RESEARCH LABORATORIES
UF’s Linguistics Department has a number of laboratories to enable to conduct research from behavioral linguistic research to neuroscience and computational research. UF Linguistics hosts a phonetics/phonology lab, two EEG labs to look at brain waves in real time while speakers are processing linguistic information, and labs to analyze linguistic data computationally. You can find a description of the labs here below!
- Brain, Language and Bilingualism Laboratory
- Computational Linguistics Laboratory
- Corpus Linguistics Laboratory
- Language Documentation Laboratory
- Machine Learning for Endangered Language Documentation Laboratory
- Speech, Lexicon and Modeling Laboratory
Brain, Language and Bilingualism Laboratory
The Brain and Language Lab is headed by Dr. Eleonora Rossi (Eleonora.rossi@ufl.edu) and Dr. Edith Kaan (kaan@ufl.edu). The Rossi Lab research team investigates how bilingualism shapes the mind and the brain, with a focus on understanding neural changes that occur at the earliest stages of new language acquisition. The Rossi Lab Team works with behavioral, and EEG data to track real-time brain responses. The Kaan Lab research team conducts experiments to investigate language processing in the brain. In particular, the lab is interested in how humans process (a) sentences and texts, (b) lexical tones, and (c) language in the context of second-language learning. A variety of experimental techniques are employed, including questionnaires, reading studies, and event-related brain potentials (ERPs).
Computational Linguistics Laboratory
The Computational Linguistics Lab is headed by Dr. Zoey Liu. The lab studies variation/generalization across languages and machines. Broadly, we are interested in questions relevant to the following areas:
- Quantitative characterization of language typology
- Statistical modeling of language development
- Multilingual natural language processing and evaluation methods for data-constrained settings
- Dataset and technological development for indigenous and endangered languages
Corpus Linguistics Laboratory
The Corpus Linguistics Lab is headed by Dr. Stefanie Wulff (swulff@ufl.edu). Its researchers investigate language data using corpora. Corpora are large-scale digital collections of language. The lab offers access to various corpora of English, German, Spanish, and other languages; corpora of written and transcribed spoken language; and various specialized corpora such as corpora of academic speech and writing, learners of English as a second language, and the like. Access to these corpora is provided using various software tools such as AntConc, MonoConcPro, WordSmith Tools, and R. The lab also provides access to Eprime for experiments.
In the UF Corpus Linguistics Lab, corpus linguistics is a method, not a theory. All faculty and students affiliated with the Corpus Linguistics Lab are united by their commitment to rigorous, empirical analyses of language data. Correspondingly, the researchers affiliated with our lab conduct research in various theoretical frameworks and on a wide range of topics, including language processing, second language acquisition, and the synchronic and diachronic description of languages such Dutch, English, Spanish, and many others.
Language Documentation Laboratory
The Language Documentation Lab is overseen by Drs. Aaron Broadwell (broadwell@ufl.edu), James Essegbey (essegbey@ufl.edu), Brent Henderson (bhendrsn@ufl.edu), and Fiona McLaughlin (fmcl@ufl.edu). It provides space for faculty and students involved in the documentation and analysis of understudied, minority, and endangered languages. There is a soundproof booth for phonetic studies as well as computing equipment for on-going documentation projects. The lab also has audio and video equipment that can be borrowed.
Machine Learning for Endangered Language Documentation Laboratory
The Machine Learning for Endangered Language Documentation (MELD) Laboratory is headed by Dr. Sarah Moeller. It is dedicated to the advancement of natural human language technology, the documentation and description of languages from a computational perspective, and a richer and more accurate representation of all the world’s 7000+ languages in all fields related to artificial intelligence (AI).
Speech, Lexicon and Modeling Laboratory
The Speech, Lexicon and Modelling (SLaM) lab at UF is dedicated to advancing applied and theoretical research involving spoken speech and grammar (phonetics and phonology) and word knowledge (lexicon). The SLaM lab is also home to our work in Computational Linguistics (for more information, click here).
SLaM is co-directed by Dr. Kevin Tang, Dr. Ratree Wayland and Dr. Caroline Wilshire at UF Linguistics. It provides research opportunities for undergraduate and graduate students. We welcome curious and motivated UF students from a wide range of disciplines (from Engineering to Digital Humanities) to join us. Find out more at https://slam.lin.ufl.edu/
Wanna be a SLAMer? Please see what opportunities are available here. For more information, please contact Dr. Kevin Tang. Location: 4017 Turlington Hall (tang.kevin@ufl.edu).