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CASLS Graduate Research Assistant Misaki Kato has earned another award for her research (she has already been awarded the University of Oregon’s Lokey Doctoral Science Fellowship for the 2019-20 academic year (https://caslsintercom.uoregon.edu/content/26469). The National Federation of Modern Language Teachers Associations has awarded Misaki a Dissertation Support Grant for her dissertation, “Production and Perception of Non-native Speech Enhancement,” anticipated for completion in spring 2020.

Misaki’s research in the University of Oregon Speech Perception and Production Lab investigates not only non-native speakers, but also their listeners. “If a first-language Mandarin speaker is listening to another first-language Mandarin speaker in English, the listener may share more similar sound representations because of the shared first language, or be a more sympathetic listener because of their shared background. We’ll find out more as I continue my research.”

You can read about some of the instructional implications of Misaki’s work in a Topic of the Week article (https://caslsintercom.uoregon.edu/content/24486) from last January, co-authored with Misaki’s dissertation advisor, Melissa Baese-Berk. Misaki says, “Much of my work and research is inspired by what students struggle with in language classrooms. Pronunciation is a really important skill in language education.”