Contact
Biography
I joined the University of Nottingham in 2017. Prior to this I was a Postdoctoral Fellow in the Infant Language & Speech Lab at the University of Toronto.
Education: BA & MA University of Manchester; PhD Radboud University Nijmegen / Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics.
Expertise Summary
I am a developmental linguist with an interest in many topics relating to the psychological aspects of language acquisition and use. My work combines methods from psycholinguistics, phonetics & phonology and sociolinguistics.
I am particularly fascinated by how infants and young children successfully acquire language in a wide range of environments from many different speakers. Much of my recent research has focused on the impact that hearing multiple accents has on early language acquisition. I have also worked with academics in South Africa studying language acquisition in non-WEIRD populations.
I have an interest in methodological developments in the field of infant language development. I am co-lead of the ManyBabies At-Home project, an international collaboration developing a remote (online) testing framework that can be used across a range of home environments in a wide range of countries. Click here to visit our website.
My research interests fall under the Centre for Research in Applied Linguistics (CRAL) and the Nottingham Psycholinguistics and Language Learning Lab.
Teaching Summary
Undergraduate Modules
- Studying Language
- Language Development
- Language & The Mind
Postgraduate Modules
- Intercultural Communication
Research Summary
My research focuses on psychological aspects of language acquisition, in particular how infants and children acquire language(s) from the speech they hear.
Current strands of research include:
- The impact of different linguistic learning environments on infant and child language development, particularly speech perception, word recognition and vocabulary development
- Developing remote (online) testing methods for infant language research
- Phonetic analysis of the acoustic properties of infant- and child-directed speech
- The development of sociolinguistic awareness
- Morphological development, particularly at the interface with phonology.
Selected Publications
PAQUETTE-SMITH, MELISSA, BUCKLER, HELEN, WHITE, KATHERINE S., CHOI, JIYOUN and JOHNSON, ELIZABETH K., 2019. The Effect of Accent Exposure on Children's Sociolinguistic Evaluation of Peers DEVELOPMENTAL PSYCHOLOGY. 55(4), 809-822 BUCKLER, HELEN, GOY, HUIWEN and JOHNSON, ELIZABETH K., 2018. What: infant-directed speech tells us about the development of compensation for assimilation JOURNAL OF PHONETICS. 66, 45-62 BUCKLER H, OCZAK-ARSIC S, SIDDIQUI N and JOHNSON EK, 2017. Input matters: Speed of word recognition in 2-year-olds exposed to multiple accents. Journal of experimental child psychology. 164, 87-100 (In Press.)
I welcome research proposals from students interested in various areas of (developmental) psycholinguistics, particularly where this intersects with other areas of linguistics such as sociolinguistics or speech processing. I also welcome proposals relating to language acquisition in diverse linguistic and/or cultural environments.