1. Jennifer A. Alexander
Academic Program Associate, English Language Programs, The Graduate School
Lecturer, Department of Linguistics
Northwestern University, 2016 Sheridan Road, Evanston, IL 60208 USA
Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Simon Fraser University Department of Linguistics
9201 Robert Crown Bldg., 8888 University Drive, Burnaby, B.C. Canada V5A 1S6
Jennifer.Alexander@northwestern.edu ~ 847-491-4533 (w) ~ 773-259-8803 (c)
Citizenship____________________________________________________________________
U.S.A.
Employment and Affiliations_____________________________________________________
2015- Lecturer, Department of Linguistics, Northwestern University
2015- Academic Program Assoc., English Language Programs, Northwestern University
2013-2015 Adjunct faculty, English Language Programs, Northwestern University
2011- Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Simon Fraser University Department of
Linguistics. Supervisor: Dr. Yue Wang
2011-2012 Coordinator, Simon Fraser University Language and Brain (LAB) lab
2011-2012 Sessional instructor, Simon Fraser University Department of Linguistics
2003-2010 Ph.D. student, Northwestern University Department of Linguistics
2001-2003 Research associate, International Computer Science Inst. (ICSI), Berkeley, CA
Research Interests______________________________________________________________
Topics:
Acoustic, perceptual, and articulatory properties of cross-language lexical tone systems
Acoustic modeling of cross-language lexical tone systems
Perception and production of pitch in music and speech
Native- and non-native perception of speech in noise
Automatic detection of topic markers in spontaneous discourse (at ICSI)
Methods: Human behavioral, imaging, and quantitative modeling research
Education_____________________________________________________________________
2010 Ph.D. in Linguistics, with certificates in Cognitive Science and Language, Music, &
Communication. Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA
Dissertation: The Theory of Adaptive Dispersion and Acoustic-phonetic Properties of
Cross-language Lexical Tone Systems
Committee: Drs. Ann Bradlow, Patrick Wong, & Matthew Goldrick
2002 B.A. in Linguistics & B.A. in English, University of California, Berkeley
Advisors: Ian Maddieson & Larry Hyman
Professional Skills______________________________________________________________
Programming: R, Praat, E-Prime
Operating systems: Windows, Mac, UNIX
Natural languages: English (native), French (intermediate), Mandarin Chinese (elementary)
2. Second-language proficiency assessment: SPEAK, ACTFL Oral Proficiency Interview (four-day
training completed June 2016; rater certification sought for June 2017).
Manuscripts in Preparation______________________________________________________
Alexander, J.A. and Wang, Y. Cross-language Identification of Lexical Tone.
Alexander, J.A., Kiefer, D., and Wang, Y. The Perceptual Assimilation Model and Cross-
language Classification of Lexical Tone.
Alexander, J.A., Wang, Y., Altman, R., and Yousefi, K. Cross-language Assimilation of Lexical
Tone.
Alexander, J.A. and Wang, Y. Cross-language Discrimination of Lexical Tone.
Alexander, J.A., Bradlow, A.R., Ashley, R.D., and Wong, P.C.M. On the Interaction Between
Speech-pitch Processing and Music-pitch Processing.
Alexander, J.A. The Theory of Adaptive Dispersion and Cross-language Lexical-tone Space
Modeling.
Peer-reviewed Publications___________________________ ___________________________
Alexander, J.A. and Wang, Y. (2016) Cross-language Identification of Lexical Tone. Fifth
International Symposium on Tonal Aspects of Languages, Buffalo, NY, May 24-27.
Alexander, J.A. (2011) The Theory of Adaptive Dispersion and Acoustic-phonetic
Properties of Cross-language Lexical-tone Systems. Psycholinguistic Representation of
Tone Conference (satellite of ICPhS 2011)
Alexander, J.A., Bradlow, A.R., Ashley, R.D., and Wong, P.C.M. (2011) Music Melody
Perception in Tone-language and Non-tone-language Speakers. Psycholinguistic
Representation of Tone Conference (satellite of ICPhS 2011)
Bradlow, A.R. and Alexander, J.A. (2007) Semantic-contextual and acoustic-phonetic cues for
English sentence-in-noise recognition by native and non-native listeners. Journal of the
Acoustical Society of America, 121(4), 2339-2349.
