Robert Lennon

Thesis: Experience and Learning in Cross-dialect perception: Derhoticised /r/ in Glasgow

Thesis: The effect of experience in cross-dialect perception: Parsing /r/ in Glaswegian

Dissertation: A real-time sociophonetic study of postvocalic /r/ in the speech of schoolchildren in Bearsden

Predicting the timing of talking: How do speaker and listener factors boost effective conversational timing for communicative goals?

In this project we are using experimental methods to examine how, in spoken interactions, listeners make predictions about speech timing to facilitate both their comprehension and their coordination of turn-taking.

Changing /r/ accents? Towards a sociophonological understanding of sound change

We are using a variety of methods to investigate residual rhoticity in Blackburn, Lancashire (where many speakers still pronounce the /r/ in words like car and third), examining the mechanisms by which it is changing over time.

English Language and Linguistics

I delivered teaching, supervision and assessment on theoretical, instrumental and articulatory Phonetics (segmental and prosodic approaches), variationist Sociolinguistics, and general linguistics at all levels from Level 1 to PGT. I was course convenor for both Honours and PGT Sociolinguistics courses, and I was the Level 2 year group convenor for the linguistics department.

Speech tempo perception and missing sounds

In this project we investigated the link between laboratory measurements of speech tempo and how listeners perceive speaking rate. I designed and ran a suite of speech perception experiments, maintained a large phonetically-aligned corpus, and contributed to analysis, conference presentations and journal submissions.

While completing my Phd I worked on multiple funded projects run by researchers from different universities. Tasks included:

• Statistical analysis, transcription work
• Writing contributions to research outputs
• Participant recruitment and recording

Lennon, R. (2024). Perception of ambiguous rhoticity in Glasgow. Journal of Phonetics 104, 101312.

Nance, C. & Lennon, R. (in press). The Sociolinguistics of Approximants. In: Approximants: Their Phonetics and Phonology. Editor: Martin J. Ball (book chapter).

Turton, D. & Lennon, R. (in prep). 4,000 /r/s in Blackburn, Lancashire: An ultrasound study of Anglo-English derhoticisation.

Turton, D. & Lennon, R. (2023). An acoustic analysis of rhoticity in Lancashire, England. Journal of Phonetics 101, 101280.

Plug, L., Lennon, R. & Smith, R. (2023). Testing for canonical form orientation in speech tempo perception. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology.

Plug, L., Lennon, R. & Smith, R. (2022). Measured and perceived speech tempo: Comparing canonical and surface articulation rates. Journal of Phonetics 95, 101193.

Plug, L., Lennon, R. & Smith, R. (2022). Schwa deletion and perceived tempo in English. Proceedings of the 11th International Conference on Speech Prosody. Lisbon: Universidade de Lisboa.

Plug, L., Lennon, R. & Gold, E. (2021). Articulation rates’ inter-correlations and discriminating powers in an English speech corpus. Speech Communication 132, 40-54.

Plug, L., Smith, R., & Lennon, R. (2020). Listeners’ sensitivity to syllable complexity in speech tempo perception. Proceedings of the 10th International Conference on Speech Prosody. Tokyo: University of Tokyo.

Lennon, R., Plug, L. & Gold, E. (2019). A comparison of multiple speech tempo measures: Inter-correlations and discriminating power. Proceedings of the 19th ICPhS. Melbourne: University of Melbourne.

Plug, L., Lennon, R. & Smith, R.(2019). Measured and perceived speech tempo: Canonical vs surface syllable and phone rates. Proceedings of the 19th ICPhS. Melbourne: University of Melbourne.

Lennon, R., Smith, R. & Stuart-Smith, J. (2015). An acoustic investigation of postvocalic /r/ variants in two sociolects of Glaswegian. Proceedings of the 18th ICPhS. Glasgow: University of Glasgow.

Stuart-Smith, J., Lennon, R., MacDonald, R., Robertson, D., Soskuthy, M., Jose, B. & Evers, L. (2015). A dynamic acoustic view of real-time change in word-final liquids in spontaneous Glaswegian. Proceedings of the 18th ICPhS. Glasgow: University of Glasgow.

Derhoticisation in Blackburn, Lancashire: Evidence from acoustic, auditory, and articulatory analyses

The decline of rhoticity in Lancashire, Northern England: Data from ultrasound and sociolinguistic interviews

The loss of rhoticity in Blackburn, Lancashire: Evidence from ultrasound. (Co-author) click for poster

Schwa deletion and perceived tempo in English. (Co-author)

Assessing listeners’ orientation to canonical forms in speech tempo perception. (Co-author)

An island of rhoticity: The first comprehensive instrumental analysis of postvocalic /r/ in Lancashire.

Ambiguous rhoticity in Lancashire and Glasgow: A perceptual comparison.

Processing regional accent variation: Real-time and reaction time measures. (Co-author)

The perception of variable rhoticity in Blackburn, Lancashire: Evidence from an online study. (Invited speaker)

Acoustics and perception of Glaswegian /r/. (Invited speaker)

Listeners’ sensitivity to syllable complexity in speech tempo perception. (Co-author)

Quantifying speech tempo: Does the choice of measurement matter?

Speech tempo perception and deletion: Evidence from a listening experiment.

The effect of regional variation on speech processing: Evidence from an eye-tracking experiment. (Co-author)

A comparison of multiple speech tempo measures: Inter-correlations and discriminating power.

Measured and perceived speech tempo: Canonical vs surface syllable and phone rates. (Co-author)

Comparing alternative speech tempo measures: Inter-correlations and discriminating powers.

Experience and learning in cross-dialect perception: Ambiguous /r/ in Glasgow. (Invited speaker)

Perception of Glaswegian rhoticity suffers in challenging listening conditions. (Invited session chair: Speech Perception)

Glasgow Smiles Better? Long-term and short-term adaptation to accents. (Invited speaker, co-presented with Rachel Smith)

Ambiguous rhoticity in Glasgow: Short term exposure promotes perceptual adaptation for experienced and inexperienced listeners. (National Science Foundation travel award, 400USD)

Derhoticisation in Glasgow: Do listeners adapt after short term exposure?

An acoustic investigation of postvocalic /r/ variants in two sociolects of Glaswegian.

A dynamic acoustic view of real-time change in word-final liquids in spontaneous Glaswegian. (Co-author)

The effect of exposure in cross-dialect perception: Hearing ambiguous /r/ variants in Glaswegian.

Increased exposure can aid perception of ambiguous /r/ variants in Glasgow. (Eugenie Henderson prize, Best Oral Presentation)

The effect of experience in cross-dialect perception: Parsing /r/ in Glaswegian.

Delivered at The University of Oxford click for guide