Jennifer A. Alexander

Academic Program Associate, English Language Programs, The Graduate School

Lecturer, Department of Linguistics

Northwestern University, 2016 Sheridan Road, Evanston, IL 60208 USA

Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Simon Fraser University Department of Linguistics

9201 Robert Crown Bldg., 8888 University Drive, Burnaby, B.C. Canada V5A 1S6

Jennifer.Alexander@northwestern.edu ~ 847-491-4533 (w) ~ 773-259-8803 (c)

Citizenship____________________________________________________________________

U.S.A.

Employment and Affiliations_____________________________________________________

2015- Lecturer, Department of Linguistics, Northwestern University

2015- Academic Program Assoc., English Language Programs, Northwestern University

2013-2015 Adjunct faculty, English Language Programs, Northwestern University

2011- Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Simon Fraser University Department of

Linguistics. Supervisor: Dr. Yue Wang

2011-2012 Coordinator, Simon Fraser University Language and Brain (LAB) lab

2011-2012 Sessional instructor, Simon Fraser University Department of Linguistics

2003-2010 Ph.D. student, Northwestern University Department of Linguistics

2001-2003 Research associate, International Computer Science Inst. (ICSI), Berkeley, CA

Research Interests______________________________________________________________

Topics:

Acoustic, perceptual, and articulatory properties of cross-language lexical tone systems

Acoustic modeling of cross-language lexical tone systems

Perception and production of pitch in music and speech

Native- and non-native perception of speech in noise

Automatic detection of topic markers in spontaneous discourse (at ICSI)

Methods: Human behavioral, imaging, and quantitative modeling research

Education_____________________________________________________________________

2010 Ph.D. in Linguistics, with certificates in Cognitive Science and Language, Music, &

Communication. Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA

Dissertation: The Theory of Adaptive Dispersion and Acoustic-phonetic Properties of

Cross-language Lexical Tone Systems

Committee: Drs. Ann Bradlow, Patrick Wong, & Matthew Goldrick

2002 B.A. in Linguistics & B.A. in English, University of California, Berkeley

Advisors: Ian Maddieson & Larry Hyman

Professional Skills______________________________________________________________

Programming: R, Praat, E-Prime

Operating systems: Windows, Mac, UNIX

Natural languages: English (native), French (intermediate), Mandarin Chinese (elementary)

Second-language proficiency assessment: SPEAK, ACTFL Oral Proficiency Interview (four-day

training completed June 2016; rater certification sought for June 2017).

Manuscripts in Preparation______________________________________________________

Alexander, J.A. and Wang, Y. Cross-language Identification of Lexical Tone.

Alexander, J.A., Kiefer, D., and Wang, Y. The Perceptual Assimilation Model and Cross-

language Classification of Lexical Tone.

Alexander, J.A., Wang, Y., Altman, R., and Yousefi, K. Cross-language Assimilation of Lexical

Tone.

Alexander, J.A. and Wang, Y. Cross-language Discrimination of Lexical Tone.

Alexander, J.A., Bradlow, A.R., Ashley, R.D., and Wong, P.C.M. On the Interaction Between

Speech-pitch Processing and Music-pitch Processing.

Alexander, J.A. The Theory of Adaptive Dispersion and Cross-language Lexical-tone Space

Modeling.

Peer-reviewed Publications___________________________ ___________________________ Alexander, J.A. and Wang, Y. (2016) Cross-language Identification of Lexical Tone. Fifth

International Symposium on Tonal Aspects of Languages, Buffalo, NY, May 24-27.

Alexander, J.A. (2011) The Theory of Adaptive Dispersion and Acoustic-phonetic

Properties of Cross-language Lexical-tone Systems. Psycholinguistic Representation of

Tone Conference (satellite of ICPhS 2011)

Alexander, J.A., Bradlow, A.R., Ashley, R.D., and Wong, P.C.M. (2011) Music Melody

Perception in Tone-language and Non-tone-language Speakers. Psycholinguistic

Representation of Tone Conference (satellite of ICPhS 2011)

Bradlow, A.R. and Alexander, J.A. (2007) Semantic-contextual and acoustic-phonetic cues for

English sentence-in-noise recognition by native and non-native listeners. Journal of the

Acoustical Society of America, 121(4), 2339-2349.

