonetics, phoneticians try to understand how humans convert sound waves to linguistic information. To know more about work in phonetics from our lab, you can read the content compiled below.
Courses
Fundamental Phonetics/Phonetics for Linguists (LIN4205/6208)
Current graduate students
Pamir Gogoi, Josh Martin, Fenqi Wang, Mihoko Wheeler
Previous PhD dissertations
| Year | Name | Dissertation Title |
|---|---|---|
| 2018 | Marc Matthews | The roles of intonation and pragmatic context on predictions of upcoming turns in dialogue |
| 2018 | Yiqing Zhu | Processing intonation: categoricality and the effects of cognitive control |
| 2012 | Rui Cao | Perception of Mandarin Chinese tone 2/tone 3 and the role of creaky voice |
| 2011 | Jirapat Jangjamras | Perception and production of English lexical stress by Thai speakers |
| 2010 | Yunjuan He | Perception and production of isolated and coarticulated Mandarin tones by American learners |
| 2010 | Donruethai Laphasradakul | Training native speakers of American English to perceive Thai tones using high stimulus variability |
| 2006 | Bin Li | Production and perception of English /n/ and /l/ by Chinese dialect speakers |
| 2005 | Mohamed Al-Khairy | Acoustic characteristics of Arabic fricatives |
Previous MA theses
| Year | Name | Thesis Title |
|---|---|---|
| 2010 | Bethany Rowlings | Acoustic properties of the Japanese tap by non-native as compared to native speakers of Japanese |
| 2001 | Rebecca Hill | Production and perception of authentic and feigned Spanish accent |
Learn more from the latest publication
Congratulations to Dr. Ratree Wayland, whose edited volume “Second Language Speech Learning: Theoretical and Empirical Progress” was just published by Cambridge University Press. The link to the book is here and the abstract is below.
Including contributions from a team of world-renowned international scholars, this volume is a state-of-the-art survey of second language speech research, showcasing new empirical studies alongside critical reviews of existing influential speech learning models. It presents a revised version of Flege’s Speech Learning Model (SLM-r) for the first time, an update on a corner stone of second language research. Chapters are grouped into five thematic areas: theoretical progress, segmental acquisition, acquiring suprasegmental features, accentedness and acoustic features, and cognitive and psychological variables. Every chapter provides new empirical evidence, offering new insights as well as challenges on aspects of the second language speech acquisition process. Comprehensive in its coverage, this books summarizes the state of current research in second language phonology and aims to shape and inspire future research in the field. It is an essential resource for academic researchers and students of second language acquisition, applied linguistics, and phonetics and phonology.
