Barbara Davis
Barbara Davis
pas labex
pas Eurias
dates de séjour
01/02/2011 - 30/06/2011
discipline
Sciences du langage et linguistique
Institution d’origine
Université du Texas, Austin (États-Unis)
Fonction actuelle
Professeure émérite
pays d'origine
États-Unis
projet de recherche
Emergent complexity : Input-Output relationships in acquisition of speech capacities.
The goal of my proposed research at the Collegium de Lyon is to consider ontogeny of early speech production capacities in modern infants. Ultimately, I wish to provide a finely grained level of understanding of emergence of the phonological component of language. Phonological acquisition lies at the intersection of complex knowledge and complex behaviour. A central goal is to analyze a cross-linguistic dataset to evaluate hypotheses about the earliest stages of emergence of ambient language complexity in the early word period. Spontaneous child output and ambient language input to children will be considered to understand the emergence of phonological complexity across diverse language environments. These results will help to reveal how complex phonological systems emerge and to understand the role of input in governing these processes. Cross-linguistic comparisons will enable consideration of language-general properties of child systems versus precise ambient language-learning aspects of the developmental process. Second, the new knowledge emerging from this research will help improve understanding of issues related to impaired language development.
biographie
Barbara L. Davis, PhD, Is the Houston Harte Centennial Professor of Communication In the Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders at The University of Texas at Austin. Dr. Davis has published over 90 peer reviewed articles and book chapters. She is also the author of one book, Davis and Zajdo (eds.), The Syllable In Speech Production, and has another book In progress, Davis and Bedore, Knowing and Doing: An Emergence Approach to Speech Acquisition is due out In Spring 2011. Dr. Davis has been the winner of a variety of research and teaching awards during her tenure at The University of Texas at Austin. She is presently nominated for a Lifetime Achievement Award from her university in acknowledgement of her research and teaching profile within The University of Texas at Austin. Dr. Davis has been the recipient of a variety of research funding from the US National Institutes of Health and the National Science Foundation to support her research over the past 20 years. In addition, she has been a consultant on varied grant projects funded by the EU with partners in France.
Her current research and scholarly interests are in the area of speech acquisition and relationships of phonetic patterns in acquisition to phonological patterns observed in mature speakers.
