Current Research Projects

Using sensorimotor adaptation to probe and improve second language speech production

Sensorimotor adaptation using altered auditory feedback is a paradigm commonly used in speech motor control research. It induces changes in speech production by altering the auditory feedback participants heard for their speech. This project applies sensorimotor adaptation to second language speakers to probe their mental representation of speech, including how perception and production are related. The possibility and effectiveness of using this paradigm to improve second language speech production (and perception, if possible) are also under investigation

Collaborators: Dr. Caroline Niziolek, Dr. Benjamin Parrell

Sensorimotor adaptation as a window to speech movement planning

There is increasing evidence that syllable-based representations are an incomplete characterization of the speech movement planning process. This project uses sensorimotor adaptation to probe the mental representations of speech motor control at higher linguistic levels, including word-specific representations.

Collaborators: Dr. Caroline Niziolek, Dr. Benjamin Parrell

Locus of incomplete neutralization

This project examines whether incomplete neutralization could be attributed to information cascading along the stages of word production.

Collaborators: Dr. Jie Zhang, Chang Wang

Cue-transfer of F0 starts in L1, even when L1 is not fully tonal

This project investigates L3 learners’ perception of lexical tone (L1: Urdu, non-tonal /Punjabi, undergoing tonogenesis; L2: Cantonese, tonal; L3: Mandarin, tonal).

In collaboration with Dr. LAM Man Fong

Neural Bases of The Encoding of Mandarin Tone 3 Sandhi in Speech Production

In this project (National Science Foundation, BCS-1826547) , we use EEG to examine the time course and the neural signatures of computing Tone 3 sandhi form in Mandarin Chinese.

In collaboration with Dr. Jie Zhang, Dr. Stephen Politzer-Ahles, Dr. Caicai Zhang, Dr. Peng Gang, Dr. Lee Chia-Yin, Xunan Huang, and Ziyi Pan

Is MMN sensitive to tonal categories?

The mismatch negativity (MMN) arises from electrical activity in the brain when the incoming stimuli are presented in an oddball paradigm, i.e. one odd stimulus is placed after multiple homogeneous stimuli. Many linguistic categories, such as consonants and vowels, have been shown to elicit MMN. This project investigates whether MMN is sensitive to linguistically-relevant suprasegmental pitch cues (i.e., tones). The crux of the project is to separate general auditory processing of pitch and brain’s abstract pattern detection ability from linguistic processing of tone. Via carefully designed experiment (diverging from cross-linguistic comparison and focusing on within-subject comparison), we aim to clarify the nature of the elicited MMN.

In collaboration with Dr. Allard Jongman, Dr. Robert Fiorentino, Dr. Jie Zhang, and Dr. Joan A. Sereno

Audio-visual perception of Mandarin tone in clear speech

Research questions:

(1) When perceiving tone, does clear speech have an advantage over plain speech?

(2) If there is a clear-speech advantage, will it hold for the visual modality, thus validating the contribution of visual information in tonal perception?

(3) Does language background (i.e., tonal vs. non-tonal) modulate the clear-speech effect?

In collaboration with Dr. Allard Jongman, Dr. Joan A. Sereno, Dr. Yue Wang, and Keith Leung

A poster for this research project can be found here.

This project is also part of a joint project examining visible articulatory, acoustic, & perceptual correlates of clear speech, in collaboration with Dr. Joan A. Sereno, Dr. Allard Jongman, Dr. Charles Redmon, Dr. Yue Wang, Beverly Hannah, Keith K.W. Leung, Sylvia Cho, Dr. Ghassan Hamarneh, Dr. Lisa Tang, Saurabh Garg, Dr. Bob McMurray, and Dr. Paul Tupper. An overview of this joint project can be found here.

Adaptation to VOT shift after hearing French-accented English: an eye-tracking study

Research question:

Can listeners adapt to VOT shift during online processing?

In collaboration with Dr. Annie Tremblay, Dr. Seulgi Shin, and Tifani Biro.

A poster for this research project can be found here.