Professor Paola Escudero | Director of Research

Research Program: Speech and Language

Biography

Paola is Professor in Linguistics and Director of Research at The MARCS Institute. She started at Western Sydney University in January 2011, after a research position at the University of Amsterdam and a Visiting Assistant Professorship at the University of California in Los Angeles. Her work focuses on speech and visual processing in diverse populations, including monolingual and multilingual infants, young children, and adults as well as zebra finches.

Research Interests

• Listeners' processing of speaker and accent variation.
• Monolingual, bilingual and multilingual infant speech perception and word learning.
• Cross-linguistic speech perception, production and word recognition.
• The role of emotion/affect and joint attention in language acquisition.
• Visual preferences in infancy through adulthood.

Current Grants

• ARC Future Fellowship (2017-2021): Enhancing language learning via auditory training and interaction.
• ARC Linkage Grant (2015-2018): Learning to Talk, Talking to Learn: effects of an early childhood language program in remote Northern Territory indigenous communities. CIs at UWS: A Prof C. Jones, A Prof P. Escudero, Dr K. Mattock. CIs at Macquarie University: Dr M. Sharma, Dr M.Taumoepeau, Prof K. Demuth, A Prof C. McMahon.
• ARC Centre of Excellence for the Dynamics of Language (2014-2021). CIs at UWS: Prof Anne Cutler, A Prof Paola Escudero and A Prof Caroline Jones. Associate Investigator at UWS: Prof Denis Burnham (with 13 other CIs at ANU, U. Melbourne and U. Queensland).
• ARC Discovery Project (2013-2017): "Understanding different speakers versus different accents: apples and apples or apples and pears". Chief Investigator (CI) A Prof Paola Escudero, International Investigators (PIs): Prof Carel ten Cate and Prof Niels Schiller (U. Leiden), Prof Richard Aslin (U. Rochester), Prof Paul Boersma (U. Amsterdam.

Qualifications and Honours

• November 2016: Australian Research Council Future Fellowship.
• December 2014: Excellence in Research (Researcher of the Year), UWS.
• July 2010: Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW): Heineken Young Scientists Award for Cognitive Science.
• July 2009: Amsterdam Centre for Language and Communication: Excellence award. Awarded for outstanding scientific output.
• July 2007: Amsterdam Centre for Language and Communication: Excellence award. Awarded for outstanding scientific output.
• November 2005: PhD in Linguistics, Utrecht University, The Netherlands.
• Jan. 2002: Acoustical Society of America: Best student paper. Speech Communication Committee, ASA 144th Conference.
• February 2001: Master of Science in Applied Linguistics, University of Edinburgh.
• August 1999: BA in Hispanic Linguistics and Literature, Pontificia Universidad Católica del Peru.

Full Publications

For a full listing of my publications please see my personal publications page.(opens in a new window)

Contact Paola