Recent news

Brown-Bousfield & Chang in JBP book

By PAMLabOctober 10th, 2023in Faculty, Publications, Students

A paper entitled "Regressive cross-linguistic influence in multilingual speech rhythm: The role of language similarity" (Brown-Bousfield & Chang, 2023) has been published by John Benjamins Publishing in the edited volume L3 Development After the Initial State.

Abstract: While previous work on multilingual speech rhythm has found evidence of progressive cross-linguistic influence of a first or second language (L1, L2) on a third language (L3), regressive cross-linguistic influence (rCLI) in rhythm remains understudied. In the current study, we tested the roles of order of acquisition and of language similarity in shaping rCLI from syllable-timed Spanish as L3 to stress-timed English and German as L1/L2. In a picture narration task, adult sequential trilinguals (L1 English-L2 German-L3 Spanish, L1 German-L2 English-L3 Spanish) and sequential bilingual controls (L1 English-L2 German, L1 German-L2 English) produced semi-spontaneous speech in each of their languages, which was analyzed in terms of the rhythm metric VarcoV. Results showed evidence of rCLI in English (the typologically more similar language to Spanish) but no evidence of rCLI in German; however, rCLI in English was found only when English was the L1. On the basis of these findings, we propose the Similarity Convergence Hypothesis (SCH), which claims that previously acquired languages that are more similar to a later-acquired language are relatively more vulnerable to rCLI from this language.

This study followed Open Science practices, and all data and materials are publicly accessible via the Open Science Framework at https://osf.io/pvmea/.

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Welcome to the Fall 2023 labbies!

By PAMLabAugust 28th, 2023in Students, Visitors, Welcome

Welcome to the new students who will be joining the lab this fall:

  • Sara Hockett (GRS '28) is a first-year PhD student in Linguistics. Her research interests include second language acquisition, phonological theory, and multilingualism interactions. She’s specifically looking to examine how the transfer or inhibition from one’s first language to the learning of a second can inform broader phonological theories related to sonority.
  • Jason Wang is a rising senior at Concord Carlisle High School. He is interested in phonetics, acquisition, multilingualism, and the neuroscience of language and speech production.

And a warm welcome back to Felix and Jackson!

Welcome to the Summer 2023 labbies!

By PAMLabMay 22nd, 2023in Students, Visitors, Welcome

Welcome to the four students who will be joining the lab this summer:

  • Sreyoshi Basu is a rising second-year master's student in Linguistics at the University of Rochester. She is interested in phonetics, language acquisition, bilingualism and multilingualism, sociolinguistics, and language contact.
  • Grace Guan is a rising senior at Mount Holyoke College double-majoring in Psychology and Computer Science. She is interested in multilingualism, language acquisition, psycholinguistics, and speech science.
  • Seokhwa Lee is a rising senior at Yonsei University (South Korea) majoring in Linguistics and English and minoring in Psychology. She is interested in psycholinguistics, bilingualism, language and the brain, language and emotion, and first and second language acquisition.
  • Yin Wang (GRS '23) is a recent MA graduate in Linguistics, starting the PhD program in Linguistics at the University of Chicago in Fall 2023. His interests are primarily in language variation and change, especially from the perspectives of phonetics and phonology.

And a warm welcome back to Felix and Jackson!

Chang & Fraser in LSA Proceedings

By PAMLabApril 27th, 2023in Alumni, Faculty, Publications, Students

A paper entitled "On the auditory identifiability of Asian American identity in speech: The role of listener background, sociolinguistic awareness, and language ideologies" (Chang & Fraser, 2023) has been published in the Proceedings of the Linguistic Society of America.

Abstract: The current study examined the auditory identifiability of Asian American ethnoracial identity, including the role of listener characteristics and ideologies. Results of an identification experiment showed that the overall accuracy of ethnoracial identification on (East and Southeast) Asian talkers was low, but not the lowest among talker groups and not significantly different from accuracy on Black talkers. There were also significant effects of listeners' ethnoracial identity, gender, and linguistic chauvinism (i.e., disfavoring linguistic diversity in the US). In particular, being Asian or a woman was associated with a higher likelihood of accuracy, whereas greater linguistic chauvinism was, to an extent, associated with a lower likelihood of accuracy. Results of a discrimination experiment additionally showed an effect of listeners' awareness of ethnoracially-based language variation: having this awareness was associated with a higher likelihood of accuracy on discrimination trials with one or more Asian talkers. Taken together, these findings converge with previous results showing an effect of the listener's background on ethnoracial perception and further implicate the listener's sociolinguistic awareness and ideologies.

This study followed Open Science practices, and all data are publicly accessible via the Open Science Framework at https://osf.io/brwfk/.

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