I am currently an associate professor in the Department of Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana.

click here for my lab web page. Or take a look at the new PHASE (Purdue Hearing and Acoustics in Science and Engineering) page.

Before coming to Purdue, I was a Post-doctoral fellow in the Department of Speech and Hearing Sciences at the University of Hong Kong, working primarily with Valter Ciocca.

Before that I received my PhD from the University of Chicago in Psychology and Linguistics under the supervision of Howard Nusbaum in Psychology and Karen Landahl in Linguistics. I also worked with Terry Regier, Steve Shevell, David McNeil, and Janellen Huttenlocher.

My research investigates the role of attention in speech perception. Recent studies have focused on how linguistic experience and perceptual training affect the way listeners pay attention to different acoustic properties of speech sounds. A new line of research explores the effects of limited processing capacity on speech perception as a way of better understanding why both cognitive aging and hearing impairment make it especially difficult to understand speech in the presence of competing speech (the "cocktail party problem"). I have also studied the production, perception and learning of Cantonese lexical tones, and factors contributing to the intelligibility of synthetic speech. In addition to my position in Speech, Language and Hearing Sciences, I am also a full member of the faculty in the Linguistics Program and hold a courtesy appointment in Cognitive Psychology. I teach courses in speech science, acoustics, and experimental phonetics, and am developing courses in attention and speech perception.

Francis, A.L., Kaganovich, N., & Driscoll, C.J. (to appear). Cue-specific effects of categorization training on the relative weighting of acoustic cues to consonant voicing in English. Journal of the Acoustical Society of America.

Zhang, Y., Nissen, S., & Francis, A.L. (2008) Acoustic cues to English lexical stress produced by native speakers of Mandarin. Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 123(6), 4498-4513.

Francis, A.L., Ciocca, V., Ma, L., & Fenn, K. (2008). Linguistic experience and the acquisition of lexical tones. Journal of Phonetics, 36, 268-294.

Tong, Y., Gandour, J.T., & Francis, A.L. (2007). Perceptual processing dependencies between segmental and suprasegmental features of a tone language. Language and Cognitive Processes, 23(5), 689-708.

Francis, A.L., Nusbaum, H.C., & Fenn, K. (2007). Effects of training on the acoustic phonetic representation of synthetic speech. Journal of Speech, Language and Hearing Research, 50(6), 1445-1465.

Finneran, D., Francis, A.L., & Leonard, L. (in revision). Sustained attention in preschool-age children with specific language impairment.

Kondaurova, M.V., & Francis, A.L. (in review) Cross-language perception of English tense and lax vowels by native English, Spanish and Russian listeners: Allophonic experience and individual differences.

Francis, A.L. (in review). Perceptual and memory load differentially affect speech perception in the presence of competing speech.

Francis, A.L., & Nusbaum, H.C. (in revision). Effects of changing intelligibility on working memory demand for speech perception.

After many years of sloth I joined the Wabash River Runners' Club. I particularly enjoy multi-sport events (triathlons and duathlons). Here are some of the races I have done. Life has taken its toll on my training and racing, but I hope to get back to it soon...

francisa@purdue.edu
(765) 494-3815
Audiology and Speech Sciences
Heavilon Hall
Purdue University
West Lafayette, IN 47907
USA