Kristin Van Engen, assistant professor of psychological and brain sciences and of linguistics, both in Arts & Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis, has received a $433,242 National Science Foundation grant to support research into why some speakers are more difficult to understand than others and how listeners adjust to unfamiliar accents.
Unlike most research in this area, which focuses on how well a listener can understand someone with a different accent, Van Engen and her team plan to explore how much effort it takes a listener to process accents.
The project will be carried out in partnership with the St. Louis Science Center and other community groups who will help teach others about linguistic diversity. Through experiments and educational outreach, the project aims to promote better communication as well as tolerance among speakers and listeners of different backgrounds.
