Dr. Katharina S. Schuhmann

Speech Lab Director
I am interested in a) uncovering the principles and underlying mechanisms of cross-linguistic effects in second language (L2) and bilingual speech perception and production, and b) in linguistic adaptation phenomena within and across languages. Discoveries from L2 and bilingual speech perception and production studies provide a unique perspective about the role of experience and input for the development of mental representations of linguistic structures. I am particularly interested in the plasticity of linguistic representations, and I study how hearing a novel accent or learning a second language (temporarily) changes representations or processes in one or both languages. In another line of work, we investigate the factors influencing how native speakers come to share perspectives and entrain on lexical expressions in referential communication tasks. Ultimately, the goal of my research endeavors is to understand the mechanisms that lead to changes in linguistic knowledge and behavior over short or long time spans.

Graduate Students with whom I currently work and collaborate:

 

 

Carolin Jolitz

Graduate Student Researcher

Carolin Jolitz

Ongoing projects: Instructed Second Language Acquisition: Pronunciation instruction and captioned video in the L2 German (DaF) classroom.

Rose Fisher

Graduate Student Researcher

Rose Fisher

Project: Plural allomorphy in Pennsylvania Dutch, see for example here and here

Robert Klosinski

Graduate Student Researcher

Robert Klosinski

 

Project: Velarization in Missiones Bernese Swiss German.

Katherine Kerschen

Graduate Student Researcher

Katherine Kerschen

Project on Natural Referent Framework (NRF) Vowel perception in L1 German-L2 English listeners.

Project supported financially by the Max Kade Institut at Penn State.

Undergraduate Students with whom I currently work and collaborate (2021-22):

Tristan Catto

Undergraduate Student Researcher & PIRE Fellow

Find out more about Tristan and our PIRE project here:

https://pire.la.psu.edu/people/euc235

Undergraduate Student Research Assistants (Fall 2021):

Mallory Evans: undergraduate student with majors in Linguistics and Communication Sciences & Disorders, and a minor in Psychology.

 

 

Jessica Jablonski: undergraduate student with majors in World Language Education and German.

 

 

Christopher Colon: undergraduate student with a major in Spanish and a minor in Linguistics.

 

 

Maryellen Martin: undergraduate student with majors in Communciations and Linguistics.

 

 

Visiting Undergraduate Student in the Speech Lab (Fall 2021):

Clyn Baker: undergraduate student at Brigham Young University (BYU), currently a visiting Speech Lab student research assistant.

High-school student volunteer research assistant in the SpeechLab (2021):

Arnav Gupta

High School Student Volunteer Research Assistant (Main focus: PIRE Project)

Find out more about our PIRE project here:

https://pire.la.psu.edu/people/euc235

contact info: azg6127@psu.edu

… and last but not least:

CLS Lab Manager support

Sarah Schaech

CLS Lab Manager, B.A. Linguistics from Bucknell University, Japanese minor

(Main focus: PIRE Project)

Find out more about our PIRE project here:

https://pire.la.psu.edu/people/euc235

contact info: ses6553@psu.edu