Alexander, J.A., Wong, P.C.M., and Bradlow, A. (2005) Lexical Tone Perception in Musicians

and Non-musicians. Proceedings of Interspeech 2005 – Eurospeech – 9th European

Conference on Speech Communication and Technology.

Invited Talks__________________________________________________________________

Alexander, J.A. The Theory of Adaptive Dispersion and Acoustic-phonetic Properties of

Cross-language Lexical-tone Systems. The Pennsylvania State University Program in

Linguistics colloquium. State College, PA, Feb. 8, 2013.

Alexander, J.A. The Theory of Adaptive Dispersion and Acoustic-phonetic Properties of

Cross-language Lexical-tone Systems. Simon Fraser University Department of

Linguistics Colloquium Series. Burnaby, B.C., Feb. 3, 2011.

Alexander, J.A., Wong, P.C.M., Bradlow, A.R., and Ashley, R.D. Music Contour Perception in

Tone-language- and Non-tone-language Speakers. Northwestern University Cognitive

Science Program “Cognitive Science Fest 2006.” Evanston, IL, May 30, 2006.

Alexander, J.A., Wong, P.C.M., Bradlow, A.R. Lexical Tone Perception and Production in

Musicians and Non-musicians. Northwestern University Music Cognition Program

colloquium series. Evanston, IL, Nov. 16, 2005.

Refereed Conference Presentations (not in proceedings) ______________________________ Alexander, J.A. and Wang, Y. Cross-language Identification of Lexical Tone. The Future of

Language Science: A Celebration of 50 Years of Linguistics at Northwestern (Linguistics

Symposium 2016), Evanston, IL, September 30, 2016.

Alexander, J.A. and Wang, Y. Cross-language Identification of Lexical Tone. 168th Meeting of

the Acoustical Society of America, Indianapolis, IN, October 27-31, 2014.

Alexander, J.A., Kiefer, D., and Wang, Y. The Perceptual Assimilation Model and Cross-

language Classification of Lexical Tone. 88th Annual Meeting of the Linguistic Society

of America, Minneapolis, MN, January 2-5, 2014.

Alexander, J.A. and Wang, Y. Cross-language Assimilation of Lexical Tone. 164th Meeting of

the Acoustical Society of America, Kansas City, MO, October 22-26, 2012.

Alexander, J.A. The Theory of Adaptive Dispersion and Acoustic-phonetic Properties of Cross-

language Lexical-tone Systems. 161st Meeting of the Acoustical Society of America,

Seattle, WA, May 23-27, 2011.

Alexander, J.A., Bradlow, A.R., Ashley, R.D., and Wong, P.C.M. Music melody perception in

tone-language and non-tone-language speakers. 156th Meeting of the Acoustical Society

of America, Miami, FL, Nov. 10-14, 2008.

Alexander, J.A. and Clark, B.Z. Dude, this is hella cool!: the syntax and semantics of ‘hella’.

Fall 2007 Meeting of the American Dialect Society (ADS), at the 49th Annual Midwest

Modern Language Association (M/MLA) Convention, Cleveland, OH, Nov. 8-11, 2007.

Alexander, J.A., Bradlow, A.R., Ashley, R.D., and Wong, P.C.M. On the interaction between

speech-pitch processing and music-pitch processing. Language and Music as Cognitive

Systems, Cambridge, U.K., May 11-13, 2007.

Alexander, J.A., Wong, P.C.M., and Bradlow, A.R. Lexical tone perception in musicians and

non-musicians. Northwestern Institute on Complex Systems Complexity Conference.

Evanston, IL, April 20-21, 2006.

