Research
The current research projects being conducted at SPA Labs are unified in a search for a better understanding of behavioral and cognitive processes involved in human communication such as cross-generaltional sound transmission, human perception of speech dynamics, and phonetic category learning. A description of each project and work progress is linked to below.
Cross-generational sound change in American English
This research examines sound change over time, a widespread feature in human language, which is discernible in speech of each upcoming generation of speakers from the same dialectal background. The investigation focuses on vowel changes across generations of speakers of three different dialects of American English and seeks to provide at least a partial explanation for why such changes occur.
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Variation in vowel space across dialects and generations
The position and distribution of vowels within a speaker's vowel space varies significantly across regional varieties of American English as well as across different generations of speakers. This research examines the effect these different distributions have on the size and extent of the acoustic vowel space (which can be seen as a measure of the "acoustic workspace" used by a speaker. (More)
A longitudinal study of vowel development of a Mandarin-English bilingual child
This study aims to further our understanding of the mechanism of language acquisition in early sequential bilingual children. Specifically, this study examines how a sequential bilingual child develops the vowel system for a second language and how the vowel systems of both the first and second language change over the time of acquisition. (More)
Acoustic study of sound change in progress
This project examines sound change in progress which pertains to the front-back relations of the STRUT and LOT vowel classes (such as in cup and pot). As identified in the Atlas of North American English (Labov, Ash, and Boberg, 2006), in regional varieties affected by the Northern Cities Shift (NCS) the STRUT vowel is produced further back than the LOT vowel. (More)
Dissertations in progress