PhD Position in Second Language Speech Segmentation at the University of Kansas

The Second-Language Processing and Eye-Tracking (L2PET) lab, directed by Dr. Annie Tremblay, in the Department of Linguistics at the University of Kansas, invites applications for a Ph.D. position in second-language speech segmentation. This Ph.D. position includes 3 years of graduate research assistantship funded by an NSF research grant awarded to Dr. Tremblay and 2 years of graduate teaching assistantship provided by the Department of Linguistics.

Research in the L2PET lab focuses on second-language speech processing and spoken-word recognition using behavioral methods such as eye tracking, word monitoring, priming, and artificial language speech segmentation (for details, see https://sites.google.com/site/l2petlab/home). The NSF-funded research investigates the influence of the native language and of recent linguistic exposure on adult second language learners? use of prosodic cues, specifically pitch, in speech segmentation. Its aims are to determine how the similarities and differences between the native language and second language affect adult second language learners? ability to use prosodic cues in speech segmentation and whether the speech processing system is sufficiently adaptive to develop sensitivity to new segmentation cues (for details, see http://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1423905&HistoricalAwards=false). This project is done in collaboration with scholars from The Netherlands, France, and South Korea.

Applicants should have a strong background in Linguistics, Psychology, Cognitive Science, or Speech and Hearing Sciences. Knowledge of Korean and experience with experimental research are strongly preferred. Questions about this position should be directed to Dr. Tremblay (atrembla@ku.edu). Applications should be submitted through the University of Kansas application system (https://linguistics.ku.edu/admission#tab2name). More information about admission requirements can be found at https://linguistics.ku.edu/admission. The deadline for applications is January 1^st, 2015. Start date for this Ph.D. position is August 24^th, 2015.

Linguistics at the University of Kansas

The Department of Linguistics at the University of Kansas has undergone significant changes in the past decade to position itself as a unique program that unites linguistic theory and experimental research. The department has particular strengths in experimental phonetics and phonology, first and second language acquisition, developmental psycholinguistics, second language psycholinguistics and neurolinguistics, the cognitive neuroscience of language, linguistic fieldwork, and theoretical syntax and semantics. Faculty members and graduate students study a broad range of languages including understudied language varieties in Asia, Africa, and the Americas. The department has six active research labs, which have all successfully competed for external funding and provide support for graduate studies. The department has both head-mounted and remote eye trackers, an EEG laboratory, and on the KU medical center campus, cortical MEG, fetal MEG, and MRI systems.