Yue Wang — Lab Director

Professor, Department of Linguistics
Simon Fraser University

Website: http://www.sfu.ca/people/yuew.html
Email: yuew@sfu.ca
Tel: (778) 782-6924

Dr. Wang's main areas of research are phonetics, neurolinguistics, psycholinguistics, second language acquisition, and cognitive science. Using behavioral, neural, and computational techniques, she has been studying the processing and acquisition of second-language speech sounds with the goal of learning more about brain plasticity as well as how multisensory brain systems cooperate functionally in cognitive processing. She directs the Language and Brain Lab.

Fenqi Wang — Post-doctoral Fellow

Website: www.fenqiw.com
Email: fenqiw@sfu.ca

Dr. Wang earned his M.A. in Linguistics from the University of Kansas and his Ph.D. in Linguistics from the University of Florida. His research interests include speech production and perception, sound variation, speech emotion recognition, and bilingualism. Dr. Wang is currently employing behavioral, neuroimaging, and computational methods to investigate vocal emotions in American English and Mandarin Chinese. His ultimate objective is to decipher the intricacies of the expression and perception of emotions in speech. He currently holds a position as a term lecturer in linguistics and is a post-doctoral fellow in the Language and Brain Lab.

Jetic Gū — Lab Manager | PhD Student, Computational Linguistics

Email: jeticg@sfu.ca

I am currently a Computational Linguistics Ph.D. student. I received a M.Sc, B.Sc. from SFU in 2019 and 2018, and a B.Eng. from Zhejiang University in 2018. My research interests include Machine Translation, Alignment, Semantic Representations, Syntactic Analysis, etc.

Ivan Fong — Lab Manager | MA Student, Linguistics

Email: ivan_fong@sfu.ca

I studied and graduated as a Diploma in Linguistics student at UBC in 2020. During my study there, I worked as a research assistant at Prof. Molly Babel’s Speech in Context Lab, mainly for the then PhD student Khia Johnson. I am extremely excited to be an MA student here at SFU under Prof. Yue Wang and her Language and Brain Lab. I am mostly interested in investigating the languages that I am the most familiar with (English, Cantonese, Mandarin, Japanese, and Korean). I am particularly interested in Language Transfer, my immediate focus is on Tone Merger and Syllable Fusion in Cantonese-English bilingual speakers. Fun Fact: Before I discovered my love and career for Linguistics, I completed my B.Sc at UBC as well!

Xizi (Danielle) Deng — PhD Student, Linguistics

Email: xizid@sfu.ca

I joined the Department of Linguistics at SFU as a graduate student in 2017 and graduated from Chinese University of Hong Kong before that. My research interests lie in speech perception, especially the perception of tone and tone sandhi, and also in Theoretical Phonology. Besides Linguistics, I am also a fan of science fictions and sci-fi movies.

Han Zhang — PhD Student, Linguistics

Email: han_zhang7@sfu.ca

I am currently a Ph.D. student in the Department of Linguistics at SFU. My primary research interests include non-native speech perception and production, second language acquisition, and psycholinguistics.

Sylvia Cho — PhD Student, Linguistics

Email: sylvia_cho@sfu.ca

I am primarily interested in speech perception and all factors that influence this process. More specifically, I am interested in the processing and perception of bilingual and L2 speech.

Kira Chan — Research Assistant 

I am an undergraduate student majoring in Linguistics, pursuing to minor in Learning and Developmental Disabilities and a certificate in Linguistics of Speech Science. My areas of interest include, second Language acquisition, sociolinguistics and speech production. In the future, I plan to obtain a master’s  in Speech Language Pathology to work as a speech therapist. In my spare time, I love to experiment with cooking, playing with my cat Haku, lifting weights at the gym and exploring new restaurants or cafes. 

Meagan Durana — Research Assistant 

I am an undergraduate student pursuing a major degree in linguistics, a minor in psychology, and a certificate in the linguistics of speech sciences (CLSS). My research interests include first language acquisition, language and communication disorders, speech perception, and neurolinguistics. In the future, I hope to go into the master’s program in speech-language pathology. In my free-time, I like to play video games, do arts and crafts, hang out with family and friends, and spend time with my boyfriend’s cats. 

Aaron Fung — Research Assistant 

I am currently an undergraduate student double majoring in Cognitive Science and Philosophy, with a certificate in Ethics and Global Justice. My areas of interest are second language acquisition, bilingualism, cognitive science, and speech perception. Outside of class, I enjoy reading, working out, and trying new foods!

Morgan Glover — Research Assistant 

I am a post-baccalaureate student in the Department of Linguistics. I hold a B.A. in linguistics and a certificate in the linguistics of speech science from SFU. In the future, I hope to obtain a master’s in speech-language pathology and work with diverse speech populations. My research interests include language acquisition, speech rehabilitation, and the impacts of neurodegenerative diseases on swallowing and communication. In my free time, I enjoy getting outdoors, watching sports and socializing with friends.

Samantha Gryz — Research Assistant 

I am a post-baccalaureate linguistics student, having recently completed a Linguistics in Speech Sciences certificate. I hold a B.A. in International Development & Women's Studies from the University of Winnipeg. My areas of interest include alternative & augmentative communication, speech rehabilitation, and language acquisition. I hope to obtain a Masters in Speech-Language Pathology. I'm currently learning ASL. In my free time I love to read science fiction, eat delicious things, and do yoga.

Tyne Johnson-Dhillon — Research Assistant 

I am currently a post-baccalaureate student in the Department of Linguistics at SFU. I hold a B.A. in Communication from SFU. My areas of interest include speech perception and production, language acquitition and gerontolinguistics. In my free time, I love to read fiction, get outside and practice circus arts.

Chihiro Mabohang — Research Assistant 

I am an undergraduate student pursuing a joint major in linguistics and computing science. I am interested in multilingual speech recognition, low-resource language processing and syntax. In my free time I practice kendo with the SFU Kendo Club.

Jadeyn Trasolini — Research Assistant 

I am an undergraduate student majoring in Psychology and minoring in Linguistics, while also completing a certificate in Speech Sciences. In the future, I hope to obtain a master’s in Speech Language Pathology to work as a speech therapist. My primary areas of interest are sociolinguistics, phonology, and communication disorders. 

Bradley Wing — Research Assistant 

I graduated from SFU with a bachelor’s in Cognitive Science and received an associate degree in Computer Science from Langara College. I am interested in combining this with linguistics to study language and foster this relationship with technology. As a person who uses automated transcriptions and subtitles, I am open to exploring how to implement language in technology that can benefit people in their everyday lives, which is why I am interested in speech perception and production, signed languages, and psycholinguistics. During my free time, I love playing hockey, snowboarding, and golfing.