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| Current position: |
| Postdoctoral Research Fellow at
the Research Centre for Clinical Audiology, Speech and
Language (CASL), Queen Margaret University,
Edinburgh. |
| Address: |
| CASL,
Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh, EH21 6UU. |
| Background: |
| M.A. in Phonetics
(with
German Linguistics and Psycholinguistics as minor subjects) PhD in Psychology; under the supervison of Dr Vera Kempe and Prof Leslie Smith @ the Department of Psychology,
University of Stirling, Scotland
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| Research Interests: |
| Fine phonetic detail Articulatory settings Bilingualism and second-language acquisition (Have a look at the webpage of our Bilingualism Research Lab!) |
| Current
Research: |
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Open-Mouthed or Stiff Upper Lip?
Exploring Language-Specific Articulatory Settings in English-German
Bilinguals (ESRC / RES-000-22-3032)
There is growing evidence that languages differ in the way speakers of a language set up their articulators, e.g. their tongue, their lip and their jaw - in speech, and in the preparation for speech. This phenomenon is often referred to as language-specific articulatory settings. We are testing German-English bilinguals to explore whether bilingual speakers keep their two languages apart by using their articulators in a different manner for each language. To this end, we are gathering acoustic as well as articulatory data - the latter employing Ultrasound Tongue Imaging (to determine the overall shape of the tongue), the motion-capture system Vicon (to determine the position and movement of the jaw and the lips) and Electropalatography (to determine contact patterns of the tongue with the roof of the mouth). |
| Publications
and
Conference
Dissemination: |
| (Note that older
publications have appeared
under my maiden name.) |
|
Schaeffler, S. (2011). An Articulatory Analysis of
Language-Specific Settings in Bilingual Speakers. Invited talk at the Laboratorio de Fonetica,
Centro de Ciencias Humanas y Sociales, Madrid, Spain. Kempe, V., Schaeffler, S., Thoresen, J. (2010). Prosodic Disambiguation in Child-Directed Speech. In: Journal of Memory and Language 62: 204-225. Mennen, I., Scobbie, J., deLeeuw, E., Schaeffler, S., Schaeffler, F. (2010). Measuring Language-Specific Phonetic Settings. In: Second Language Research 26 (1): 13-41. Schaeffler, S., Mennen, I., Scobbie, J. (2010). Language-Specific Articulatory Settings in L2 Speech. Talk presented at Newsounds 2010, Poznan, Poland. Schaeffler, S., Scobbie, J., Mennen, I. (2010). Open-Mouthed or Stiff Upper Lip? Obtaining Data on Articulatory Settings in Bilingual Speakers. Talk presented at the colloquium of the British Association of Academic Phoneticians, London, UK. Schaeffler, S., Scobbie, J. (2010). An Ultrasound and Vicon Study of Articulatory Settings in German-English Bilinguals. Presentation at the 5th Ultrafest Conference, Haskins Laboratories, New Haven, USA. Wrench, A., Scobbie, J., Cowen, S., Lilienthal, J., Schaeffler, S., Zharkova, N., Kocjancic, T. (2010). Fan-Averaging for Ultrasound Tongue Contour Evaluation. Talk presented at the 5th Ultrafest Conference, Haskins Laboratories, New Haven, USA. Zharkova, N., Schaeffler, S., Gibbon, F. (2009). Adult Speakers' Tongue-Palate Contact Patterns for Bilabial Stops Within Complex Clusters. In: Clinical Linguistics & Phonetics 23 (12): 901-910. Schaeffler, S., Scobbie, J. (2009). The Impact of Articulatory Settings on L2-Pronunciation. Talk presented at the 7th International Symposium on Bilingualism, Utrecht, The Netherlands. Schaeffler, S., Scobbie, J., Mennen, I. (2008). An Evaluation of Inter-Speech Postures for the Study of Language-Specific Articulatory Settings. In: Proceedings of the 8th International Speech Production Seminar, Strasbourg, France. Schaeffler, S., Zharkova, N., Gibbon, F. (2008). Crisps - An EPG Study of Complex Bilabial-Alveolar Consonant Clusters in Typical Speakers of English. Poster presented at the 12th Congress of the International Clinical Phonetics and Linguistics Association, Istanbul, Turkey. Schaeffler, S. (2008). Exploring Language-Specific Articulatory Settings in L2 Speakers - An Introduction to the Concept. Invited presentation at the 3rd Annual SLRU Symposium on Bilingualism and Second-Language Acquisition, Edinburgh, UK. Batliner, A., Schuller, B., Schaeffler, S., Steidl, S. (2008). Mothers, Adults, Children, Pets - Towards the Acoustics of Intimacy. In: Proceedings of the 33rd International Conference on Acoustics, Speech and Signal Processing, Las Vegas, USA. Schaeffler, S., Scobbie, J., Mennen, I. (2008). Exploring Cross-Linguistic Differences in Articulatory Settings. Poster presented at the British Association of