Research Labs
Computational Speech Lab (CSL)
Our research applies the machine learning techniques that are fundamental to Natural Language Processing to spoken language data. We focus on how compututational techniques can improve our understanding of human behaviour, and how linguistic information can improve speech processing technologies such as Automatic Speech Recognition.
Corpus Pragmatics and Prosody Lab (CPP Lab)
We investigate relationships between aspects of the phonological, morphological and syntactic form of particular expressions and constructions and aspects of their semantic meaning and pragmatic use in extended spoken, signed and written natural discourse.
Discourse Processing Lab
Our lab studies discourse from linguistic and computational points of view. We examine and empirically test the role of discourse structure in different areas of language. In past work, we have focused on conversation (coherence, genre, turn-taking), and now we mostly work on written text. Current projects involve computational analysis of opinion (sentiment analysis), and studies of rhetorical/coherence relations.
Experimental Syntax Lab (XSyn lab)
Our focus of research is natural language syntax and its interface to semantics. We use data obtained through controlled experimentation from both adults and children, as well as statistical patterns found in naturally occurring corpora. The lab also does research on computational applications of linguistic theories, using mathematically well-defined grammar formalisms such as Tree Adjoining Grammars.
Language and Brain Lab (LAB Lab)
Our lab studies language and speech, including its perception, production and acquisition, as well as cognitive and neural processing. We conduct behavioural, electro-physiological and neuro-imaging research with both adults and children across a variety of languages.
Language Learning and Development Lab (LangDev Lab)
We examine language learning in infants and young children, as well as in adult learners who are studying a new language. The goal of LangDev lab is to understand the connections among language learning and human perception and cognition. We explore how language learning changes the way that we perceive the world. LangDev lab also identifies optimal conditions for accelerating language learning and development.
Language Production Lab
We engage in theoretical analysis of language, linguistic fieldwork, psycholinguistic experimentation and computational modeling of language to examine how complex linguistic systems are learned and used in speech.
Phonological Processing Lab
Our focus of research centres on the ways in which children and adults process the sounds of their language. In considering how people represent words in their minds and how they recognize the words they hear, we explore the connection between phonological theories and real-language use.