L2+ Sound Learning Lab
Learning Foreign Speech Sounds Soundly
The L2+ Sound Learning Lab investigates adult language learning in instructed foreign language settings, which characterizes most language learning in North American high schools, colleges, and universities. Our ongoing research investigates the impacts of aural training on early-stage adult L2 learners of German, including the potential to enhance perception of speech sounds and how they are linked to the novel orthography (spelling) of the target language. These early learning stages are fundamental to vocabulary learning and reducing the difficulty of listening comprehension in running speech.
Learning to speak a foreign language entails (a) reliable perception of the target language's individual sounds, words, and contours; (b) learner production of the target language that is sufficiently comprehensible to empower learners to communicate with other speakers of the target language; and (c) development of both linguistic and cultural competencies to link listening, speaking, and meaning. |
Lab Director / Principal InvestigatorUniversity of Maryland College Park and University of Calgary
Interests: L2+ phonology, speech perception, interlanguage phonotactics, laboratory methods, phonetic training, grapheme-phoneme interface, L2+ learner confidence, linguistics in language instruction, Germanic linguistics jhgscott at umd (dot) edu |
Charys B. Russell, University of Calgary
M.A. candidate, Linguistics B.A. Linguistics, University of Calgary (2022) Lab member since 2020 Interests: phonetics, speech perception, L2 phonology and acquisition, (morpho)phonology, lexical variation charys (dot) russell at ucalgary (dot) ca [website] |
Sadi E. Phillips, Indiana University, Bloomington
Ph.D. candidate, Second Language Studies M.A. TESOL, Indiana University Lab member since 2021 Interests: psycholinguistics, L2 mental lexicon sadiphil at iu (dot) edu [website] |