My primary interests and areas of research are phonetics, especially of the acoustic variety, and the development of sound systems in first and second language acquisition. My current research focuses on three areas: 1) investigation of the efficacy of visual feedback based on acoustic parameters for phonological acquisition in second language; 2) exploration of the encoding of American English /r/ and /l/ in connected speech; and 3) development of the supraformant hypothesis for vowel systems.

In the area of visual feedback research we have worked primarily on the acquisition of Japanese pitch accent and contrastive duration using fundamental frequency contours for the feedback. This work has resulted in a number of publications and presentations and one recent dissertation, by Yukari Hirata, who is now an assistant professor at Colgate University. One interesting finding is that we have discovered that training with single words improves subjectsâ production of these properties, but not their perception; while training with sentences can improve both production and perception÷a finding with implications for the relationship between production phonologies and perception phonologies and the experimental paradigms used to investigate them. (See below for references.)

The work on /r/ and /l/Ê investigates whether the acoustic signal provides sufficient information for categorizing these sounds, or whether the signal has to be disambiguated through the use of articulatory information. The supraformant hypothesis explores whether vowel formants themselves may form second-order properties (supraformants) that along with formants, organize vowel systems, especially large vowel systems. Our primary language of investigation here has been Norwegian. (Publications on these topics are also listed below.)

Ancillary interests include: 1) consideration of the linguistic ãotherä including feral children, sign-language-using chimps, human experiments of nature (e.g., aglossia, cleft palate); 2) exploration of the origins of human language; and 3) investigation of the usefulness of products of popular culture for explaining and demonstrating linguistic concepts to the uninitiated÷whether beginning linguistics students or the interested public. Linguistic ãothersä help us examine in detail what it means to be a language animal and how we view those who lack fluent speech and quick perception. Speculations on the origins of human language provide an additional perspective on the same issues. As an example of my third interest listed above, I have enjoyed very good responses to using ãDarmokä, an episode from Star Trek: The Next Generation, to explain linguistic concepts.>

The courses I have taught include Phonetics, a core course in the Linguistics curriculum; and Experimental Phonetics, a course that engages students in the conduct of a group research project and provides them experience with the wide variety of audio, video, and computer (speech analysis and synthesis) resources available in the Language Laboratories and Archives. (I am also the Academic Director of the Language Labs.) I regularly conduct a seminar for students working on major projects, exams, theses and dissertations in phonetics. Other seminars I have conducted covered such topics as the use of data from feral children in theories of language acquisition, speculations on the role of speech in the evolution of human language, and phonological acquisition in first language.

In addition I have sponsored a variety of graduate workshops, in recent years the workshop on Theory and Data in Speech Research, also known as ChiPhon. Although this workshop is on hiatus for 2000-01, we are meeting biweekly to view and discuss videos and movies on phonetic topics. This year and last, in collaboration with colleagues from throughout the Division and under the aegis of the Franke Institute for the Humanities, I have sponsored the Computer Cultures Workshop. This workshop brings together people who are interested in examining the role of information technology in the Humanities and in critical investigation of the role of information technology in contemporary life. Encouraging such exploration is also one of my tasks as the Associate Dean for Computing in the Division of the Humanities.

Selected publications:

1997 Hemphill, R., Y. Hirata, K. Landahl, J. Lowestein, and A. Dainora. Questioning the continuum: the use of V[r/l][d/g]V evidence in gestural theories of speech perception. CLS 33: The Panels, 333-347.

1997 Landahl, K.L., B. Need, and M. Ziolkowski. Chicago Maya and MacNorsk II: a tale of two software development projects (original construction vs. prefab). FLEAT III, Foreign Language Education and Technology, Proceedings of the Third Conference, The University of Victoria, 219-232.

1996 Ziolkowski, M., P. Viechnicki, K. Landahl, and J. Lowenstein. The supraformant hypothesis and the acoustic structure of Norwegian vowels. CLS 32: The Main Session, 461-475.

1995 Ziolkowski, M. and K. Landahl. How successfully does visual feedback train listeners to produce and perceive non-native phonological contrasts? Proceedings of the XIIIth International Congress of Phonetic Sciences (ICPhS95), Vol. 1, 330-333.

1992 Landahl, K.L., M.S. Ziolkowski, M. Usami, and B.K. Tunnock. Interactive articulation: improving accent through visual feedback. The Proceedings of the Second International Conference on Foreign Language Education and Technology, Iwao Shinjo, Karen Landahl, Mary MacDonald, Keigo Noda, Shuji Ozeki, Tadashi Shiowa, Masatoshi Sugiura (eds), The Language Laboratory Association of Japan and the International Association for Learning Laboratories, 283-292.

1992 Ziolkowski, M,S., M. Usami, K.L. Landahl, and B. Tunnock. How many phonologies are there in one speaker? Some experimental evidence. ICSLIP 92 Proceedings--1992 International Conference on Spoken Language Processing, Vol. 2, John J. Ohala, Terrance M. Nearey, Bruce L. Derwing, Megan M. Hodge, and Grace E. Wieke (eds.), The University of Albera, 1315-1318.

1987 Landahl, K.L., V. Mishra, and H.J. Gould. Imitation in speech development. Working Papers in Linguistics: The University of Chicago, 3, 151-160.

1986 Landahl, K. and H. Gould. Congenital malformation of the speech tract: preliminary investigation and model development. Working Papers in Linguistics: The University of Chicago, 2, 83-100.

1981 Peterson-Falzone, S.J. and K.L. Landahl. Effect of aberrant supralaryngeal vocal tracts on transfer function. Speech and Language: Advances in Basic Research and Practice, Vol. 6, Academic Press, NY, 265-303.

1979 Landahl, K.L. Cues for interpreting early child speech. Speech Communication Papers, Acoustical Society of America, 135-137.