Research Participation System
The Research Participation System (RPS) at the Department of Linguistics at SFU provides students with exposure to linguistic phenomena, other linguistics research, and/or research ethics. Moreover, if you choose to participate in a RPS research study, you have the opportunity to experience what research in linguistics is like and come to understand that linguistics is a science. At the same time, you can earn credit towards participating linguistics courses.
Instructions to Students
Linguistics RPS credits can be accumulated in the following ways:
- One RPS credit is awarded for every half-hour of research participation in a sanctioned research project through the RPS system in the Department of Linguistics. Participation is voluntary. You may participate in more than one research project, but you may not repeat research projects to multiply credits awarded. You can find a list of available sanctioned projects below. Please use the direct booking link or send an email to the contact person of the study to make an appointment.
- One RPS credit is awarded for listening to 1-hour's worth of a podcast from this list. To claim your credit, please complete a half-page summary (single-spaced) for each hour of podcast time that you listened to. This summary must include a) the URL and duration of the podcast, b) the title and author of the podcast, and c) a minimum 300 word summary of its contents. Send this summary in PDF format using this webform.
- One RPS credit is awarded for attending a 1-hour colloquium from our department, or any session at a Lingustics conference offered this term (colloquia in our department are open to anyone [Lists of colloquia], and many conferences are free – do not pay for conferences [Lists of conferences]). To claim your credit, please complete a half-page summary (single-spaced) of what you heard. This summary must include a) the title and date of the conference (must be during this semester), b) the name of the session you attended, and c) a 300 word summary of the session contents – it is certainly OK not to understand everything – simply include what questions you have about the content of this talk or presentation in your summary. Send this in PDF format using this webform.
- One RPS credit is awarded for completing a 3-hour online Research Ethics Tutorial sanctioned by Canada's official research agencies. Upon completion, you will be given a PDF of a certificate of completion with your name. Please note that the date of training completion must be during this semester (i.e., prior completions do not count). Send this PDF using this webform.
General instructions:
- Each set of points can be applied to ONE course only (no duplication of points)
- All points will be used during the current semester (no banking of points)
- Different instructors may have different ways of including RPS points in their overall grade assessment. Please see their course syllabus or research engagement policy below (Participating Courses).
Participation Deadline
Deadline to earn RPS credits for Spring 2025: Wednesday, April 2, 2025
Participating Courses in Spring 2025
LING 100-B100 (INSTRUCTOR: M. GRANT) - COMMUNICATION AND LANGUAGE
LING 190 (INSTRUCTOR: Y. WANG) - THE SCIENCE OF SPEECH
LING 220 (INSTRUCTOR: J. ALDERETE) - INTRODUCTION TO LINGUISTICS
LING 282W (INSTRUCTOR: P. PAPPAS) - WRITING FOR LINGUISTICS
| Research Area | Title | Ethics Number | Requirements | Contact | Location | Number of credits |
| Phonetics | Bilingual Voice Comparison Study | 20190099 | Normal hearing; access to a computer (desktop or laptop) with keyboard, mouse, and headphones. | [Click here for booking] Sylvia Cho sylvia_cho@sfu.ca |
online | 2 credits (60 min) |
| Syntax | Grammar and Processing of Resumptive Pronouns | 30001133 | English speakers (native or non-native); access to a computer keyboard. | [Click here for booking] Sara Williamson slw28@sfu.ca |
online | 1 credit (30 min) |
| Phonology | SCIP Study | 30001779 | Native English speakers (additional languages are ok); over 18 years old, with normal hearing. Must be able to participate via use of a computer on an SFU campus OR have access to a computer with a supported browser installed -- we recommend Firefox or Chrome -- (the experiment cannot be completed on a tablet or phone) and have headphones connected to the computer. |
Ashley Farris-Trimble |
online | 1 credit (30 min) |
| Phonetics | Real-time Speech Adaptations in Conversations between Human Interlocutor and AI Confederate | 30001857 | Native English speakers, 18-35 years old, with no hearing impairments or language-related pathologies. | Jetic Gu |
RCB 7201 | 2 credits Can choose between RPS credits or $12 |
| Phonetics | Adaptations in conversation: Engaging voices, faces, brains and machines | 30001857 | 1. Native speakers of English, 18-35 years old; or 2. Native speakers of Mandarin Chinese, late learners of English who learned English as a second language via school setting, 18-35 years old; or 3. Native speakers of Japanese, late learners of English who learned English as a second language via school setting, 18-35 years old. For all 3 groups, eligibility includes having no hearing impairments or language-related pathologies. |
Han Zhang han_zhang7@sfu.ca |
RCB 7201 | 2 credits (60 min) Can choose between RPS credits or $12 |
| Phonetics | Adaptations in conversation: Engaging voices, faces, brains and machines | 30001857 | Native or Heritage Cantonese speakers with normal hearing; reads Traditional Chinese. | Ivan Fong ivan_fong@sfu.ca |
RCB 7201 | 2 credits (60 min) Can choose between RPS credits or $12 |
| Phonetics, Sociolinguistics | An Emerging Asian Canadian Dialect: The Front Vowel Space of BC English | 30002241 | Native Canadian English speakers; 2nd generation immigrants; 19-30 years old; born in Metro Vancouver and have lived here for the majority of their lives; speakers of either Chinese or Korean descent (parents' first language is either Cantonese or Korean). |
[Click here for booking] Nicole Chan ncc10@sfu.ca |
RCB 7201 | 2 credits (60 min) Can choose between RPS credits or $20 |
| Pragmatics | Asking questions in context: An elicitation study of questions in Mandarin Chinese conversation | 30001930 | Native Mandarin Chinese speakers over 18 years old; born in mainland China; have NOT studied any other Chinese languages (such as Cantonese, Shanghainese) or speak those languages as their first language; do not have any significant speech, hearing, reading, or motor impairment(s). | Yifang Yuan yya219@sfu.ca |
RCB 7201 | 2 credits (60 min) Can choose between RPS credits or $10 |
| Second language acquisition, production, Bilingualism | Linguistic analysis of infant- and child-directed speech in one's first and second languages ("Basel 1") | 20200310 | Bilingual parents with children aged 6-18 months old who speak English as their second language | Language Learnining and Development (LangDev) Lab langdev@sfu.ca |
Remote (at home) |
5 credits (16 hrs passive recording & logging, Zoom meeting, and 3 questionnaires) Can choose between RPS credits or a child-sized T-shirt and $30 e-gift card |
| Sociolinguistics, language variation and change | New Survey of Canadian English |
22-06-070 (McGill) | Adult speakers of Canadian English (18 or older), native or non-native. IMPORTANT INFO: This study is run by a research team at McGill University and participation is anonymous. In order to claim your RPS credit, you must submit your participation record to SFU staff. After you complete the survey, take a screenshot of the "Thank You for Participating" page and send it using this webform. |
[Click here to access the survey and find out more about the project] nsce@mcgill.ca |
online | 1 credit (20-25 min) |
Inquiries
Please contact lingrsch@sfu.ca.