An Arts & Humanities Large Grant has been awarded to Principal Investigator, Professor Wynne Wong (Dept. of French and Italian) and Co-Investigator, Professor Marjorie Chan (DEALL) for a collaborative grant proposal entitled, "The Effects of Acoustic Variability on Lexical Input Processing: Accents and Regional Varieties." This grant project will investigate the effects of acoustic variability in the form of different varieties of three target languages -- (Mandarin) Chinese, English, and French -- on beginning second language (L2) learners’ acquisition of vocabulary. Spanning September 2023 to end of summer 2025, the grant focuses on examining whether participants learn
words better when they hear target words pronounced by (1) both native and nonnative speakers of a target language, and (2) by speakers of different varieties of the target language (e.g., American English, British English, Indian English, Australian English, etc.).

In focusing on accented speech and regional varieties of three different languages, this project has the potential to provide empirical evidence to dispel the notion that the native speaker standard variety is always the ideal model for language learners. If that is the case, instructors could provide language learners with more exposure to diverse representations of speakers of the target language, and in the process, help to promote more equity in the hiring of language instructors.

Congratulations to Professors Wong and Chan!