Alexander, J.A., Wong, P.C.M., and Bradlow, A. (2005) Lexical Tone Perception in Musicians
and Non-musicians. Proceedings of Interspeech 2005 – Eurospeech – 9th
European
Conference on Speech Communication and Technology.
Invited Talks__________________________________________________________________
Alexander, J.A. The Theory of Adaptive Dispersion and Acoustic-phonetic Properties of
Cross-language Lexical-tone Systems. The Pennsylvania State University Program in
Linguistics colloquium. State College, PA, Feb. 8, 2013.
Alexander, J.A. The Theory of Adaptive Dispersion and Acoustic-phonetic Properties of
Cross-language Lexical-tone Systems. Simon Fraser University Department of
Linguistics Colloquium Series. Burnaby, B.C., Feb. 3, 2011.
Alexander, J.A., Wong, P.C.M., Bradlow, A.R., and Ashley, R.D. Music Contour Perception in
Tone-language- and Non-tone-language Speakers. Northwestern University Cognitive
Science Program “Cognitive Science Fest 2006.” Evanston, IL, May 30, 2006.
Alexander, J.A., Wong, P.C.M., Bradlow, A.R. Lexical Tone Perception and Production in
Musicians and Non-musicians. Northwestern University Music Cognition Program
colloquium series. Evanston, IL, Nov. 16, 2005.
Refereed Conference Presentations (not in proceedings) ______________________________
Alexander, J.A. and Wang, Y. Cross-language Identification of Lexical Tone. The Future of
3. Language Science: A Celebration of 50 Years of Linguistics at Northwestern (Linguistics
Symposium 2016), Evanston, IL, September 30, 2016.
Alexander, J.A. and Wang, Y. Cross-language Identification of Lexical Tone. 168th
Meeting of
the Acoustical Society of America, Indianapolis, IN, October 27-31, 2014.
Alexander, J.A., Kiefer, D., and Wang, Y. The Perceptual Assimilation Model and Cross-
language Classification of Lexical Tone. 88th Annual Meeting of the Linguistic Society
of America, Minneapolis, MN, January 2-5, 2014.
Alexander, J.A. and Wang, Y. Cross-language Assimilation of Lexical Tone. 164th
Meeting of
the Acoustical Society of America, Kansas City, MO, October 22-26, 2012.
Alexander, J.A. The Theory of Adaptive Dispersion and Acoustic-phonetic Properties of Cross-
language Lexical-tone Systems. 161st
Meeting of the Acoustical Society of America,
Seattle, WA, May 23-27, 2011.
Alexander, J.A., Bradlow, A.R., Ashley, R.D., and Wong, P.C.M. Music melody perception in
tone-language and non-tone-language speakers. 156th
Meeting of the Acoustical Society
of America, Miami, FL, Nov. 10-14, 2008.
Alexander, J.A. and Clark, B.Z. Dude, this is hella cool!: the syntax and semantics of ‘hella’.
Fall 2007 Meeting of the American Dialect Society (ADS), at the 49th Annual Midwest
Modern Language Association (M/MLA) Convention, Cleveland, OH, Nov. 8-11, 2007.
Alexander, J.A., Bradlow, A.R., Ashley, R.D., and Wong, P.C.M. On the interaction between
speech-pitch processing and music-pitch processing. Language and Music as Cognitive
Systems, Cambridge, U.K., May 11-13, 2007.
Alexander, J.A., Wong, P.C.M., and Bradlow, A.R. Lexical tone perception in musicians and
non-musicians. Northwestern Institute on Complex Systems Complexity Conference.
Evanston, IL, April 20-21, 2006.
