EXPERIMENTAL PHONETICS
Linguistics 113
This course will provide the student with hands-on experience in
methods of experimental phonetic research, including audio recording,
acoustic speech database construction, recording and interpreting
speech air flow and pressure, static palatography, speech synthesis,
and the design of perception tests. In addition, students recieve
training in writing up experimental results for publication.
Time: TR 12:30-2:00
Location: 50 Dwinelle Hall
Course Code: 52356
No. of Units: 3
Instructor:
Keith Johnson, 1222 Dwinelle Hall
keithjohnson@berkeley.edu
Office hours: Mondays 1:30-2:30, and by appointment.
Coursework: reading assignments; in-class participation; five
group homework projects, and a final report.
Textbook: Peter Ladefoged. (2003) Phonetic Data
Analysis: An Introduction to Fieldwork and Instrumental
Techniques. Cambridge: Blackwell.
Homework projects: The class will be divided into research
teams who will work on the homework projects together. Each student
taking the course for credit is required to submit a separate write-up
of the project results, which, though based on collaborative work,
should be prepared individually. The homework write-up is due on the
report dates listed below, at which we will share results with each
other. The homework projects are the focus of the course, and will
occupy much of our time together in the class meetings. The projects
are designed to be specific enough to be doable, while introducing
students to general research methods in experimental phonetics.
Final report: The final report will build on one of the course
projects, where the student extends the research that we started
together as a class in a new direction or with a larger amount of
data.
Tentative schedule:
Topic 1: Consonant tone interaction. We will conduct an
experiment on how consonants influence vocal fold vibration in the
following vowel. We will use acoustic analysis, electroglottography,
and perhaps oral air pressure and air flow methodologies to
investigate consonant tone interaction at a phonetic level in
English. This topic relates to theories of tonogenesis and the
relationship between phonetics and phonology.
work dates: Jan 20, 22, 27, 29, Feb 3, & 5
report date: Report date: Feb 10
reading: Ladefoged, ch. 4, 6, 7, and 3
Topic 2: The Phonetic basis of teacher "bias". We will use
acoustic analysis, and conduct a speech perception experiment to
explore some recent findings reported at the 2009 Linguistics Society
of America annual meeting. The results reported by Michael Shepherd
(USC) indicate that teachers think that answers given by 3rd grade
white girls are more correct than the same answers given by 3rd grade
white boys or minority students of either gender. We'll look closely
at the recordings he used (and very kindly is sharing with us) to see
if we can see what phonetic cues listeners might have been using in
this task.
work dates: Feb 12, 17, 19, 24, 26
report date: March 3
reading: Ladefoged, ch. 4 and 6
Topic 3: Individual differences in production. In this
section of the course we will examine individual differences in speech
production focusing particularly on small place of articulation
differences in alveolar stops and fricatives. To do this we will use
static palatography and video recording.
work dates: March 5, 10, 12, 17
report date: March 17
reading: Ladefoged, ch. 2
Topic 4: Compensation for coarticulation. Listeners
compensate for coarticulation. We will conduct a perception
experiment that explores this phenomenon, focussing particularly on
whether it is sensitive to lexical knowledge or expectations. To do
this we will use a software speech synthesizer to produce tokens along
two continua and then use the experiment running software E-Prime to
collect listeners' responses and reaction times to these stimuli.
work dates: March 31, April 2, 7, 9, 14
report date: April 16
reading: Klatt (1980), Klatt & Klatt (1990).
Topic 5: TBA
work dates: April 21, 23, May 5, 7
report date: May 11
reading: Johnson