Dear friends,
In this latest issue of our Center for Language Science/Bilingualism Matters at Penn State newsletter, we are exploring the “dynamics of conversation”. How and why do people adapt or change their speech during everyday conversations? This is something that a number of our researchers at the Center for Language Science are exploring these days, and the answers they are finding are quite fascinating. You can learn more about this by reading the research summary in this newsletter, which provides an introduction to the many different ways people might adapt their speech in conversation. In our featured partner interview, you’ll meet faculty members Anne Olmstead and Navin Viswanathan, and learn about how and why they are so interested in what is happening during everyday conversations. It turns out we can learn a lot from this kind of research, and what we find out about is pretty amazing. Lastly, you’ll have a chance to test out your own knowledge of speech adaptation in a short matching activity. After reading the materials in this newsletter, we hope you’ll agree that there are many reasons to be in awe of what we, as humans, are able to do with language each day. As always, we invite and welcome your feedback, and we wish you a wonderful summer 2024 and beyond!
Sincerely,
Frances Blanchette, Zahaira Cruz Aponte, Ingrid Chuang, Jordan Hansen, Pedro Millán, and Catherine Pham (editor-in-chief)