Teaching Experience (all at Northwestern University unless noted otherwise)____________
Instructor:
F11, F12 LING 221, Introduction to Phonetics and Phonology, Simon Fraser Univ.
F16 LING 380, Spoken English for Nonnative Speakers: Integrated Skills for
Academic Purposes
W16- LING 483, NativeAccent™ Speech Training for Nonnative Speakers of
English
W09, W14-16, Su16 LING 380, Academic Speaking & Fluency for Non-native Speakers:
Conversation and Fluency
Su07-10, 15-16 NU International Summer Institute (ISI), American English Pronunciation
Sp05, Sp14, Sp16 LING 380, Academic Speaking & Fluency for Non-native Speakers:
Academic Presentations
Su07-10, 15-16 NU ISI, American English Conversation & Presentations
W14 LING 380, Academic Speaking & Fluency for Non-native Speakers:
Culture and Fluency
F06, F09, F10, F13 LING 380, Academic Speaking & Fluency for Non-native Speakers:
American English Pronunciation
Sp10 LING 381, Academic Writing for Non-native Speakers
Su05 NU ISI, Test of Spoken English Preparation Course (official title: Tutor)
Teaching Assistant:
W07, F07, W10 LING 250, Sound Patterns in Human Language
4. W05, W08 LING 222, Language, Politics, & Identity
Supervisor:
F11-W13 SFU Language and Brain (LAB) lab, Supervisor to Research Assistants
Andrea Cepeda, Roxane Chan, Anthony Chor, Katelyn Eng, Sonya Gill,
Parveen Kaila, Sam Kim, Samantha Gamble, Luke Friesen, Alyssa Lee,
Melissa Philley, Natalia Stratulat, Josh Tabish, and Lindsay Walker
F03-Su04 Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, Supervisor to
undergraduate Independent Study student Krupa Shah
Tutor (all ESL unless noted otherwise):
Sp15- Magnetar Capital, Evanston, IL
F04, Sp08, F08, Sp09, F14, F15- LING 482: Individual Speech & Language Tutoring for
Nonnative Speakers of English (Head Tutor, F16)
Su15-16 Buffett Institute for Global Studies/Arryman Fellows
Su07-10, 15-16 NU ISI, Individual Speech & Language Tutoring for
Nonnative Speakers of English
F04-10, Sp13- Private tutoring: ESL; articulatory & acoustic phonetics
Grants, Awards, and Honors_____________________________________________________
2011-2013 National Science Foundation International Research Fellowship Program
postdoctoral research grant #0965227, “Acoustic Perceptual Properties of
Suprasegmental Contrast Systems”, $138,207 USD
2008-2009 Northwestern University Graduate Research Grant
2008 Acoustical Society of America Student Travel Grant
2005-2006 Northwestern University Cognitive Science Program Advanced Graduate Student
Fellowship/Travel Grant
Northwestern Institute on Complex Systems Complexity Conference Student
Poster Award
2003-2004 Northwestern University Fellowship
2003 Hellenic Times Scholarship Fund Scholarship
2002 UC Berkeley Jesse Sawyer Fund for Applied Linguistics Award
UC Berkeley Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship
Professional Service____________________________________________________________
2008- Ad-hoc reviewer, National Science Foundation, Journal of the Acoustical Society
of America, Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, Language and
Speech, Language Variation and Change, PLOS One, Journal of Experimental
Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, Journal of Music and Meaning
Su12 Designer/Instructor, “Linear Mixed-Effects Regression Modeling in R”
workshop, Simon Fraser University Department of Linguistics, August, 2012.
Facilitator/Instructor, graduate student poster-preparation workshop, Simon
Fraser University Department of Linguistics, November, 2012.
2011 Student poster judge, 161st
Meeting of the Acoustical Society of America
05-06; 07-10 Video coordinator, Northwestern University Department of Linguistics
07-08 Language and Music Systems Co-liaison, Northwestern University
06-07 Social chair, Northwestern University Department of Linguistics