Teaching Experience (all at Northwestern University unless noted otherwise)____________ Instructor:

F11, F12 LING 221, Introduction to Phonetics and Phonology, Simon Fraser Univ.

F16 LING 380, Spoken English for Nonnative Speakers: Integrated Skills for

Academic Purposes

W16- LING 483, NativeAccent™ Speech Training for Nonnative Speakers of

English

W09, W14-16, Su16 LING 380, Academic Speaking & Fluency for Non-native Speakers:

Conversation and Fluency

Su07-10, 15-16 NU International Summer Institute (ISI), American English Pronunciation

Sp05, Sp14, Sp16 LING 380, Academic Speaking & Fluency for Non-native Speakers:

Academic Presentations

Su07-10, 15-16 NU ISI, American English Conversation & Presentations

W14 LING 380, Academic Speaking & Fluency for Non-native Speakers:

Culture and Fluency

F06, F09, F10, F13 LING 380, Academic Speaking & Fluency for Non-native Speakers:

American English Pronunciation

Sp10 LING 381, Academic Writing for Non-native Speakers

Su05 NU ISI, Test of Spoken English Preparation Course (official title: Tutor)

Teaching Assistant:

W07, F07, W10 LING 250, Sound Patterns in Human Language

W05, W08 LING 222, Language, Politics, & Identity

Supervisor:

F11-W13 SFU Language and Brain (LAB) lab, Supervisor to Research Assistants

Andrea Cepeda, Roxane Chan, Anthony Chor, Katelyn Eng, Sonya Gill,

Parveen Kaila, Sam Kim, Samantha Gamble, Luke Friesen, Alyssa Lee,

Melissa Philley, Natalia Stratulat, Josh Tabish, and Lindsay Walker

F03-Su04 Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, Supervisor to

undergraduate Independent Study student Krupa Shah

Tutor (all ESL unless noted otherwise):

Sp15- Magnetar Capital, Evanston, IL

F04, Sp08, F08, Sp09, F14, F15- LING 482: Individual Speech & Language Tutoring for

Nonnative Speakers of English (Head Tutor, F16)

Su15-16 Buffett Institute for Global Studies/Arryman Fellows

Su07-10, 15-16 NU ISI, Individual Speech & Language Tutoring for

Nonnative Speakers of English

F04-10, Sp13- Private tutoring: ESL; articulatory & acoustic phonetics

Grants, Awards, and Honors_____________________________________________________

2011-2013 National Science Foundation International Research Fellowship Program

postdoctoral research grant #0965227, “Acoustic Perceptual Properties of

Suprasegmental Contrast Systems”, $138,207 USD

2008-2009 Northwestern University Graduate Research Grant

2008 Acoustical Society of America Student Travel Grant

2005-2006 Northwestern University Cognitive Science Program Advanced Graduate Student

Fellowship/Travel Grant

Northwestern Institute on Complex Systems Complexity Conference Student

Poster Award

2003-2004 Northwestern University Fellowship

2003 Hellenic Times Scholarship Fund Scholarship

2002 UC Berkeley Jesse Sawyer Fund for Applied Linguistics Award

UC Berkeley Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship

Professional Service____________________________________________________________

2008- Ad-hoc reviewer, National Science Foundation, Journal of the Acoustical Society

of America, Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, Language and

Speech, Language Variation and Change, PLOS One, Journal of Experimental

Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, Journal of Music and Meaning

Su12 Designer/Instructor, “Linear Mixed-Effects Regression Modeling in R”

workshop, Simon Fraser University Department of Linguistics, August, 2012.

Facilitator/Instructor, graduate student poster-preparation workshop, Simon

Fraser University Department of Linguistics, November, 2012.

2011 Student poster judge, 161st Meeting of the Acoustical Society of America

05-06; 07-10 Video coordinator, Northwestern University Department of Linguistics

07-08 Language and Music Systems Co-liaison, Northwestern University

06-07 Social chair, Northwestern University Department of Linguistics

04 Organizing committee member, Mid-Continental Workshop on Phonology