Academic Phoneticians Colloquium (BAAP 2008), Sheffield, UK. Zharkova, N., Schaeffler, S., Gibbon, F. (2008). An EPG Study of Complex Clusters in English. Talk given at the British Association of Academic Phoneticians Colloquium (BAAP 2008), Sheffield, UK. Schaeffler, S., Kempe, V. (2007). Mothers Are Less Efficient in Employing Prosodic Disambiguation in Child-Directed Speech than Non-Mothers: Is There a Trade-Off Between Affective and Linguistic Prosody? In: Proceedings of the 16th ICPhS, Saarbrücken, Germany. Penton-Voak, I.S., Cahill, S., Pound, N., Kempe, V., Schaeffler, S., Schaeffler, F. (2007). Male Facial Attractiveness, Perceived Personality, and Child-Directed Speech. Evolution and Human Behavior 28: 253-259. (abstract) Kempe, V. Schaeffler, S. (2007). Prosodic Disambiguation in Child-Directed Speech. Talk given at ESCoP 2007, Marseille. Schaeffler, S. (2006). Are Affective Speakers Effective Speakers? Exploring the Link Between the Vocal Expression of Positive Emotions and Communicative Effectiveness. PhD thesis. Online available here. Batliner, A., Biersack S., Steidl, S. (2006). The Prosody of Pet Robot Directed Speech: Evidence from Children. In: Proceedings of the 3rd Speech Prosody, Dresden, Germany. Schaeffler, F., Kempe, V., Biersack, S. (2006). Comparing Vocal Parameters in Spontaneous and Posed Child-Directed Speech. In: Proceedings of the 3rd Speech Prosody Congress, Dresden, Germany. Kempe, V., Biersack, S., Potts, G. J & Thoresen, J (2005). Prosodic Disambiguation in Child-Directed Speech. Poster presented at the XIV Conference of the European Society for Cognitive Psychology, Leiden. Biersack, S., Kempe V. (2005). Exploring the Influence of Vocal Emotion Expression on Communicative Effectiveness. Phonetica 62: 106-119. (abstract) Biersack, S., Kempe, V., Knapton, L. (2005). Fine-Tuning Speech Registers: A Comparison of the Prosodic Features of Child-Directed and Foreigner-Directed Speech. In: Proceedings of the 9th European Conference on Speech Communication and Technology, Lisbon. (pdf) Biersack, S., Kempe, V. (2005). Tracing Vocal Emotion Expression Through the Speech Chain: Do Listeners Perceive what Speakers Feel? In: Proceedings ISCA Workshop on Plasticity in Speech Perception, London, UK. (pdf) Biersack, S., Kempe, V. (2005). Child-Directed Speech Can Be Elicited in the Absence of a Child. Poster presented at the 10th International Congress for the Study of Child Language, Berlin. Biersack, S., Kempe, V. (2004). Does Mood Induced Phonetic Variation Improve Communication? Talk presented at Variation and Change in Phonology and Phonetics (VarPhon), Potsdam, Germany. (abstract) Schaeffler, F., Biersack, S. (2003). Aspects of the Timing of Fundamental Frequency in German Chanted Call Contours. In: Proceedings FONETIK 2003, Phonum 9, Umeå University. Biersack, S. (2002). Systematische Aussprachefehler deutscher Muttersprachler im Englischen - Eine phonetisch-phonologische Bestandaufnahme (Systematic Pronunciation Mistakes of German Natives Speaking English). M.A. Thesis. In: FIPKM 39: 37-130. |
| Grants: |
| 2008 - 2010:
PI on
the ESRC-funded project "Open-Mouthed or Stiff Upper Lip? Exploring
Language-Specific Articulatory Settings in English-German Bilinguals"
(RES-000-22-3032, co-investigators: Prof
Jim Scobbie
and Prof Ineke Mennen). 2009 - 2010: Research Fellow on the EPSRC-funded project "An Edinburgh Speech Production Facility" (EP/E01609X/1 and EP/E016359/1, PI: Prof Alice Turk and Prof Jim Scobbie, Co-Investigators: Dr Simon King, Prof Steve Renals, Dr Robin Lickley, Dr Sonja Schaeffler) 2010 (Jan-Mar): Named researcher on a grant funded under QMU's Project Investment Bid scheme: "Cognitive Correlates of Articulatory Settings" (in collaboration with Dr Martin Corley, Department of Psychology, Edinburgh University). 2008: Named researcher on a British Academy small grant: "Exploring Differences in Articulatory Settings Across Languages" (SG-48460, PI: Prof Jim Scobbie, Queen Margaret University) 2008: Named researcher on a British Academy small grant: "Refining the analysis of acoustic indicators for the vocal expression of positive emotion" (SG-49512, PI: Dr Vera Kempe, Abertay University) 2007 - 2008: Postdoctoral Fellowship funded by the ESRC: "The Phonetic Details of Speech Variation and Their Impact on Listener Comprehension and Attention" (PTA-026-27-1465) 2006: Travel grant from the International Speech Communication Association (ISCA) 2005: Travel grant from the Experimental Psychology Society (EPS) 2004: Studentship from the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) 2003 and 2005: Faculty studentship from the University of Stirling 1999 - 2000: Erasmus scholarship for an exchange semester at UCL's Department of Phonetics and Linguistics |
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